Chicken Chop (Cutlet) Bengali style

Chicken Chop (Chicken cutlet) is a very famous street food item which most of the Bengalis miss dearly during evening snack time especially during monsoon and winter season and also when friends make a visit on weekends for pure "Bengali Adda". 

Though chicken chop/cutlet/Croquette are popular in many places but the preparations are different with respect to each place and so is the taste. The recipe I am going to share is one of those inherited recipes from my mother over the years and is very popular in my native place Agartala. It tastes awesome and easy to make too. Let’s go to the recipe.

Ingredients:

For stuffing (Pur)

• Chicken boneless 250 gms
• Onion 3 large (finely chopped)
• Garlic paste 2 tsp
• Ginger pate 2 tsp
• Green Chilli 5 to 6  chopped
• Turmeric powder 1 tsp
• Cumin powder ½ tsp
• Garam masala powder 1 tsp
• Potato Boiled (adding salt) mashed 3 to 4
• Mustard oil  3 tbsp
• Roasted cumin powder 1 tsp
• Cornflour 2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Oil for frying

For batter:

• Egg 2 nos
• Corn flour 1 tsp
• Salt one pinch

For coating:

• Bread crumb 1 cup (I have used homemade as I don’t find it more often and making it  at home is very easy. Take 5 to 6 Rusk biscuit/ bread toast and blend it in mixture and you can get freshly made bread crumb)
• Salt one pinch
• Black pepper powder ½ tsp

Method:

1. Clean and washed boneless chicken and cut into very small pieces. Now take it in a pressure cooker and add 1 cup of water and ½ tsp salt. Pressure cook it upto 2 whistles. One the pressure is released pour it in a strainer and strain the excess water.
2. Take a pan and heat 2 tbsp of Mustard oil . Add chopped onion and fried till it turn golden. Now add ginger and garlic paste and chopped green chillis, turmeric powder and cumin powder. Fry the masala for few minutes and add little water while frying.
3. When the masala separates oil after frying, add boiled chicken pieces and  and mix it  nicely. Add salt and garam masala and then fry the whole filling for 6 to 7 minutes till the chicken is cooked properly.  Once cooked shift the chicken mixture in a bowl. And let it cool completely.
4. Heat 1 tbsp of mustard oil in the same pan and add ½ tsp of garlic paste. Now add the mashed potato, roasted cumin powder and 1 tsp of corn flour. Fry the mashed potato for 5 to 6 minutes til it gives a nice aroma. Shift the mixture in a bowl.
5. Take a small portion of mashed potato mixture and make a round ball. Now make small a case and stuff it with little of chicken mixture now carefully cover it to make smooth ball. You can wither shape them as round chop or oblong shaped chop as I have done.
6. Dip each chop in Egg batter and then roll into bread crumb coating. Now it is ready to deep fry.
7. Fry the chop in hot oil til it turns golden brown in color.
8. Remove it with slotted spoon on a tissue paper to drain excess oil.

Serve it hot and crisp and enjoy this delicious evening snack with tomato sauce or kasundi.

Achaari chicken ( with Raw mango pickle)

Whenever the question comes across my mind “ what to eat when I am so bored with everything I cook”, I start experimenting tweaking different recipes available in internet and comes out with some innovative variation of that. The recipe shared below is also an outcome of such experiment where I tried my own variation to the traditional “Achaari chicken” and it became a  delightful surprise for me and my friends who are too  hunting  for  a completely different style chicken curry. 

  Traditional Achaari chicken curry is a spicy, tangy and extremely aromatic thick chicken gravy which contains all spices used in Pickle and hence the name Achaari (pickle). My version is little different and simple where I have used Raw Mango Pickle or “Aam ka achar”instead of using much additional spices and that makes it quick and easy to prepare.

 If you are yet to taste this lip smacking ‘chicken curry with pickling spices’, go through the recipe here:

Ingredients:

1.              Chicken- 1 kg (Medium pieces preferably whole leg pieces)

2.              Onion finely chopped 1 large

3.              Onion paste of 2 medium Onions

4.              Tomato puree- of 1 large tomato

5.               Ginger garlic paste-2 tbsp

6.               Green chilly slit-4 nos.

7.               Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

8.               Coriander powder- 1 tsp

9.                Chili powder-1 1/2 tsp (as per spice tolerance)

10.              Raw mango pickle-2 and 1/2 tbsp (Store bought)

11.              Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp

12.              Curd/yogurt- 1/2 cup

13.              Lemon juice-2 tbsp

14.              Dried Fenugreek leaves (optional)

15.              Salt-to taste

16.              Sugar as per taste

For seasoning:

1.              Mustard oil-4 tbsp

2.              Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

3.              Fennel seeds-1/4 tsp

4.              Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp

5.              Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

6.              Black cumin seed (kalojeera/kalaunji)

                 You can use Paanch phoron (1 tbsp) if you have at home which is the mix of all these five above                          whole spices

7.              Bay leaf-1

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Method:

1. Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with lemon juice, Mango pickle (you can use homemade or store-bought pickle and this is not a part of traditional recipe but adding pickle take the dish to a whole new level and give an amazing taste and aroma), Curd, salt and red chili powder. Keep it in refrigeration for at least an hour.
2. Heat mustard oil in a pan, add all the seasoning ingredients one by one or Paanch phoron. Once it starts crackling, add chopped Onion and fry for a minute.
3. Add onion paste and sauté until it turns golden. Now add Ginger and garlic paste and slit green chili. Fry the masala for 4 to 5 minutes on medium flame till raw smell goes off
4.  Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and Tomato puree and sauté the mixture for another 4 to 5 minutes
5.  Add marinated chicken and mix well and cook it on high flame for 4 to 5 minutes with continuous stirring. Cover and reduce the flame and let the chicken cook in its own gravy for 12-15 minutes.
6. Add one cup of hot water and cook it covered for another 12 to 15 minutes until the chicken pieces becomes soft and oil separates and floats on top
7. Adjust salt and sugar as per taste.
8. Finally add garam masala powder and kasuri Methi powder. Switch off the flame and let it cover for few minutes and your lip-smacking Achari chicken is ready!