Chicken Ghee Roast

Chicken ghee roast is a very popular Mangalorean dish and paired with Neer Dosa or Appam, it makes for an awesome meal. The ghee roast originated in Kundapur near Mangalore. The strong aroma of a mixture of spices fried in ghee, enveloping the chicken pieces make it a delectable dish. 

Ingredients

Chicken 800 gms dressed and cut into bite size pieces

Yogurt 1 cup

Red Chilli powder 1 tsp

Turmeric 1/4 tsp

Ginger 1/2 Tsp paste

Garlic 1/2 Tsp paste

Coriander powder 1 Tbsp

Pepper 1/2 Tsp

Lime juice 2 Tbso

Salt 1.5 Tsp

Fennel seeds 1 tsp

Peppercorns 1/2 Tsp

Cumin Seed 1/2 Tsp

Fenugreek seeds 6-7

Cinnamon 1″ stick

Whole Cloves 4

Garlic 15 cloves

Ginger 1″ grated

Coriander Seeds 2 Tbsp

Kashmiri Chile 6 seeded

Tamarind pulp 2 Tbsp

Ghee 7 Tbsp

Curry Leaf 10

Method to prepare Chicken Ghee Roast

1. Wash and cut chicken into bite size pieces and marinade it in yogurt, ginger and garlic paste, coriander powder, pepper powder, Red Chile powder, turmeric, 1 Tsp salt and lime juice. Keep the marinated chicken on table top for about an hour.
2. In a pan, heat 1 Tbsp ghee and add 15 garlic pods, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon, whole cloves, grated ginger, coriander seeds, and red chilies. Fry this for about a minute or so, add the tamrind pulp to the pan and about a cup of water. Allow the water to boil for about five minutes so that the masalas get soft. Cool down this mixture and make it into a fine paste.
3. In a heavy bottom pan, add about 1/2 Tsp ghee and the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Cover and cook till the marinade becomes thick and the chicken cooks.
4. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the remaining ghee (about 5.5 Tbsp), temper with a handful of curry leaves and add the masala paste along with 1/2 Tsp salt. Allow the masala to get completely fried. Keep stirring so that the flavors from the aromatic spices blend with each other. The masala is done when you see ghee floating on top of the masala. This takes about the same amount of time that takes the chicken marinade to be cooked.
5. Mix the cooked chicken with the fried masala and continue frying for about 10 minutes. Taste for salt and adjust if it is less.
6. The chicken should be completely cooked by now and should get coated with a thick layer of masala. You will also see the ghee floating along with the masala.
7. Garnish with curry leaves or coriander and serve hot.

Chicken Ghee roast goes best with Neer Dosa or Appams.

Check out this quick video for the visual procedure.