A lip smacking and delicious, roast chicken recipe made in ghee, originating from Indias southern state Karnataka. This can be served as an appetizer and even as a side dish with rice/Indian flatbreads
This lip smacking Mangalore chicken ghee roast is an all time favourite in my home. When staying in Mumbai, with my parents, we often frequented these lovely Mangalorean restaurants for their scrumptious sea food. Between all the fish sukhhes, gassis and neer dosas we also always called for the Mangalore chicken ghee roast. As the name suggests, this spicy chicken recipe is made in ghee. And lots of it! Not only does it add tons of flavours to the dish, but it also helps cool off the heat in it. The ghee coupled with the fragrant whole spices, make this south Indian curry most people’s favourite! However, it doesn’t have a runny, thin curry. But a thick curry paste in which the chicken is deliciously covered in. Hence, this recipe can easily double up as an appetizer and a side dish.
This delicious chicken roast is spicy, tangy and full of complex flavours. But the recipe is extremely easy. And this is my husband’s recipe that I am sharing here. Because he gets it so perfect always, I have penned down his awesome recipe for you.
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The spice mix
The Mangalore chicken ghee roast, besides being delicious, is also very easy to make. All you need to do is make a very fragrant spice mix and then cook the chicken in it. The spice mix is an amalgamation of dried red chilis, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds etc. This mix is ground to a fine paste along with some ginger and garlic, too. There is also some jaggery that goes in the curry. And this is not to sweeten the dish but to round up the flavours in there. Besides these, you will also need chicken and a good quality ghee. Talking of the chicken, make sure to use chicken on the bone. Even that contributes to the immense flavour this dish has. For my recipe here, I have used curry cut pieces. Nonetheless, chicken drumsticks and whole chicken legs also work very well.
The reason this chicken recipe is called a roast is due to the fact that, you will need very little water to cook it in. The chicken is cooked mostly in its own juices and it’s yoghurt based marinade. So, very little water is actually added. Therefore, in that sense it is a roast and not a “curry.”
Serving suggestions
Like I said earlier, the ghee roast has a thick curry paste that the chicken pieces are coated in. This makes it a great option to be served as a starter and a side dish too. In case you plan on serving these as a party appetiser, keep the chicken pieces smaller. This is only to make it easier as a finger food. When serving as a side dish, we especially love this yummy roast recipe with some parathas. Even dosas are another yummy option to go with this roast.
So, here goes my husband dearest’s very yummy chicken ghee roast recipe. If you happen to try this out, do leave us a comment and a rating for the recipe. It would mean the world to us knowing how the recipe turned out for you.
Eat hearty!
Mangalore chicken ghee roast
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken curry cut pieces
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 7-8 fresh curry leaves
- 1 inch ginger roughly chopped
- 6-7 cloves garlic
- ½ cup yoghurt
- 1 tbsp tamarind pulp
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- ½ tbsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cloves
- ½ inch cinnamon
- 8 Kashmiri dried red chilis
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp jaggery
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken with the yoghurt, turmeric and lemon juice. Leave it for an hour
- Roast all the whole spices - dried chilis, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon and black peppercorns - on a medium low flame until fragrant. Remove and let it cool down
- Then grind all these together along with the tamarind pulp, ginger and garlic to a fine paste. Use as little water as you can while grinding it. This is your ghee roast spice paste
- Heat 2 tbsp of the ghee. Once it melts, add the chicken and sear it on a high flame until no longer pink. Remove and set aside, along with the juices
- Heat the remaining ghee and fry the onions until light brown. Then add the spice paste and cook until the ghee separates from it*
- Now add the chicken with it's juices, curry leaves, jaggery and salt. Cook covered over medium flame util done
- Keep stirring in intervals. You can add a little bit of hot water while cooking, if you see the curry paste drying out
- Remove from heat and serve the delicious Mangalore chicken ghee roast hot, as is or with any Indian flatbreads. Enjoy!
Notes
- Kashmiri chilis add the colour to the chicken. The heat comes from the peppercorns
- *You can add a few tablespoons of the chicken juices, if it gets too dry while frying
- kg - kilogram
- tsp teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon
