IT’S A THING! Yes, you heard me right. Runny consistency yet a dark-oily chicken curry on Sundays with Sadaa Bhaat (Steamed Rice) is a thing in Bengalis. Well, of course Kochi Patha’r Jhol or Mutton Curry always steals the show on Sundays but some days when Maa feels that Maangsho (in Bengalis, we generally term Maangsho/Meat as Mutton by default, Chicken gets called as Murgi) consumption gets over the top, Baba tones it town by bringing fresh chicken from Chowk Bazar (in my hometown) early morning and screams from the gate in joy,
“Suparna! Aajke jaa tazaa murgi pelam naa!”
(Suparna, I got you fresh chicken today!)
Maa cooks the chicken on dum with all the ingredients, minimal masalas but a lot of mustard oil forms a perfect marriage. An occasional naraa-choraa (mixing) in the hnaari (saucepan) and a continuous slow low flame cooking is the secret to her simple yet so mouth-smacking chicken curry.
A huge shoutout to my Kaku (uncle) who makes the best chicken curry in the world! Runny gravy yet dark-flavoured oil and fats from the chicken floating on top.
So, anyway I call my mom today and ask her patent chicken curry recipe and cook in it a maatir hnaari (clay pot) on dum. The earthy smell of the curry and slightly charred chicken legs were to die for! I enjoyed it with steamed rice and Aam’er tok (Mango chutney).
Ingredients:
- Chicken – 500 gms
- Onion – 1 nos.
- Onion paste – 1 nos.
- Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
- Coriander powder – 1/2 tbsp
- Cumin powder – 1/2 tbsp
- Red Chili powder – 2 tbsp
- Pepper (Roasted and coarsely grounded) – 1 tbsp
- Curd – 3 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Sugar – 1 tbsp
- Potatoes – 2 nos.
- Garam Masala powder – 2 tbsp
- Bay leaves – 2 nos
- Mustard oil – 5 tbsp
Recipe:
- Marinate the washed and soaked chicken with yogurt, all the ingredients and massage all the pieces thoroughly and rest it for an hour (3 hours if you want best results) . Keep half of the julienne onions for frying aside.
- Optional: Fry the marinated potatoes in mustard oil and keep it aside.
- In the same pot, add 2 bay leaves, julienne onions and sugar and fry till the onions are golden brown.
- Once the onions are fried, add the marinated chicken and fried potatoes and mix all the ingredients properly with the oil.
- Put the chicken on dum by covering it with an air-tight lid or seal the pot with foil paper and a lid and let it cook until oil starts separating from the masalas on the sides and the chicken and potatoes are cooked. Mine took an hour. Stir it occasionally.
- Add warm water once the chicken is cooked (kosha). Add salt and sugar to your taste.
- Add the freshly grounded pepper powder at this point and let it cook for another 15 minutes.
- Once it’s ready, serve your Sunday Chicekn curry with steamed rice, gondhoraj lebu (kaffir limes) and kaacha pyaaz (onions).
If you liked this recipe and want to see more of this mother-daughter duo, don’t forget to reach out to us at rannabaati00@gmail.com and our Instagram Handle @rannabaati by Oliva Das. We look forward to your requests and feedback!
Ranna Baati 