Bengali Sunday special chicken curry ( robibar murgir jhol )

I wanted to try a Bengali cuisine recipe for a long time. Regional cuisine of India is totally exotic and different, from what we get in an Indian restaurant in a foreign country. Though Singapore has authentic regional cuisine speciality restaurants which are as good as India. I browsed through google and came across this curry, which is cooked in many Bengali households as a Special Sunday Lunch. They love to eat fish/eggs/vegetables during the week and .....on weekends are special meat based meals. (I got to confirm this with my Bengali friend here...  :) ) ... all my info comes from google. Well, I tried this recipe yesterday and we liked it. I made one big pot of rice and this curry and it was an hearty meal for my family. My older son, who loves chicken preparations had 3 helpings of this curry and gave me a "delicious" stamp. I guess, I would be making this curry often from now on.... !

Ingredients:

• 600 gms chicken (I used just breast pieces, but it's better to use mixed pieces and some pieces with bones)
• 4 small potatoes

For the marinade:

• 1 tsp each of turmeric and salt
• 1/2 tsp each of coriander, cumin powder and chili powder( I used 2 fresh green chilies)
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 3-4 tbsp curd
• 1 red onion grated
  
• 1/2 tsp mustard oil
• Juice of half a lemon

For the curry:

• 2 red onions
• 2 tomatoes (or 1/2 cup of tomato paste)
• Dry spices: 1 cinnamon stick, 5 peppercorns, 2 cloves, 2 red chilies, 3 cardamoms, 1 bay leaf
• Powdered spices: 1 tsp each of coriander powder, cumin powder, chili powder and salt, 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp of ginger and garlic paste (I used grated ginger and garlic)
• 1-2 cups of water
• 2-3 tbsp mustard oil
• Lemon juice and coriander leaves to garnish

Recipe:

• Chop the chicken in bite size pieces. Also chop the potatoes in half or quarters.

• Marinate the chicken with lemon juice, powdered spices and salt and mustard oil. Keep the chicken for half hour.

• Then add about 2-3 tbsp of curd and grated onion to the chicken, and mix well. Keep this marinated chicken in the refrigerator for 2 more hours or overnight.

• Add a tbsp of curd, 1/2 tsp of turmeric and salt to the potatoes and keep them aside.

• Heat 1/2-1 tbsp of mustard oil in a pan. Remove the liquid from the potatoes and stir-fry on high heat till they are golden on the outside. They will be partially cooked. Take them out and put them back in the marinade bowl.

• Same way, remove the marinade from the chicken and stir-fry the chicken on high heat till it is evenly browned on all sides. Take it out to drain or you can put it back in the marinade. 

• Now heat the remaining mustard oil in the same pan and add the whole spices.

•  Stir -fry for 10-30 secs, then add chopped onions.
• Add ginger and garlic paste and the powdered spices. Stir well.

• Add tomatoes and cook till they are mushy and done. 

• Add the chicken and the potatoes with their marinades and 1-2 cups of water and cook the chicken in a pressure cooker at this point for about 3-4 whistles. The chicken should be soft enough to easily separate from the bone, and the potatoes should get cooked.

• Serve hot with rice, garnished with more lemon juice and coriander leaves.

Quantity:

• 4-5 servings

Notes:

• You can omit the curd or use hung curd.
• Hmm... I do not have any more tips on this recipe, I need to cook this for my bengali friend and ask her more about it...... :)