My Weekend is incomplete without homemade Chicken Kosha!! Always Favourite Dish…
Sundays are special for every household. And while special days demand good food, Sundays for a Bengali would mean a Bengali chicken Kosha paired with hot rice, followed by an afternoon siesta.
Bengali chicken Kosha is a chicken curry cooked by continuously braising the meat over a medium to high flame. The end result is thick, spicy, semi-solid gravy that comes bundled with a halved potato that has absorbed some of the delicious gravy.
Chicken Kosha is an age-old Bengali way of cooking Chicken. Like Kosha Mangsho this one is also high on spice level and not for faint-hearted. The word Kosha (a Bengali word) means dryish or gravy which is quite dry in consistency. It is a popular dish; every Bengali family cooks it in their own way, so, the recipe may vary a little bit from home to home. I am sharing my version here. Hope you will enjoy cooking it and do not forget to share your experience with me.
Chicken Marinated in a spicy marinade and cooked along with whole Indian spices and tossed in a caramelized onion gravy - Makes a delicious accompaniment with rice, dal and sabzi.
It is recommended to cook this Chicken dish in an Iron Wok, cooking in an iron vessel helps to bring out the rich, dark colour of Chicken Kosha.
This Chicken Curry needs to be cooked on the thicker side. I cook my Chicken Kosha without water. If you feel that the curry is drying up too much at the time of cooking, add ½ cup of hot water into this, and cook further until done.
Ingredients for Kosha Chicken
Steps for Kosha Chicken
Kosha Chicken
Ingredients
500 grams Chicken
1 tablespoon Mustard Oil
1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic paste
2 tablespoon Curd
1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
1/4th teaspoon Turmeric Powder
Half teaspoon Salt
2 Tomatoes
2 teaspoon Coriander Powder
1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
1/4th teaspoon Turmeric Powder
Half teaspoon Cumin Powder
2 to 3 tablespoon Water
3 to 4 tablespoon Mustard Oil
2 pieces of Bay Leaves
2 Dried Red Chilies
4 Green Cardamoms
3 Cloves
2 small Cinnamon Stick
2 big size Onion
1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste
Half teaspoon Salt
1/4th teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
2 Green Chillies
Fresh Coriander
1 teaspoon Clarified Butter- Ghee
Steps
Wash and clean 500 grams chicken add 1 tbsp mustard oil ,1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 2 tbsp curd, 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder, 1/4th tsp turmeric powder, half tsp salt mix it well and marinate it for 30 to 45 minutes. If you have time marinate it for more time for better results.
Take 2 big size tomatoes blend them into a fine puree and keep aside.
In a bowl take 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp Red chili powder, 1/4th tsp turmeric powder, half tsp cumin powder, add 2 to 3 tbsp of water and mix all the spices well if required add little more water and keep aside.
To make the gravy, heat 3 to 4 tbsp Mustard oil in a big kadai or vessel.
Add 2 pieces of bay leaves, 2 Dried red chilies, 4 green cardamom, 3 cloves, 2 small cinnamon stick cook for half a minute.
Then add 2 big size sliced onions, fry them till light golden in color, then add 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste cook on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the prepared spices to it, cook on high flame for 2 to 3 minutes till oil separates. Then add the tomato puree, half tsp salt cook on high flame for 5 to 6 minutes, then cover and cook on low flame for 5 more minutes, check in between splash some water if needed.
When the tomatoes are cooked well, add the marinated chicken with a little water, stir fry on high flame for 3 to 4 minutes, then cover and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on low flame. Check in between, do not add any water.
After cooking for 5 minutes check and scrape a little so that the spices and chicken are well combined. Again cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, check in between scrape it from the bottom so the spices do not stick to bottom of the kadai.
The specialty of dish is slow cooking and it is not made in much gravy. It is a dry chicken dish.
Check again if the chicken is done and dry then add 1/4th tsp garam masala powder, 2 slit green chillies, some fresh coriander, 1 tsp desi ghee mix it well. Then add 3 to 4 tbsp of hot water, so after cooling down the gravy will not become too dry. Simmer it on low flame for 2 minutes then off the flame.
You can serve with chapatis, rotis, parathas, a plate of steaming hot rice. Accompany it with a wedge of lemon and some sliced onions.
If you like my recipes then do try and share your feedback and tag us on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube.
Tips *Continuous stirring of the chicken without adding any water helps the outer skin to develop a brown char color. *Add the tomatoes when you are sure that the meat is cooked. Adding tomatoes while the chicken is uncooked results in chewy meat. The acid within tomatoes toughens the meat. *Potatoes are an important ingredient in the chicken kosha. If you wish you can add potatoes.
