Bengali Style Chicken Curry

About this Recipe...

Bengali style Chicken Curry is a very common dish in all bengali household for their Sunday lunch or dinner menu. Spicy chicken curry cooked with potato, aromatic spices and mustard oil. Here potato and mustard oil plays a unique role which differentiate this bengali style curry from other chicken preparation.

There are basically two very common types of chicken preparation in all bengali household, one is this curry which contains a runny gravy where big pieces of potato and chicken immersed. The other one is 'Kosha Mangsho' or bhuna chicken where the chicken is sautéd and fried with onion and spices and cooked without water or gravy. I love both the preparation and very often make them at my kitchen.

Everyone is making this curry different way and this particular recipe is from my mother's kitchen. She used to make this curry in this way. This is the first chicken curry recipe which I am going to add in my blog, so why not include something from bengali cuisine.

Ingredients

For Marination

• Whole Chicken cut into medium size pieces
• 1/4 Cup Onion paste
• 2 Tbsp Ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp Garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp Green chilli paste
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 Tbsp Coriander powder
• 1 Tbsp Red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Black pepper powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp Mustard oil

For the Curry

• 4 Tbsp Mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1 Piece Bay leaf
• 2 Pieces Cinnamon stick
• 3 Pieces green cardamom
• 4 cloves
• 4-5 black pepper corn
• 1 medium size Chopped Onion
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/2 Cup Tomato puree
• 1 potato cut into big cubes
• Water as required for making the gravy
• 1 tsp Garam masala powder

Directions

1. First of all marinate the chicken with all the ingredients mentioned above and keep it in refrigerator for one hour.
2. After one hour heat up oil in a pan and lightly fry the potato cubes and keep it aside.
3. Now on the same pan, heat some more mustard oil if required. Add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and pepper corn.
4. When you will get a nice aroma from the spices then add one tsp sugar in the oil. It gives a nice color to the dish.
5. Now add chopped onions followed by turmeric powder and sauté it till it gets translucent.
6. Now add the marinated chicken to it and sauté it very well in low flame. Cover the lid of the pan.
7. Check the chicken in between and stir it. The chicken should cook in its own juices.
8. This process of sautéing and cooking the chicken will take half an hour. But keep an eye to the chicken otherwise it can burn.
9. When the chicken will cook nicely, add tomato purée to it and mix well.
10. Cook the tomato purée till the raw smell goes away.
11. Now add water for the gravy and let it come to a boil.
12. When the gravy starts boiling add fried potato cubes to it and cook it for another 8-10 minutes in low flame.
13. When the potatoes are well cooked and the oil starts floating on top, sprinkle some garam masala powder to it and switch off the flame.
14. Your delicious bengali style chicken curry is ready to serve. Enjoy it with any kind of bread, pulao or simple steamed rice. It tastes great.