Kolhapuri Chicken

This next dish, which is a Maharashtrian delicacy, is rich in spice, aroma & flavour. All the spices here are initially roasted & then powdered before being used for cooking. Additionally as most of the time with me I tried out coconut milk here too. However this is an optional ingredient & can be replaced with water as well.

Ingredient’s

For marinating:

•  1 kg chicken
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoon red chili powder (more or less)
• 2 tsp. ginger garlic paste
• Salt
• 2 tsp. garam masala powder

For the main Sauce:

• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon bark
• 3 cardamom pods
• 3-4 peppercorns
• 2 onions medium chopped
• 2 tsp. ginger garlic paste
• 3 tbsp. coconut grated
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 ½ tsp. chilli powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp. veg oil plus 4 -6 tbsp.
• 200 ml coconut milk (thick)
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Heat a deep bottom pan with oil (4-6 tbsp.). Fry the chicken pieces. You need to get only brown patches on both sides. Keep the pieces aside.

In the same pan , keep 2 tbsp. oil and discard the rest of oil .Add cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper corns and sauté for a while. Add grated coconut and sauté for a minute. Add onion, ginger garlic paste and sauté for about 3-4 minutes.

Add chilli powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder and sauté for a minute, it will be dry. That’s ok.  Add tomato paste and sauté for a while. Take off from the heat and let it cool.

Grind them nicely by adding ¼ cup water.

In to the same pan, add the grinded mixture and bring it to a boil on high flame. Add the chicken pieces and coconut milk. And mix completely. Check for salt. Add ¼ - ½ cup of water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. You can add more or less water  to adjust the consistency.

Open the lid and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

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