Chicken Kosha (Spicy Bhuna Chicken)

How about an awesome chicken dish today after two consecutive postings of vegetarian dishes? Chicken Kosha is a Bong culinary treasure that has caught up with the rest of the world as has its mutton counterpart. It’s a favorite any day especially if you have luchi/puris or paranthas (Indian Flat Breads) on your mind as the choice of bread. Delectable is the least you can say about this dish! It is rich in color, texture and flavor, even a great dish to enchant the entire spread if you are hosting a lunch or dinner.

Chicken Kosha

Chicken Kosha is a dish that doesn’t need much of a labour. It is better if you marinate the chicken for an hour before cooking to get the succulent juicy bites. Or you may choose to use them without marinating if you have time constraint. My family is a voracious eater of this dish so I have to buy at least one and half kilo of chicken when I think of preparing it. But here I give you the recipe with an estimation of one kilo. The dish does not use water and the chicken gets cooked in it’s own juice. If the end result is a thick red gravy smeared on the soft chicken pieces, you know you have got it right.

Chicken Kosha

This is how I made it:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken regular cut
• 5 onions, 4 finely sliced and one kept for pasting
• 1 inch ginger
• 8-10 cloves of garlic
• 2 ripe tomatoes chopped
• 3-4 whole dry red chilies
• 4 green cardamoms
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 inch stick of cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ tsp freshly crushed black pepper
• ½ tsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement
• 1 tablespoon ghee/clarified butter

 

Chicken Kosha

The Marination:

Step 1:

Take one onion, ginger, garlic, dry whole red chilies, black pepper, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves in the container of you electric mixer grinder with a little water and make a smooth paste.

Step 2:
 

Now marinate the chicken pieces with the paste, turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, salt and two tablespoons of mustard oil. Keep for one hour covered with a lid.

The Cooking Procedure:

Step 1:

Heat mustard oil in a thick bottomed skillet and when it smokes add half tsp sugar to caramelize for the best color. Now toss in the bay leaf and the sliced onions. Fry them brown and add the tomatoes, sauté until mushy.

Step 2:

Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade and start stirring well. The sauté or bhuno-ing part should be done well, for at least 5-7 minutes. Now cover the chicken with a lid and let it get cooked on low heat until done. Give a stir in between.

 

Chicken Kosha

Step 3:

Top it with ghee/clarified butter before serving. It tastes heavenly with luchi or parantha. My son laps it up even with hot fulkas.