KOLHAPURI CHICKEN CURRY

The people of Kolhapur love their chicken with the spices. So much so that the Kolhapuri Chicken Curry is a fiery red curry from the land of Kolhapur, Maharashtra. This coconut base curry has always been a favourite dish at my place. It is known for its zesty spices and bright red colour. This chicken curry is indeed very spicy and only those used to heavy Indian foods have it without flinching. Basically this Marathi chicken curry recipe contains excess of oil and spice in the traditional sense. Bold and spicy is what defines this chicken curry, a very aromatic dish that heavily pronounces the flavors from south western part of India-Kolhapur, a recipe as vibrant and rich as the history of this ancient town. As I belong to Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, always used to prefer our Vidarbha style Kala Masala for my gravies which is prepared by my mom. So don’t have ready masala for making this chicken curry and don’t want to make it with other ready to use branded masala powders. So made the instant masala with the help of “ Google Baba” which is not that difficult to prepare at home. Here we need two types of masalas for this recipe which I have shared in detail with step-by-step pictures. I must say the two homemade masalas made the curry most delicious. If you are missing a few ingredients from the spice mix in your pantry, do not get upset. Indian cooking is very liberal and provides a very wide horizon that helps one to personalise the dish.  Though there are a lot of ingredients required to cook this recipe but it is very easy to cook chicken curry. Serve this with steamed rice, tandoori roti or chapatti and you are done!!!!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg Chicken 

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

1 Onion, sliced finely

2 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

2 teaspoon Kolhapuri Chutney[recipe is given below]

1 tablespoon Sesame Seeds

1 tablespoon Poppy Seeds

5-6 Black Peppercorn

1 “Stick Cinnamon

2-3 Green Cardamom

1 Black Cardamom

2-3 Cloves

1 Mace

2-3 tablespoon Grated Coconut [I used dry but most probably use fresh coconut]

1 tablespoon Melon Seeds

8-10 Dry Red Chillies

2 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

3 Medium Size Onions

¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

2 tablespoon Fresh Coriander

½ teaspoon Nutmeg Powder[optional]

Salt as per required

3-4 tablespoon Oil

KOLHAPURI CHUTNEY:

1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds

½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds

½ “Stick Cinnamon

2 Cloves

½ teaspoon Fennel Seeds

1 tablespoon Grated Coconut [use Fresh Coconut]

1 Small Onion, chopped roughly

2-3 Garlic Cloves

1 tablespoon Coriander Leaves

METHOD:

For Making Kolhapuri Chutney:

STEP 1 – Heat a pan on low flame and dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds. Keep this aside.

STEP 2 – Dry roast coconut until it turns brown. Remove from pan and keep aside.

STEP 3 – Now add little oil in the same pan and add chopped onion, garlic and coriander leaves and sauté well until it looks golden brown and crisp or raw smell vanish. Remove from pan and let it cool.

STEP 4 – Now add all ingredients in a mixer grinder with red chilli powder and grind into a fine paste. [see notes]

How to proceed:

STEP 1 – Dry roast sesame seeds, poppy seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves, black and green cardamom, mace, cloves and keep aside.

STEP 2 – Roast grated coconut with melon seeds  until it looks brown in colour. Let it cool compeletely.

STEP 3 - Then add all ingredients in mixer pot and add red chillies to it and grind into a fine paste using little water.

STEP 4 – Now heat a wide pan, add oil in it, add chopped onions and ginger- garlic paste in it and sauté well and cook till it looks golden brown.

STEP 5 – Add ground fine paste in it and mix well and roast for about 2-3 minutes.

STEP 6 – Here add the chicken pieces in the pan, coat them well with the masala and cook on high flame for near about 4-5 minutes.

STEP 7 – Add enough water, kolhapuri chutney masala and salt cook the chicken for more 5 minutes.

STEP 8 – Then adjust the consistency of the curry and add more water.

STEP 9 – Cover the pan, let it cook on medium heat until cooked well.

STEP 10 – When the chicken is done add chopped coriander and your Kolhapuri Chicken is ready to serve. [see notes]

NOTES: *The recipe of kolhapuri chutney might yield about 2 tablespoon masala. Use just 2                           teaspoon from it and store the remaining. You can store it in air tight container in                               refrigerator and use for some other gravies.

              *Here I made it with little thick gravy, but if you want to make it dry, let it cook for some                   more time and let all the water evaporate.

             *Finally, heat oil in a tempering pan, add dried red chillies and roast for few seconds and                     pour this on the top of the curry. [optional] I skipped this step.