Stew- Chicken- Murgir Jhol

Murgir Jhol, its comfort  food of Bengali Household in India.  Murgi means chicken and Jhol means light curry or stew. When you want to prepare something quickly, healthy , tasty and not with many ingredients, this is the kind of dish everybody will love to have whether  in lunch or in dinner. You need minimum spice like onion, garlic, ginger, tomato and whole garam masala or black pepper.  Any part of the chicken, leg, thigh or wings,  will do for this dish. Carrots, green papaya and potatoes are great combination. It enhances the flavor of the stew and is healthy too.  Best for kids and suitable for Senior citizens stomach too. If you cook it in pressure cooker it will take hardly 15 mins. Else cook it in wok in slow fire.  My son stays alone in California and craves for home cooked Indian curry. This is his best option for him and cooks it often becz its takes minimum effort with best result.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken-4-6 pieces(1/2 kg)
2. Carrot- peeled and halved
3. Potato whole peeled- 1-2
4. Raw Green Papaya- Peeled and a big chunk/ quartered
5. Chopped Onion- 1/4^th cup
6. Minced garlic- 1 tblspn
7. Minced ginger- 1 tblspn
8. Tomato chopped or pureed- 2
9. Curd – 2 tblspn(optional)
10. Whole black peppercorn- 10-12
11. Coriander powder- 1 tspn
12. Turmeric powder- 1 tspn
13. Red chili powder- 1 tspn(optional)
14. Whole Garam masala- ½ tspn(3 green cardamom beaten, 2-3 cloves, 1 2 “ cinnamon stick)
15. Bay leaf- 1-2
16. Oil- 1 tblspn
17. Butter- 2 tblspn
18. Green chili whole- 1
19. Salt to taste
20. Water or vegetable stalk- 750 ml.
21. Chopped coriander for garnishing

Cooking:

Wash the chicken pieces in running water. Keep aside.

In a wok heat  oil. Add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Let it splatter and the oil be aromatic. Add garlic. Stir for 1 min then add onion. Stir fry till translucent.

Add black pepper and the chicken. Stir it till the colour of the chicken changes to white or till the moisture dries.

Add the dry masalas. Stir for 1 min

Add the pureed tomato and curd. Stir it continuously otherwise the curd will curdle.

Add butter , the cut vegetables and cook till the water evaporates and the masalas starts sticking at the bottom.

Add salt and pour water and bring to boil. Cook it covered for 20 mins. In low flame. Stir in between and check the salt level.  The veggies will be cooked and the colour of the stew will become pale yellow.

The quicker method it to transfer the whole thing in pressure cooker. Cook it in medium flame for 4-5 whistles. It is ready to serve. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Note:  You can omit all the spices and cook it with crushed black pepper, salt, turmeric, Add cooked chickpeas if you want. Still it will taste great.

Best paired with steamed rice or with couscous.

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