Chicken Ghee Roast/ Mangalore style Chicken Ghee Roast

Chicken Ghee Roast

Chicken ghee roast is an exotic aromatic chicken recipe, from South India and it is a recipe that is designed to impress. This Mangalore style chicken ghee roast is a popular restaurant-style dish, but it is simple and you can make it at home. Now does this curry define South Indian cooking? No, it is a unique recipe and one of a kind recipe. But there is no doubt that it will provide you an exotic eating experience. The taste is delicious with complex flavors all melding into each other and ghee gives this recipe its an authentic flavor.

Ghee roast is succulent, finger-licking chicken with the right balance of heat and flavor. The beauty of this recipe is the bright reddish color of the chilly paste- and the chilly used is a regional variety called Byadagi chilly. Considering that this dish has only red chilies as the major spice, that's saying something about its uniqueness. This chilly is preferred for flavor and color rather than heat. So you are not in for a tongue-tickling fiery curry, but a mildly spiced, tangy gravy with a touch of sweetness. If spicy food is not your thing, you can reduce the amount of chilly. This recipe is very forgiving and customizable, and you can't go wrong. You can cook chicken, mutton, prawns, or vegetables like potatoes and cauliflower with this masala paste. If you cannot find dried bagadi chilly, the best substitute is Kashmiri chilly.The best combination for this chicken roast is ghee rice. But you can also serve this with pulao, appam, or neer dosa

Growing up in the coastal region of South India, coconut oil is an integral part of everyday cooking. But chicken ghee roast uses ghee instead. Ghee or clarified butter has a distinctly sweet and nutty flavor and infuses great aroma to this dish. It is used a lot in Indian cooking. You can use the store brought clarified butter or make your own at home by melting unsalted butter till it changes color to a golden brown.

The ground masala used in this has a kick of chilly peppers and a tangy taste from yogurt and tamarind. If the yogurt is sour then you can use a slightly lesser amount of tamarind for a balanced taste. You can make this masala ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. It freezes like a charm, so make a big batch. Store it in individual portion size freezer-safe bags or containers.

Chicken Ghee Roast Recipe

Ingredients
To marinate
Chicken- 3/4 kg
Yogurt- 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
salt

To roast and make a paste
Byadagi chilly or Kashmiri chilly -15
(or according to your spice preference)
Coriander seeds- 2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/3 tsp
Fenugreek seeds- 1/3 tsp
Black peppercorns-a few
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp

To saute
Onion- 1 medium
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbs
Ghee- 3 tbs
Tamarind pulp- a small ball
Jaggery- 1 tbs
salt to taste
Curry leaves- a few

Cut chicken into small pieces. Marinate with yogurt, turmeric powder, salt, and pepper powder and keep aside for an hour or overnight in the refrigerator.
Dry roast the ingredients listed under to roast and grind and make it into a fine paste. Heat 2 tbsp of ghee in a pan and add the marinated chicken. Fry in medium flame this till slightly golden. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add the rest of the ghee and saute finely chopped onions till translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor disappears. Next, add the ground chilly paste and roast in a low flame till the raw flavor disappears, and ghee separates. It will take around 6-8 minutes. Mix thick tamarind paste and jaggery. Now add the chicken back into the pan. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover, and cook in a low flame. Cook chicken for around twenty minutes till all the gravy gets coated on the chicken.
Fry till the masala gets well coated with the chicken or adjust according to the consistency you prefer. Serve warm.