"Sirka Mangsho" is an old Bengali recipe that is not so popular but it's seriously an easy recipe which will surely ignite your taste buds. The tanginess of the vinegar and the spicy feel of green chilies are so tempting that you can't resist to have it more. This recipe doesn't need any fancy items to prepare and you can make it in no time. It perfectly goes well with hot steamed rice. So when you are tired after a long hectic day, but you want some nice mouthwatering dish to have in dinner, just give it a try.
I came through this recipe in an old Bengali cooking book which was first published in 1988, so this recipe is nearly 3 decades old or may be more than that. While I was reading that book, out of curiosity, I started to google the history of the vinegar and came to know some amazing facts.
The word vinegar derives from the old French word vinaigre, meaning "sour wine". The use of vinegar was recorded in a Babylonian scrolls around 5000 B.C. Seriously... Yes right, it's that old. That time it was known as "Poor man's wine". Though, now it's made from various kinds of sources like barley, rice or fruits, maybe it was first made from wine, as the name suggests. In India, it seems, the use of vinegar was first introduced by the Portuguese.
Now here I ended my 'gyan' :P. Let's check out the recipe:
Tips: This is a dry chicken recipe so it goes well with plain steamed rice. Today I used chicken with bone, but you can prepare with chicken keema (chicken mince) as well.
Sirka Mangsho:
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 25 min
Ingredients:
750 gm Chicken, washed and pat dried
1 1/2 cup Onion, chopped finely
2 tbsp Garlic, chopped finely
1 tbsp Ginger, grated
3 tbsp Green Chilli paste (adjust it according how much spicy you want)
3 Green Chilies chopped
1 tbsp Red Chilli powder
4 dry Red Chillies
1 and 1/2 tbsp Oil for frying
3 tbsp Vinegar
1 tbsp Ghee
1and 1/2 tbsp Oil for frying
Salt and Sugar to taste
Recipe:
In a deep pan add chicken, chopped onion, ginger, garlic, green chilli paste, chopped green chilli, red chilli powder, dry red chilli, bay leaves and a small amount of salt.
Now cover the pan with lid and put the pan in heat in moderate low. you don't need to put any water as the chicken will cook in its own juice.
Keep the pan in the heat until the chicken is fully cooked. Stir in the middle. It will take roughly 15-20 minutes.
When the chicken will fully cooked, add the vinegar, salt and sugar to your taste and change the heat to medium high. Stir well and let to dry all the extra juices of the chicken.
When all the extra juices of the chicken will dry, remove the chicken from pan and keep aside.
Now heat up the oil in a pan in medium high heat, put the chicken again on the pan. This time fry the chicken for at least 5-6 minutes until oil reaches out.
Turn off the heat, pour the ghee, stir well and cover the lid.
Give a few minutes resting time and serve with hot steamed rice.
