Mangalore chicken ghee roast recipe

I did not know about this fantastic Mangalorian preparation until I migrated to bangalore

A Mangalorean delicacy, Chicken Ghee Roast, is a classic recipe among South Indian chicken dishes. Its origins go back to a small town, Kundapur, close to Mangalore. 

Today, almost every Mangalorean restaurant serves Ghee Roast

Chicken roasted in ghee (clarified butter) with a perfect combination of spicy and tart ingredients. The bright red color just adds to the beauty of this dish. 

You will miss the distinct aroma and flavor which roasting in ghee gives it if you reduce the quantity of ghee, 

This preparation is supposed to be really dry and not with a little gravy like I have made it. But I needed this dish to go well with the rice . So a little gravy worked great for us.

Ingredients:

500 gms chicken (bone-in, cut into medium pieces)

Marinade:

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup + 2 tblsp yogurt

3/4 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

5 - 6 tbspn ghee (clarified butter)

1 tsp sugar

10 - 15 curry leaves

20 dry red chillieS(8 - 10 if you have the spicy variety at home)

15 black peppercorns

1 tblsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

10 - 12 garlic flakes

1 tsp tamarind paste (or to taste)

Coriander to decorate

Method:

1  Tie yogurt in a muslin cloth and let it hang for 30 mins and let it drain.

2  Wash the chicken well and pat dry. Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl and apply it well to the chicken pieces. Make sure the marinade coats all the chicken pieces well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Overnight works best).

3  Heat a medium sized pan on medium low heat. Dry roast the red chillies.Make sure you do not burn these.  Now add the peppercorns, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Dry roast them till coriander seeds turn brownish and it gives out a great roasted aroma. Remove these onto the plate too.

4 - In a mixer bowl, blend together the roasted spices, garlic cloves and tamarind with as little water as possible to form a thick paste. Use less tamarind if you are not sure how sour your tamarind is.

5 - Take a wide kadhai. Heat the clarified butter. When the ghee is hot, add in the marinated chicken and stir it for a good 8 - 10 mins on medium or medium high heat. Cook the chicken till it is almost done . Transfer the chicken pieces onto a plate. Do not pour out the ghee. We will use same ghee.

6 - In the same pan add the ground masala paste from step 4 and saute it for 6 - 7 mins on medium heat till the raw smell of the spices vanishes and oil starts to leave the sides of the pot.

7 - Add the cooked chicken pieces back into the pot. Add a little water (1/4 cup) if the entire mixture is too dry and is sticking to the pot. Cook well together on medium heat, stirring occassionally  till the mixture gets as dry as you would like and coats the chicken pieces well. Add sugar and mix lightly.

8 Garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves.

This tastes best when served hot with some Neer Dosas.