Maangsho’r Jhol (Murgi)

Murgi: chicken
Jhol: the "sauce" in a curry

What follows is a traditional, Bengali chicken curry (arguably, a spicy soup). Runny, and with depth in its spice-profile, it's typically had on the weekends as a second (main) course, and often features as a main in thaalis from the region.

Ingredients:

• Chicken (bone-in leg pieces are a must, but use whatever you have available)
• Full-fat Yoghurt (lower fat yoghurts will always split in curries)
• Red Onions/Shallots
• Potatoes
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Chillies (fresh) (to taste)
• Coriander
• Whole spices: cumin, black peppercorn, dried red chillies (to taste), yellow mustard seeds (a small handful per chicken), fennel seeds (not too many), bay leaves, cloves (three to four per whole chicken), cinnamon (a medium-sized stick)
  (Note: you can also add cardamom, but I personally don't use it)
  
• Powdered spices: Kashmiri red chilli, turmeric, coriander, black pepper, cumin
• Water/Chicken Stock
• Mustard Oil (substitute if unavailable -- the good stuff is nigh-impossible to find outside India, but if you can grab a bottle of "Engine oil", I highly recommend it)
• Salt
• Lemon
• Malt Vinegar (optional)
• Tomato (optional)

Prep (chicken):

• Toast your whole spices off on a low heat in a dry pan (watch out, the mustard seeds will attack! Use a splatter guard/lid), remove them when the mustard seeds stop jumping around, grind them down coarse, allow to cool to room-temperature while you...
• Portion your chicken, remove the skin, stab the pieces over with a fork
• Rub the chicken with turmeric and a little chilli powder
• In a bowl, mix some of your powdered spices together with a small amount of the spices you just ground up
• Do not salt your chicken at this stage
• Add a little finely-minced onion/shallot, a smashed clove of garlic, a little grated ginger, a sliced green chilli, and chopped coriander stems
• Throw your chicken in and mix, then add just enough yoghurt to lightly coat your chicken, dust with a little extra Kashmiri chilli powder and black pepper powder
• Add in a small lick of oil
• Mix again and leave in the fridge for a minimum of thirty minutes (for best results, leave for an hour and a half to two hours no more)

Prep (pre-cook):

• Finely mince your onions/shallots, smash a few cloves of garlic, grate an amount of ginger roughly equal to your garlic (you don't need a lot of this, so go easy on the amounts), ratio: 2:1:1
• Skin some extra cloves of garlic fine, cut a few batons of ginger out, slice some extra onions fine
• Take your bowl of chicken out of the fridge, give it a mix
• Cut your potatoes up into fairly large chunks, rub with turmeric and a pinch of salt
• Add your stock/some water to a pan, set on a low heat
• Add some dried red chillies to your liquid and allow to heat through for 10 minutes
• Fish the dried chillies out, add to a mortar and pestle along with a small amount of salt, a black peppercorn or two, and a few yellow mustard seeds
• Grind down into a coarse paste, add some garlic, ginger, and a fresh green chilli, continue to grind down until you’ve formed a good quantity of paste
  
• If using tomatoes, cut them into quarters and leave them aside
• Salt your chicken and give it a thorough mix
• Allow your stock to come up to a gentle boil and cut the heat
• Have a sip of water. Here we go

The cook:

• Add oil to your pan, set it over a medium flame
• When heated through, carefully slide your potatoes, follow with a pinch of salt, and fry for a few minutes until lightly golden on the outside, remove and set aside in a clean bowl, leave the pan on the heat
• Add your minced onions, smashed garlic, and shredded ginger, and lower the heat
• Cook through for 2 minutes, then dunk in your paste, followed by a pinch of salt, and some of your whole spices (hold the whole dried chillies and bay leaves at this stage)
• Cook for 2 minutes, then add in your sliced onions, stir through
• Add a pinch of salt, and dust with your powdered spices
• Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, then raise the heat back up to medium
• Throw your chicken in, and mix the contents of your pan together
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes, follow with any remaining marinade
• Add your potatoes back in along with any run-off, followed by your sliced garlic, a fresh green chilli or two, and dust with a small amount of your powdered spices (if using tomatoes, throw them in now)
  (You may also add a few spoons of yoghurt at this stage)
• Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, dust with a little Kashmiri chilli powder
• Add a bay leaf or two, some dried red chillies, stir in, and raise the heat on your pan
• If using vinegar, add a glug in now, and stir it in
  
• Add your stock (should be warm at this point) in
• Stir thoroughly and cook for a minute
• Throw your batons of ginger in, a bay leaf or two, a whole clove of garlic, and allow to come to a gentle boil, then cut the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is done and the potatoes are soft
  (If the potatoes haven't cooked through for whatever reason, remove the chicken from the pan, raise the heat, and allow the potatoes to cook through before returning the chicken to the pan on a low heat)
• Mix in the last of your ground whole spices (make a little extra if you don't have much left) and a little coriander powder
• Taste and adjust for salt
• Cut the heat, lash with some mustard oil
• Allow to rest for 5 minutes

Serve:

• Make some rice and a green vegetable dish (simple spinach with mustard greens is a good option, as is stir-fried dry okra, or sauteed green beans)
• Serve a potion of rice with your green veg
• Follow with a second course of rice and murgi-r jhol, served hot
• Scatter fresh coriander leaves and a squeeze of lemon over the curry while serving
• Serve sliced red onions and a fresh green chilli to the side for nibbles (most traditional)
• Quick-pickled pink onions are another good option, as are slices of raw carrot

Modifications/Extras:

You may add any of the following to the dish to round it out. It may not be a murgi'r jhol in the strictest sense, but it'll be a good, hearty dish, nonetheless.

• Peas
• Carrots (sliced, diced, fired-by-Gordon-Ramsay-for-not-knowing-who-Julian-is'd)
• Mushrooms (sliced, or even left whole)
• Capsica (julienned, please)
• A boiled Egg for extra protein (hungry Bengali intensifies)
• You may dry-rub and crisp the chicken skin up on the side
• To adapt this for lamb/goat, double up on the cumin and the chilli powder, adjust for cooking time
• You may absolutely reduce the jhol in the pan for a more recognisable "curry" (take the chicken out of the pan to avoid overcooking)
• Some people add sugar (shudder) to balance out te dih. I find it pointless, but feel free to do so

As always, adjust to your preference.

Leftovers (if any somehow occur):

• The jhol on its own serves as a great stock for future use
• De-bone and shred any leftover chicken and use as a taco filling (thank me later)