One Pot Bengali Chicken Curry / Chicken Kasha

Cooking Chicken Kasha requires a lot of time and patience. Stirring and cooking for almost an hour...is I’m afraid...not one of my best traits!! So I invented this cheat. Now...slow cooking or cooking the chicken on dum is not new. And thanks to all those Lucknow influence on the Bengali cuisine...we all are pretty much familiar to this method.

So, one day...when a dinner plan was made suddenly, I went for this method. I mixed everything and put the pot on medium flame to let them cook. After one and half hour, when it was almost our time for dinner....the chicken was ready. The best part of this recipe is it does not require our sole attention. I can stir and then go for some other work as well...while the curry will bubble and slowly will make its way to a juicy, spicy and succulent chicken curry.

Later...I tried the recipe with all the chicken kasha ingredients...and thankfully, they turned out really good.

One-Pot Bengali Chicken Curry / Chicken Kasha

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

1 and ½ kg chicken on bone

2 potatoes – peeled and halved

2 onions – sliced

½  cup fried onions

1 tomato – chopped

6-8 fat cloves of garlic – paste

1 inch ginger – paste

2 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp dry roasted ground cumin

1 tsp dry roasted ground coriander

2 tsp homemade garam masala powder

½ cup thick yogurt – whisk it well to make it smooth

A pinch of nutmeg

A pinch of mace

3 green cardamoms

3 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 small cinnamon stick

Juice of 1 lime

2-3 dry red chillies

½ cup pure virgin mustard oil

2-3 tbsp ghee

Salt

A handful of fresh coriander leaves

Method:

Take a kadai / heavy bottomed pan / dutch oven thrown in the chicken, sliced onions, tomatoes, ginger – garlic paste, fried onions, lime juice, whisked yogurt, mustard oil, 1 tbsp ghee, 1 tsp garam masala powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ground cumin and coriander, green cardamoms, cloves, dry red chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and salt.

Mix them with your hand so that all the chicken pieces get a good coat of mustard oil and the spices.

Cover the pan / kadai / dutch oven tightly with lid and cook covered on medium flame for 1 – 1 and ½ hour.

After 30 minutes of slow cooking, open the lid and give a good stir.

Cover it again and continue cooking.

After every 10-15 minutes, open the cover and stir gently so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

When the chicken is half cooked, add the potatoes to them.

Mix well and cook until the chicken is cooked properly, and pieces become soft from inside.

There is no need to add any water, the water and oil oozed out from the chicken and yogurt will be enough to cook the chicken properly.

However, if the curry looks dry add a little water to continue cooking.

When the chicken completely cooks open the cover and simmer till the curry thickens.

Finally pour the rest of the ghee over the curry. Sprinkle the rest of the garam masala powder, nutmeg and mace powder and chopped coriander leaves.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Serve hot with plain hot rice and onion and lime wedges.