Chicken Ghee Roast

Being weekend, we have to have non-veg food; at least that is the expectation of both my sons. Today, I decided to try chicken ghee roast. It is one of the most popular dishes from Mangalore. This dish is supposed to be spicy and usually served with Neer Dosa or Ghee Rice. Large amount of ghee goes into making of this dish but that is what brings the flavor to this tasty Chicken Ghee Roast.......

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 Kg (cut into smaller pieces)

Ghee - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 11/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 to 6 for garnishing

For Marination:

Curd - 1 cup

Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Salt - To taste

For Spice Paste:

Corriander Seeds (dhania) - 2 tbsp

Cumin Seeds (jeera)- 1 tsp

Black Peppercorns (kali mirch) - 6-7
Fenugreek Seeda (methi) - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 10-12 flakes

Tamarind - small lemon sized ball

Dry Red Chillies - 6-7 (if using "byadagi" chillies, then use 10-12)

Water - 2 tbsp or as required

Method:

1. Wash chicken pieces well. Marinate it with curd, lemon juice, red chilli powder and little salt. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (I did it for one hour).
2. In a flat pan, dry roast red chillies on medium flame for 4-5 minutes. Keep aside to cool.
3. In the same pan, take 1 tsp ghee and roast corriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns on low flame for 4-5 minutes (make sure not to burn these spices). Keep aside and allow to cool.
4. Grind the roasted spices, red chillies, garlic flakes and tamarind together with 2 tbsp water to form a fine paste. Add little more water if paste is still too dry and difficult to grind.
5. In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee, add chicken pieces and cook covered on medium to high flame until chicken is almost cooked (it took around 8-10 minutes). Transfer the chicken pieces to another vessel and released juices / liquid to a separate bowl.
6. In the same pan, add remaining ghee, add ground spices and saute on medium flame for 5 minutes until ghee leaves the sides of the pan.
7. Add to it cooked chicken and reserved juice / liquid from the bowl. Add salt to taste. Saute well for 3-4 minutes. Make sure that all the chicken pieces mix well with spices.
8. Add sugar and mix.
9. Cook for 10 minutes on low to medium flame until chicken is cooked, juices are almost dried up and all chicken pieces are coated well with masala.
10. Remove in a bowl. Garnish with curry leaves.
11. Serve with white rice, ghee rice or Neer Dosa