Tender juicy pieces of chicken traditionally with bone cooked with a dry gravy of onions, ginger, garlic & of course beautiful Indian whole spices. Simple yet delicious.
In a typical Odia family a good mutton based meal is reserved for Sunday. Making mutton curry is a time taking process my mother would not be in the mood to put that much effort, due to some other circumstances. Well, it’s a Sunday and our super moms do deserve a bit of break on that day. So what does she make, Chicken Kassa or Chicken curry as it is a quick & effortless dish. Many times my father would make his special chicken Kassa, which is a family favourite. I shall share that recipe soon. But today I will show you the traditional Odia Chicken Kassa. Kassa generally means a dry gravy or the stage of curry just before adding water.
So it’s a Sunday today and the weather is just fabulous. It has rained the whole night yesterday, So it a wet morning & in this cloudy weather, all I love to do is to make a flask full of spiced ginger tea and keep sipping on it throughout the day while looking out of my balcony. Dear husband is craving for some yummy food, but I am not in the mood to cook something lavish. So it’s decided that it’s a Chicken Kassa day. Trust me your weekend lunch is set.
Prep time | 15 mins
Cooking time | 35-45 mins
Difficulty level | Beginner
Ingredients
Chicken medium size curry cut, 500 gms
Mustard oil, 5 tbsp
Cinnamon, 2 large-sized broken sticks
Cardamom, 4 units
Cloves, 5-6 unit
Dried bay leaf, 1 unit
Onion medium 2, Julienne cut
Green chillies 3-5 (according to personal taste), chopped
Ginger garlic paste, 4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder, 2tsp
Kashmiri Red chilli powder, 1 tbsp (if you are using any other chilli powder, the quantity needs to be used according to personal taste. Kashmiri red chilli powder is not very spicy and mostly used for rich red colour.)
Coriander powder, 1tbsp
Cumin powder, 1tbsp
Water, 1 cup
Tomatoes medium 2, chopped
Chicken masala, ½ tbsp
Garam masala, ½ tbsp
Coriander leaves, 2-3 tbsp chopped
The first step here is always to clean the chicken pieces thoroughly and keep aside. Place a Kadai on the stove on medium-high flame. I have used a Dutch oven though. You can use anything you like, just needs be a deep pot. Once it is hot, add the mustard oil and wait for it to get really hot. Add the whole spices (Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves). Add the dry bay leaf and the onions.
Sauté it for a few seconds before adding the chopped green chillies. Sauté them well until the onions become translucent and lightly brown. Now add the ginger garlic paste and all the dry spices that is salt, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder. Keep frying the masala until the aroma comes through and it separates from the oil. You can add some water to avoid the curry paste from burning or sticking to the bottom.
Once the masala is ready, add the chicken pieces and mix it well.
Cover the lid and let the chicken cook with the masala for 5 to 10 minutes. There is no need to worry about the chicken/ masala getting burnt as the chicken will release a bit of its on water. Remove the lid and add one cup of water. Mix it well and cover the lid again. Remove the lid after 10 minutes and check on the chicken, it should be partially cooked. Add the tomatoes and cover the lid again for them to break apart. Cook for 5 more mins. Remove the lid, the tomatoes should have broken apart and mixed well into the gravy. Add chicken masala & Garam masala. Keep stirring for 5-10 mins until the excess water evaporates, leaving a thick gravy. Check out the video to understand the consistency we require here. Throw in some chopped coriander leaves and our Chicken Kassa is ready.
Serve hot with some Phulkas, Dal-chawal, parathas, puffed rice or puris. Go with your favourite.
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