Chicken Cafreal

NAILED IT!

That is exactly what I said when I first tried and tested this recipe. Trust me...dont miss this one! You could make it in a pan or even grill it..whatever suits you best. I personally prefer the pan, as I thought my grilled pieces turned out slightly dry. Maybe with some basting along the way, it could have ended up juicy and succulent too.

It is said that the preparation of Cafreal originated from the Portuguese colonies in the African continent. It was introduced into the Goan cuisine by the Portuguese. It has an appetizing green color to it, which makes this dish visually appealing. The tastes are a combination of spicy...with a hint of sweet. Its just heavenly.

I first had this preparation when I was a kid at "Florentine" in Saligao, Goa (real close to Calungute beach). Inspite of being in Goa, this dish is a bigger hit in this restaurant that any of their fish preparation. Amazing isint it?! If you do end up visiting this, make sure you also try their Xacutis and Vindaloos. But believe it or not...nothing beats thier Cafreal!

I refreshed my memories of this dish when I visited "The Mynt" in San Jose. Just amazing Chicken Cafreal. They served it with some rice though....which I am not a big fan of!

Lets get to making some now...

Level: Easy
Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:
750 gms chicken
2.5 cups coriander leaves, loosely packed
6-8 green chillies, roughly chopped
2 inch ginger, roughly chopped
15 garlic flakes, roughly chopped
1 tblsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
1 inch cinnamon stick
6-8 peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
5-6 cloves
1.5 tsp ginger garlic paste
1.5 tsp honey
Juice of half a lemon
Salt to taste

Method:
Step 1 - Clean and wipe dry the chicken slices. Rub them well with the ginger garlic paste and salt and keep aside.

Step 2 - In a grinder, grind together the coriander leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic, poppy seeds, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and cloves. Use very little water to grind this together into a paste.

Step 3 - Apply this paste from step 2 to the chicken from step 1. Rub well together. Keep covered in the refrigerator for 1 - 2 hrs. You could keep it overnight too, but I did not personally notice any significant difference in taste.

Step 4 - Heat some oil in a pan. When hot, add in the chicken along with all the spice paste. Let them cook covered for some time on medium high heat. Once the chicken is cooked, cook uncovered till the gravy gets dry and clings onto the chicken. Make sure it does not burn at this stage. Once all done, pour some honey and the lemon juice. Mix well and serve hot.

Serve this with some mashed potatoes or fries or with some steamed vegetables. Its just perfect!

This recipe is inspired from http://www.goanfoodrecipes.com/search/label/Chicken%20Cafreal. I have made some personal changes to this recipe, but if you would like to know the original source...Here it is!

I have not specifically mentioned the shape and size of the chicken pieces as anything would do. You could use this on tiny pieces or drumsticks ...bone in or bone out. Works well anyway. So use what you prefer.

The original recipe calls for some tamarind pulp instead of lemon juice. But I did not want to use the store bought tamarind pulp here, so I replaced it with some lemon juice.

Paneer 65

A hyderabadi starter dish with a mystery! Now why the number 65? Lots of theories to this, some say it was originally cooked with 65 ingredients or spices, some say it was first made in 1965 and some others say it was the 65th item on a mess menu...and so on...I say...I JUST DONT CARE! Whatever was created...was just wonderful!

This dish makes a great starter and jazzes up a party menu. You can keep it all in one dish, or just poke some toothpicks in each piece and decorate it. The spice paste so wonderfully clings onto the paneer, that each bite tastes awesomely full of flavor!

Level: Medium
Serves: 6 people

Ingredients:
Paneer marination:
200 gms paneer, cut into medium sized cubes
1 egg
2 tblsp all purpose flour
2 tblsp cornstarch/cornflour
1 tblsp chinese chilly sauce
1 tblsp soya sauce
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp sugar
Water as required

Sauce:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
20 curry leaves
1 tblsp garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tblsp ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp chilly powder
1/2 cup yogurt, well beaten
1 tsp chinese chilly sauce
1 tsp tomato ketchup
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp cornflour (made into a paste with 2 tblsp water)
Coriander to decorate

Method:
Lets start with the paneer - 
Step 1 - In a bowl, add the all purpose flour, cornflour, chilly sauce, soya sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and mix well. Add water gradually till it forms a semi-thick batter. The batter consistency should be such that it should coat the back of your spoon evenly. It should not run off the spoon quickly.

Step 2 - Add the cubed paneer pieces. Mix well and deep fry till it reaches a nice brown color, as seen in the picture. Keep aside.

Lets work on the sauce now - 
Step 1 - Heat a tblsp of oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the curry leaves, ginger and garlic. Stir fry for a min.

Step 2 - Add the red chilly powder and yogurt. Mix vigorously. Immediately add the chilly sauce, tomato ketchup, salt and pepper. Give it a quick mix. Drop in the paneer pieces and mix well so that the sauce coats all the paneer pieces well.

Step 3 - Finally add in the cornflour paste and mix well. This should immediately thicken the sauce and the sauce will cling on well to the paneer.

Serve hot decorated with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Tips:
The sauce needs to be made very quickly. So have all the ingredients measured and kept at hand, else you could end up curdling the yogurt!

Do not skip the egg in the paneer marination. It helps in uniform coating over the paneer pieces when they are frying.

I have shared the recipe I learnt in a cooking course I took with my friends in college. But for a healthier version, you could always replace paneer with extra firm tofu or just avoid the frying process. But if you avoid the frying process, make sure your sauce has stronger flavors, cause the paneer is going to be tasteless in this case.

Also, Paneer 65 is supposed to have a bright red color...if you want it that way, go ahead and add some food color in your yogurt!


Happy cooking everyone!