Recipe: Murgir Mangshor Jhol

Every Bengali family loves their Murgir Jhol and is a general ritual to cook this Chicken Curry or Mangshor Jhol on every other Sunday. These Curries+Sundays are made for each other.

Bong Eats

Marinating the chicken

1. In a mixing bowl large enough to hold all the chicken, combine the components of the marinade that is, 25 gms sliced onions, 8 gms finely chopped garlic, 25 gms ginger paste, 2 chopped green chillies, 60 gms yogurt, 10 gms turmeric powder, 2 gms red chilli powder, 2 gms garam masala powder, 10 gms salt, 5 gms lime juice, and 10 gms raw mustard oil. don’t throw the lime peel away.

2. Give these a good mix and then add 1 kg cleaned and cut chicken to the bowl.

3. Coat the chicken pieces in the marinade, making sure it gets into all the nooks and crannies of the chicken.

4. If you are also cooking the chicken liver, don’t toss it in the marinade along with the other pieces of the chicken, as it might disintegrate. instead, add the liver after all the chicken pieces are well coated, and smear the liver with the marinade then.

5. Stick the used lime peel in between the chicken pieces.

6. Cover the bowl and rest the marinated chicken in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours. for best results, leave it to marinate overnight.

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Preparing the curry

7. Peel and divide the potatoes into 4 cm halves or quarters. put these in a microwave-safe bowl, add 2 tbsp of water, cover the bowl with a cling film, and microwave for about 3 to 4 minutes. alternatively, you can also parboil the potatoes in water on the stove.

8. Cut 300 gms onions in thin slices. thinly sliced onions (as opposed to roughly chopped or diced onions) give the curry a perfect texture.

9. Heat 30 gms mustard oil in a kadai. once the oil starts to smoke lightly and changes colour to a pale yellow, temper it with 2 dried red chillies, 2 bay leaves, 3 green cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon, 3 cloves, and 8 peppercorns.

10. Add in the sliced onions, along with 10 gms sugar, and fry them for about 8 to 10 minutes, till the onions are brown in colour. (we add sugar at this stage to help the onions caramelize quickly.)

11. Once the onions have caramelized, add 8 gms turmeric powder and 18 gms salt, along with 75 gms of water.

12. Fry the spices on medium heat till the water dries up. this should take about 5 minutes.

13. Dip the marinated chicken into the kadai (don’t forget to remove the lime peel from the bowl!), and mix it with the onions in the pan. cook the chicken on medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. this will ensure that the smell of raw spices from the marinade is gone.

14. Add in the parboiled potatoes and 2 slit green chillies, and stir them in.

15. Add 400 gms of hot water to the pan. this will form the curry. cover the pan and let the curry bubble for about 15 to 20 minutes, or till the chicken and potatoes are tender.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.