"Murgir Jhol (Bengali Home Style Chicken Curry)" is been a regular Sunday special menu since childhood in our home. I think most of the Bengali households have their own version of "Murgir Jhol (Bengali Home Style Chicken Curry)" and have it in their Sunday menu. We keep this tradition here in Melbourne also. No matter how many times we eat chicken in the mid week, Sunday is our "Chicken day". Our go to menu in Sunday lunch is red, spicy, delicious "Murgir Jhol (Bengali Home Style Chicken Curry)" along with hot steamed rice and "Tomato chutney".
I can remember, in my childhood Baba used to go to the market in early morning at Sunday and get fresh chicken. Maa would start preparing the chicken after having the breakfast and bonu (my sister) and I would sneak out to the kitchen at least 5-6 time to check whether Maa started cooking. We used to say Maa, "Maa when you finished braising ("koshano in Bengali term') the chicken with spices, would you please give us 2 pieces?" Sometimes Maa would give us, somtimes she would forget. So we would roam around the kitchen and sneak in, in every 5 minutes to remind Maa not to forget to give us for tasting. And after Maa would give us 2 pieces of braised chicken, coated with that delicious brownish cooked spices, in a small steel plate, we used to ask her to give us one more piece. Most of the days bonu and I would get into a small fight to decide in whose plate has bigger size of chicken. I seriously miss those days.
Today I am presenting you "Murgir Jhol (Bengali Home Style Chicken Curry)". This dish I have been eating since childhood and it's very much close to my heart.
Tips:
I used lime juice while marinating the chicken, you can replace it with vinegar. Just add half the amount of lime juice mentioned below for 1 kg chicken
I used roasted cumin powder at the end of the preparation. It gives the curry a nice spicy aroma. But it's optional. However to make roasted cumin powder, dry roast some whole cumin seeds in a medium heat until the color changes to brown and a nice aroma starts to come out. Take it in a grinder and grind it to a fine powder
Murgir Jhol (Bengali Home Style Chicken Curry)
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Servings: 5
Ingredients:
For marinating the chicken
1 kg chicken (curry cut and cleaned)
300 g onions (sliced)
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
1.5 tbsp red chilli powder (change accordingly your level of spiciness)
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp mustard oil
For the curry:
200 g potatoes, peeled and cut in large cube (8 pieces)
8-9 pieces green chillies, slitted
3 pieces dry red chillies
2 pieces bay leaves
4 pieces cardamom pods
4 pieces cloves
1 piece cinnamon stick
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
salt as per taste
3 tbsp mustard oil
2 cup warm water
Recipe:
In a large bowl add chicken pieces along with the marination. Mix it well. Don't forget to give a good massage to the chicken pieces with the marinade. Cover it and keep it aside for at least 30-45 minutes.
Now peel, wash and cut the potatoes in large cubes. Sprinkle some salt and turmeric powder. Coat it well.
Heat 3 tbsp of mustard oil in a deep pan in medium high heat. When the oil starts to smoke lightly and turns pale yellow, add the potatoes. Fry them for 6-7 minutes until all the sides become golden. keep it aside.
In the same oil add dry red chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and whole cumin seeds. Fry them for couple of seconds until they begin to splatter.
Now add the marinated chicken in the oil. Give it a good stir. Fry it for 4-5 minutes in high heat. Cover the lid. Cook the chicken on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will ensure that the smell of raw spices from the marinade is gone.
Now add in the fried potatoes along with some salt and mix it well with the chicken. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes stirring frequently so that it does not stick to the pan.
When you see oil seeping through the sides and all the water released from chicken is dried up, add 8-9 slitted green chillies and 2 cups of hot water (you can adjust the amount of water as per your liking, add more water if you like the curry more thin) to the pan.
When the curry starts boiling, check the seasoning add salt if required.
Cover and cook on low to medium heat until the chicken and the potatoes are cooked through.
When the curry will be thicken as per your liking, add garam masala and roasted cumin powder to the curry and give it a good mix. Cover the pan and turn off the heat.
Give at least 5 minutes of standing time before serve.
Serve it hot with rice or roti or paratha.
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