Bina Moshlar Mangsho / No Spice Chicken Curry

This recipe is one of my school friend’s favourite go to recipe. Without any spices this chicken curry is perfect for her children. Zero in spices but high in taste. She varies the recipe according to the time she gets after her work, for example, boneless chicken is for easy and quick cooking, yogurt is added if she likes the dish to be more full of gravy and on some days she adds a little turmeric powder and red chilli powder to give the recipe a little kick. She sent a picture of this curry in our whatsapp group and I immediately pounced on her for the recipe.

I like mine to be slow cooked for a long time and I add dry red chillies for a smoky flavour. This chicken curry is perfect with soft and pillowy fluffy plain naan or kulcha. Has a faint aroma from the whole spices and the taste of the curry comes solely from the juice of the chicken and the caramelized onions. Simple yet...so tasty!!

Heat the oil and add the cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, black peppercorns and bay leaves. Saute them for half a minute.

Add the onions and saute until they become golden brown.

Add the minced ginger and garlic and cook for a minute.

Add the chicken pieces and sprinkle some salt. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the chicken pieces change their colour.

Add the broken dried red chillies.

Mix them well.

Cook the chicken on low to medium flame, stirring frequently and scraping the sides and the bottom of the pan, until the chicken is cooked. Add water if the curry or the chicken pieces tend to the stick to the pan.

Switch off the flame when the chicken is perfectly cooked. Drizzle the ghee. The gravy should be thick and clingy to the chicken pieces with oil oozing out of it.

Bina Moslar Mangsho / No Spice Chicken Curry

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken on bone (cut into medium sizes)

4-5 medium onions – thinly sliced

7-8 fat cloves of garlic – finely minced / paste

½ inch ginger – minced / paste

1 medium cinnamon stick

3 cloves

3 green cardamoms

5-6 whole black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

8-10 whole dried red chillies

Salt

3 tbsp oil

2 tbsp ghee

Method:

Heat the oil in a kadai and throw in the cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, cloves, black peppercorns and bay leaves.

Saute them for half a minute or until the oil becomes aromatic and then add the sliced onions to them.

Sprinkle some salt and sauté the onions until golden brown.

Add the minced garlic and ginger and cook for a minute more.

Add the chicken pieces to them and sprinkle some more salt for the seasoning.

Mix them well with the onions and let them cook on their own for 2-3 minutes.

Stir them and let them cook for another 3 minutes or until you see the chicken pieces are nicely golden from the outside.

Break the dry red chillies into halves and throw them in with the chicken.

Stir to mix them well.

Now all you have to do is stir every 2-3 minutes so that the chicken pieces and the onions don’t stick to the bottom of the pan, until the chicken pieces are nicely cooked from outside.

If you feel the curry is becoming dry, dash a little water but the quantity should be just enough to prevent the sticking or burning.

You need to stir and cook the chicken, scraping the sides and the bottom of the pan / kadai continuously until the chicken is cooked.

The slow cooking gives the curry a nice dark brown colour and that perfect taste from the caramelized onions. The gravy should be dry and clingy to the chicken pieces and oil should be oozing out of it.

It is necessary to give constant attention as if the onions stick to the bottom and becomes black they will give a bitter taste to the curry.

When the chicken pieces are all cooked and tender drizzle the ghee and check the seasonings.

Serve hot with soft fluffy naan or chapatti or luchi.