Indulge your senses with this simple and straightforward recipe to make the iconic Kundapur chicken ghee roast (a fiery and tangy delicacy from Mangalore) at home.
Marinate the chicken in a mixture of lemon juice, salt, yogurt, and turmeric powder. Refrigerate the marinated chicken overnight or for a couple of hours.
Make the masala - Dry roast chili in a pan over medium-low heat. Set it aside. Dry roast the remaining ingredients - coriander seeds, cumin seeds, methi seeds, and pepper seeds, and cloves. Let it cool down for approximately 5-10 minutes before grinding it to a fine paste along with cloves, crushed garlic and tamarind paste.
Roast the chicken - Add 2 tablespoons of ghee in a wok or a kadhai and let the ghee melt over medium heat. Stir-fry the chicken until both sides are browned and the chicken is about 50% cooked. Remove the chicken from the kadhai and set it aside on a plate.
Fry the masala - In the same kadhai, add the remaining ghee. Throw in the curry leaves and in about 15-20 seconds, add in the masala paste. Fry the masala for approximately 6-7 minutes so that the raw taste disappears. Add jaggery and the chicken to the kadhai and allow the masala to coat the chicken pieces. Continue to cook the chicken until it is done.
Serve hot as side dish with rice and curry.
Faster method
Marinate the chicken in a mixture of lemon juice, salt, yogurt, and turmeric powder. Refrigerate the marinated chicken overnight or for a couple of hours.
Mix 2 tablespoons of Kundapur Masala powder with minced garlic cloves and tamarind paste to make the masala.
Fry the masala
In a kadhai or wok kept over medium heat, add ghee and allow it to melt. Throw in the curry leaves and in about 15-20 seconds, add in the masala paste.
Fry the masala for approximately 6-7 minutes so that the raw taste disappears.
Add jaggery and the chicken to the kadhai and allow the masala to coat the chicken pieces. Continue to cook the chicken until it is done.