When I was growing up, goat meat was always preferred to broiler chicken at my home. But when we did have chicken, it was always the more expensive country chicken or deshi murgi. This made it special. My mother would prepare something more elaborate than a simple chicken curry every time deshi murgi was on the menu. This Deshi Murgir Dom was one of the dishes she made. Our Odia cook would painstakingly grind the bata moshla (ground masala) on a grinding stone, and the chicken would be slow-cooked to perfection.

  • Serves

    4

  • Cook Time

    01h

Ingredients

  • 500 gm country chicken
  • 50 gm yoghurt
  • 25 gm cashew nuts
  • 2 tbsp scraped coconut
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp mustard oil
  • ½ tbsp ginger paste
  • ½ tbsp garlic paste
  • ½ tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ½ tsp red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala powder
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 3 green cardamoms
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 Kashmiri red chillies
  • 2 whole dried red chillies
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 black cardamom
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 onion, ground into a paste
  • Salt to taste

Preparation

  1. Marinate the chicken with half a tablespoon of mustard oil, quarter teaspoon each of turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and all the garlic paste for 8 hours.
  2. Dry roast scraped coconut and cashew nuts for 2-3 minutes on low flame until fragrant.
  3. Switch the flame off and let the mixture cool down.
  4. Grind the roasted cashew nuts and coconut into a paste with 3 tablespoons of water.
  5. Soak the red chillies and the Kashmiri chillies in hot water for 15 minutes.
  6. Grind the soaked chillies and the garlic cloves together to make a smooth paste.
  7. Heat mustard oil in a deep-bottom pan. Temper it with bay leaves, green and black cardamom, and cinnamon stick.
  8. Toss in the chopped onions and fry until brown.
  9. Add the onion paste, followed by the chilli-garlic paste and ginger paste. Cook for 3-4 minutes on low flame, until oil separates.
  10. Tip the cashew-coconut paste and tomato paste into the pan. Cook until the raw smell from the tomatoes dissipates.
  11. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt to taste. Mix well.
  12. Stir in the yoghurt, followed by sugar. Keep cooking until the oil separates from the masala.
  13. Now add the marinated chicken, give it a quick stir so that the chicken is evenly laced with the masala. Cook on low flame, while continuous stirring it, for 8-10 minutes.
  14. Pour in 2 cups of water, cover the pan and cook on low flame until the chicken is tender.
  15. Once the gravy thickens, mix in garam masala powder.
  16. Serve Desi Murgir Dum with plain rice or roti.

Debjani Chatterjee Alam

Debjani Chatterjee Alam

A financial analyst in the development sector, Debjani Chatterjee Alam is also a popular food blogger and home chef based in Kolkata. Her blog Debjanir Rannghar (www.kitchenofdebjani.com) is considered among the pioneering food blogs in India when it comes to Bengali recipe curation. Debjani tries to document traditional Bengali delicacies through her writing and her pop-ups, where she serves up with traditional Bengali delicacies.

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