One of the easiest Chicken recipes I have ever come across - Chicken Ghee Roast. Chicken is slow cooked in spices roasted in Ghee resulting in tender, juicy, and flavorsome pieces of chicken.
Search the web for Chicken Ghee Roast recipe and you will be greeted with more than 400 thousand hits!
Wowza!
I was amazed!
8 years back when I first heard about this dish, I could not find a single recipe website that shared the recipe.
There is this restaurant in Bangalore named Kanua and we happened to go there about 8 years back.
To be frank, I was a little hesitant to go, because the restaurant boasted of a Konkani/Mangalorean menu, which is something I cook almost everyday.
I was like.... why pay so much moolah for something I make everyday.
But the friend who recommended the restaurant to us, asked us to try their uh-mazing chicken ghee roast with Neer dosa. He just could not stop talking about it.
So we decided to give the combo a try.
OMG!
I was hooked.
Chicken Ghee roast stole the show.... Tender juicy pieces of chicken in an aromatic ghee based preparation.
Mind boggling!
A few months later, I again chanced upon chicken ghee roast, but this time at Mangalore, the place where the dish originated.
That was when I realized, this probably is my favorite chicken dish. But could not find a website that listed the recipe.
It was like this heavily guarded secret.
I asked around and my friend's wife (Sherin) knew somebody who knew somebody (you know how that goes, right?) who worked diligently on developing the recipe for Chicken ghee roast.
Boom!!!
I got the recipe for Chicken Ghee roast.
Now, let us fast forward a little bit in time...
Circa 2010.
Move to USA.
I invited a few guests home for dinner for the fist time ever. To create the best-impression-ever possible, I decided to make the very famous chicken ghee roast.
Now, I have to tell you that the recipe Sherin shared with me used Byadagi Chilli, which are famous for the fiery red color they impart, but are mild in heat.
But on that ominous day (when I was planning to create the i-am-a-fantastic-cook impression) I grabbed the wrong bag of chilli and in my hurry (Mise en place was not my forte), used those chillies instead of Bydagi chillies. The result was a little less desirable than what I wanted it to be.
After that I am very careful while selecting the red chillies for a dish. 🙂
Additional Notes
- The original recipe shared by my friend Sherin uses only Byadagi chillies. I have adapted the recipe to use Paprika(for color) and Cayenne (for heat). If either Byadagi chillies or Paprika-Cayenne combo is not available, you could try the same recipe with Kashmiri chilli powder. Adjust to taste.
- Though Chicken Ghee roast has that fiery red color, it is not an extremely spicy dish. But you could always adjust the spiciness to suit your taste.
- It is important to lower the heat before you add the spice powders to the Ghee. This is to prevent the spices from burning. If spices burn, the end result would taste bitter.
- I use a large skillet to prepare the dish. And place the chicken pieces in one layer. This ensures uniform heating and cooking.
- We typically like our chicken pieces well cooked and since Sonshine prefers less gravy, I roast the chicken pieces uncovered (until all the liquid has dried out) after it is cooked thoroughly.
Chicken Ghee Roast Recipe
Chicken Ghee Roast
Easy Chicken recipe - Chicken Ghee Roast. Chicken is cooked in spices roasted in ghee resulting in tender, juicy, & flavorsome pieces of chicken.
Ingredients
- 500 grams (approx. 1.1 lbs) boneless chicken breast; cut into bite sized pieces
- 3-4 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
- 3 tablespoon Paprika
- 1.5-2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Milk Powder (dry milk)
- ½ tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 4-5 methi seeds (fenugreek seeds); crushed to powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon haldi (ground turmeric/turmeric powder)
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat ghee in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add ginger garlic paste and saute until fragrant.
- Lower the heat to low, add the spice powders - Paprika, Cayenne, crushed methi seeds, cumin powder and haldi. Fry till fragrant.
- Add the milk powder and mix thoroughly.
- Increase the heat to medium. Gently add the chicken pieces,tamarind paste. salt and mix well to coat.
- Cook covered for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is well cooked.
- Once the chicken is cooked well, uncover and fry till all the liquid has dried out.
Notes
The original recipe shared by friend uses only Byadagi chillies. I have adapted the recipe to use Paprika(for color) and Cayenne (for heat). If either Byadagi chillies or Paprika-Cayenne combo is not available, you could try the same recipe with Kashmiri chilli powder. Adjust to taste.
Though Chicken Ghee roast has that fiery red color, it is not an extremely spicy dish. But you could always adjust the spiciness to suit your taste.
It is important to lower the heat before you add the spice powders to the Ghee. This is to prevent the spices from burning. If spices burn, the end result would taste bitter.
I use a large skillet to prepare chicken ghee roast. And place the chicken pieces in one layer. This ensures uniform heating and cooking.
We typically like our chicken pieces well cooked and less gravy, I roast the chicken pieces uncovered (until all the liquid has dried out) after it is cooked thoroughly.
When served as a side dish, along with rice and other vegetables (as mentioned above), this would serve around 3-4 people.
Serve Chicken Roast With...
- Rice
- Daali Thoy
- Bell Pepper Stir Fry
- Cabbage Stir Fry
- Cucumber/Carrot Slices
You could also serve chicken ghee roast with roti or neer dosa
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Till we meet again…
Namaste.
Deliciously Your’s.
S
Antonet Roajer says
Mouthwatering chicken roast!! Yummy
Framed Recipes says
Thank you so much.
Framed Recipes says
Thank you
Deepak Viswanath says
Looks great and I am going to try this for sure.
One question though. Why milk powder? Never used milk powder for a chicken dish before.
Framed Recipes says
Thanks Deepak. My research tells me that milk powder serves to give a nice color and browning and also tenderizes the meat.
Loretta says
Just lovely, those colors are drawing me in. Will definitely have to replicate this pronto 🙂
Framed Recipes says
Thank you.
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
This is a very interesting recipe, especially that addition of milk powder is making me very inquisitive... beautifully cooked, amazing color too... I did make Mangalorean style ghee roast with roasted and ground spices, very easy and delicious too...
Framed Recipes says
Thank you Rafee