Spicy Chicken Butter Roast

This is a simpler version of the famous "Mangalorian Chicken Ghee Roast". My dear Mangalorian friends, please forgive me. I used to be at Mangalore for about two years and really love this cuisine. Even here at U.S., we do have few friends who make awesome Mangalorian food (sorry I do not have consent to publish names... :-)).

And then there was "Sabu" who used to create magic with cooking. Poor mallu IT guy is probably caught in the wrong job... hehe... He once made chicken ghee roast and no one ever dared to attempt it again as he set the benchmark so high. "Sabu", if you are reading this, the offer is still on nd we are ready to bet all-in on your restaurant venture. :-)

Anyways, one day after the office hours I felt like having chicken ghee roast and guess what half of the ingredients were not at home. Being the lazy guy as always, I tried to make with what I had t home and it turned out to be really good. This was the recipe that I cooked.

Try it out... Enjoi...

Preparation time: 20 Mins.

Cook time (incl. Prep. time): 40 Mins. (Plus 4 hrs. of marinating)

Serves: 3

Spice level: Medium

Ingredients:

1. Butter - 6 Tbsp. (Melted)

2. Salt to taste

3. Curry Leaves - 8

4. Coriander Leaves - for seasoning (chopped)

For Marinating:

5. Chicken - 1 Lb. (clean and cut into small pieces)

6. Yogurt - 3/4 Cups

7. Lemon Juice - 1 Tbsp.

8. Turmeric Powder - 1/2 Tsp.

9. Salt - 1 Pinch

For Dry Masala:

10. Dry Red Pepper - 7 (Long)

11. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 Tsp.

12. Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 Tsp.

13. Whole Garlic - 9-10 Cloves (Peeled)

14. Coriander Powder - 1 Tsp.

15. Black Pepper Whole - 4

16. Tamarind - 1 Tbsp. (Soak 1 small piece of tamarind in 1 tbsp. water or dissolve 2 drops of tamarind paste in 1 tbsp. water)

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix chicken with yogurt, lime juice, turmeric powder and salt until the chicken pieces are evenly coated with the marinate. Keep it covered for atleast 3 hrs. (Overnight preferred).

2. Roast the dry masala ingredients (except the tamarind) one after the other and add it into a grinder.

3. Once all the ingredients are added to the grinder add tamarind and grind it for about 5 mins. until it becomes a smooth thick paste.

4. Get the masala paste off the grinder jar and set aside.

5. Add 3 tbsp. water into the same grinder jar and switch on the grinder for a min. This cleans the grinder and also helps collect every particle of the masala. Set aside the masala water.

6. Heat 3 tbsp. butter in a frying pan and add chicken to the pan. Fry the chicken for about 20 mins. on high-med flame until the chicken is three-fourth cooked.

7. Remove the chicken pieces along with the gravy and set aside.

8. Add the remaining (3 tbsp.) butter into same pan and let it heat.

9. Add the ground masala mix into the pan and fry it for about 5 mins. or until the butter separates. Stir occasionally and make sure it does not burn.

10. Add the curry leaves, chicken pieces along with gravy and the masala water.

11. Cook for about 10 mins. on low flame until the chicken is fully cooked and nicely coated with the masala.

12. Get it off the flame, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve warm with rice/roti.