Chicken Ghee Roast

The pride of the coastal city of Mangalore, this dish is known to have been first curated in the famous ‘Shetty Lunch Home’ restaurant in Kundapura! It is one of those ‘must-try’ dishes if you happen to visit Mangalore, but even if you don’t - worry not! We got your back! In this article I tell you the easiest way to recreate this master dish and savor it in the comfort of your house 🤘

Grab These (15)

For the marinade

• Chicken - 1 kg
• Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
• Red chilly powder - 2 tbsp
• Haldi powder - 1/2 tbsp
• Lemon Juice of half a lemon
• Salt to taste

For the masala paste

• Red Chilies (Guntur 10 for the heat; Byadge or Kashmiri 10 for color)
• Coriander seeds - 2.5 tbsp.
• Jeera - 1 tbsp.
• Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp.
• Peppercorns - 1.5 tbsp.
• Garlic pods - 15 cloves
• Tamarind - 1 inch
• Water as required

Others

• Ghee - 5-7 big spoons
• Curry leaves - 15 leaves

Magic Begins Here

1. Begin with marinating the chicken in a mixing bowl with the ingredients mentioned under “For the marinade” and refrigerate for half an hour.
2. Meanwhile, dry roast the items mentioned under “For the masala paste” (except tamarind) for about a minute. Transfer them to a mixer , add tamarind and grind to a thick paste (like in the pictures in the below section)
3. In a kadai , heat 4 big spoons of ghee. Add the marinated chicken pieces and fry for 5 minutes each side. Pick them out and keep them aside. (Don’t worry if they are not thoroughly cooked at this point. We will be cooking them again). You would remain with left over yoghurt and ghee in the kadai. To this add the paste prepared and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Now add the chicken pieces back and and cook till its thoroughly done and the masala thickens. Add the remaining ghee at this point along with curry leaves. Adjust thickness as per your liking!

If you have jaggery powder handy, then add 1/2 tsp of it in step 4. This helps add some glaze to the dish and balances out the spices!

Steps in Images