Koli Barthad

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken, with or without bones
• 1 clove, 1 cardamom pod, a piece of cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 1 tablespoon ginger–garlic paste
• A handful of curry leaves and coriander leaves
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 teaspoons Pounding Stone masala
• For marinating
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5–7 peppercorns, coarsely crushed
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Pounding Stone kachampuli

Method

1. Marinate the chicken with the salt, crushed pepper, chilli powder, turmeric and kachampuli. Rest it for about 1 hour.
2. Heat the oil and ghee. Add the clove, cardamom, peppercorns and cinnamon, and sauté until they turn golden brown.
3. Add the sliced onion and ginger–garlic paste. Cook until the onions are golden brown.
4. Add the curry leaves and sauté briefly. Then add the marinated chicken and cook on high heat for about 10 minutes.
5. Reduce the heat and cook slowly, stirring now and then. The chicken will release its own juices and change colour.
6. Add the Pounding Stone masala and mix well, so the chicken is coated and does not stick.
7. Add some chopped coriander while it cooks, and keep the rest for the garnish.
8. Keep cooking slowly until the chicken is tender, the flavours have come together, and it is a rich dark brown.

For more tang, add a few more drops of kachampuli. For a drier fry, stay on a low flame about 45 minutes longer, stirring now and then. Garnish with the remaining coriander and serve hot — with ghee rice, curd rice, sambar rice, plain rice, or roti.