BENGALI CHICKEN CURRY(MURGIR JHOL)  

Bengali Chicken Curry or Murgir Jhol is an old and very famous dish. Every Bengali family loves their Murgir Jhol. It is a ritual back home to cook this chicken curry on every other Sunday. It is spicy, delicious and soupy chicken curry. Chicken curry is made everywhere in INDIA but what makes the Bengali Chicken curry different from others is the presence of Potatoes. We(Bengalis) love to eat potato so, it is used in every Bengali dishes. So, Bengali Chicken Curry is a tasty, juicy chicken curry with potatoes flovoured with aromatic whole spices and masalas. Murgir jhol is quick and easy to make. This versatile chicken curry is generally eaten with rice. This recipe has to parts: the first is - marinating the chicken and second, preparing the curry. Let's prepare the recipe-

As a Bengali, fish used to be an everyday thing at home. So chicken or mutton used to be like a treat, which we enjoyed on Sundays’. Hence Sunday Special Murgir Jhol. Baba used to get fresh cut of meat in the morning form bazaar and maa used to prepare delicious curry. Kosha mangsho or jhol is indeed very special to us. Still makes me so nostalgic.

One more thing, Bengali curries used to be incomplete without large pieces of potatoes. The potatoes soak up all the lovely juices from the curry make it juicy and irresistibly delicious. So please never skip adding the potatoes in the curry.

INGREDIENTS

 FOR MARINATION  

  Garlic paste (1 tbspn)  

  Ginger paste (1 tbspn)  

  Onion paste (1 tbspn)  

  Green chillis (4 pcs)  

  Curd (50 gm)               

  Turmeric powder (1 tspn)  

  Cumin powder (1 tspn)  

  Coriander powder (1 tspn)  

  Mustard oil (10 gm/1 tbspn)  

  Red chilli powder (1 tspn)  

  Salt (10 gm/1tbspn)  

 FOR CURRY  

  Chicken (1 kg)  

  Potatoes (200 gm)  

  Onions (Sliced 250 gm)  

  Tomatos (1 pcs medium / big)  

  Garlic paste (1 tbspn)  

  Ginger p[aste (1.5 tbspn)  

  Mustard oil (50 gm)  

  Dried red chillies (2 pcs)  

  Bay leaves (2 pcs)  

  Cardamom (3 pcs)  

  Cloves (3 pcs)  

  Cinnamon (1 pcs)  

  Turmeric powder (1 tspn) 

  Cumin powder  (1 tspn)  

  Coriander powder (1 tspn)  

  Kashmiri red chilli powder (2 tspn)  

  Garam masala (1 tspn)  

  Green chillies (5 pcs)  

  Sugar (1 tspn)  

  Salt (1.5 tbspn / as your taste)  

  Water (as required)  

 

PROCESS

 STEP 1 :-  

MARINATION OF CHICKEN 

1. Take a large mixing bowl. In that bowl, combine the chicken with all the ingredients of the marinade: firstly make a paste of onion, ginger, garlic & green chillis(3 pcs) and add it, then add the curd, turmeric powder(1 tspn), red chilli powder(1 tspn), cumin powder, coriander powder, mustard oil, salt(1 tbspn).   
2. Mix all of these well. Coat the chicken pieces nicely and after it is done, cover the bowl and keep it a side for at least 1 hour(minimum 30 mins for short time). If you have time it can be leave to marinate overnight.

 STEP 2 :- 

 PREPARING FOR CURRY 

1. Firstly, prepare the potatoes. So, peel the potatoes and cut into 4 pieces(Generally the size of potarto pieces are quite lagre). Next wash and clean it, then take a pan or kadai and heat 50 gm mustard oil. After the oil heated add the potatoes & 2 pinches of salt and fry it nicely till half done golden brown. Then put it in a bowl and keep it a side.
2. Now take half of the onions and make it sliced. The other half onions will used to make paste. So, take the other half onions, garlic(10 gm), ginger(15 gm), green chillis (2 pcs) and make it a nice paste. You make this paste once and use it in both marination and curry preparing.
3. In that pan / kadai take more oil (50gm), heat the oil till it started to smoke lightly, temper it with dried red chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves.
4. Add the onions along with the sugar(1 tspn), and friy them for about 8 - 10 minutes, till the onions are golden brown in colour. We add sugarat this stage to help the onions caramelize quickly.
5. After the onions have caramalized, add the paste(onion, garlic, ginger, greenchilli), tomatoes (chopped), trumeric powder(1 tspn), cumin powder(1 tspn), coriander powder(1 tspn), kashmiri red chilli powder(2 tspn), salt(1.5 tbspn / as your taste) mix and fry it by adding some water(1 cup).
6. Fry the spices/masalas on medium heat till the water dries up and the oil comes up. This should take about 6 - 8 minutes.
7. Now add the marinated chicken into the kadai, and mix it with all of the spices/masalas in the pan/kadai. Cook the chicken on medium heat for about 20 - 30 minutes by stirring and adding water(Little amount) occasionally. This will ensure that the chicken is not burn or stick to the pan and also remove the smell of the raw spices from marinade.
8. After 15 minutes of cooking add the fried potatoes ans slit green chillis(3 pcs), mix it and cook it for another 10  minutes.
9. Now after about 20 to 30 minutes add water(4-5 cups / as you want), and cover the pan/kadai and let the curry cook for about 10 - 15 minutes, or till the chicken and potatoes are tender.
10. At last add the garam masala and stir it and make the flame off. Now garnish with chopped coriander(optional). And your Chicken Curry(Murgir Jhol) is ready to serve.

 EQUIPMENTS 

• Mixing bowl
• Lid for cooking vessel
• Kadai | Frying pan
• Khunti | Spatula
• Knife, Peeler 
• Spoons, Cups 

 THANK YOU.