Posto Murgi / Bengali Chicken with Poppy Seeds Paste Curry

Posto Murgi / Chicken in a Poppy Seeds Curry is a lightly spiced very Bengali chicken curry. With very simple ingredients...this chicken curry is definitely one of those to revoke your love for poppy seeds.

Step by step preparation:

Heat oil and temper it with panch foron, dry red chillies and bay leaves.

Add onions and cook until lightly golden.

Add ginger - garlic paste.

Cook the onions until they become golden brown.

Add the chicken pieces.

Add salt and turmeric powder.

Cook the chicken pieces stirring occasionally until all the moisture evaporates.

Add water and half cook the chicken. Then pour the poppy seeds paste.

Add some salt and cook until the poppy seeds are well cooked and the chicken is cooked from inside. Simmer till the gravy thickens and oil starts to ooze out.

Finish with some fresh coriander leaves.

Posto Murgi

Serves 5

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken on bone

2 medium onions – chopped

6 fat cloves of garlic – paste

1 inch ginger – paste

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp poppy seeds

2-3 green chillies

2 dry red chillies

1 tsp panch foron / Bengali five spices

A pinch of hing / asafoetida

Salt

¼ th cup pure virgin mustard oil

A fistful chopped fresh coriander leaves

Method:

Heat oil and temper it with dry red chillies, panch foron / Bengali five spices and hing / asafoetida.

Sauté them for half a minute and then add the chopped onions to them.

Stir and cook the onions till they become lightly golden.

Now add the ginger – garlic paste and cook until the onions become golden brown.

Add the chicken pieces and mix well.

Sprinkle some salt and turmeric powder.

Give a good stir to mix everything properly and put cover.

Cook them for 3-4 minutes and then open the cover.

Give a good stir and cover it again.

Cook in this way until all the water that comes out of the chicken is evaporated and the oil has started to separate.

Add 1 cup of water and cook the chicken covered until half done.

In a grinder grind the poppy seeds with the green chillies and a little water until you get a smooth paste. Press the paste between your thumb and index finger to feel the smoothness. If it feels coarse then grind it again.

 When the chicken is half done pour the poppy seeds paste over the curry and mix well.

Stir every 2 minutes and cook the chicken until done. If the curry seizes to be dry add a dash of water to continue cooking.

The chicken will take 15-30 minutes to cook depending on its quality. When the chicken is soft and cooked from inside, taste the curry.

If the curry still has the raw smell of the poppy seeds, you need to cook a little more. Also if the poppy seeds are not cooked properly the curry will taste bitter.

Stir and cook until you the curry is nicely done.

Simmer until the curry thickens and the oil starts to separate.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Finish off with the chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Serve hot with some white rice.

P.S. The chicken we get here takes 30-45 minutes to cook properly. That is the reason I added the poppy seeds paste midway. But if your chicken takes lesser time to cook...it will be better to cook the poppy seeds with the onions first. Then proceed as instructed above.