Murgir jhol aloo diye | Bengali sunday special light chicken curry

Aloo diye murgir jhol is a light Bengali chicken curry that was our Sunday special lunch in my childhood When dad was at home. As my dad does not eat mutton so our Sunday lunch would be with chicken or fish. More than fish, then I and my sibling love chicken a lot. Still, I can remember the taste of my mom’s delicious chicken curry recipe. Today I will try to make my mom style murgir jhol recipe with a quick & easy way.

Murgir jhol means a simple soup like healthy Bengali light chicken curry with potato which is a Sunday special nostalgia. Aloo diye murgi’r patla jhol still reminds me of those best Sunday afternoons when it is served with gorom vat or piping hot rice. And the interesting part of this murgir jhol was the soft flavourful aloo which enhances the taste of this recipe three times more, right?

I can still remember when my mom cooked her special murgir mangsho or pathar mangshor jhol. Though if dad was at home murgir jhol was common in our household. Even still today those delicious chicken or mutton er bengali jhol really make my day special.

In our childhood, we’ve seen being a bengali, we used to eat fish on a daily basis and chicken or mutton curry was only prepared on Sundays. On Sunday, dad bought fish & chicken both from the market and prefers to eat fish at lunch. And as per our demand mom prepared chicken kasha at dinner instead of chicken er jhol and served it with roti or paratha. 

Nowadays I prepare bengali chicken curries too on my son’s demand. My son mostly loves chicken kosha among all bengali chicken dishes. But that also not on especially Sundays, as per his demand I’ve to cook his favorite chicken kosha on any day.  

Nobody from my family prefers to have a less spicy or less oily mangshor jhol. So basically when Mom prepared chicken er or murgir patla jhol by adding little jhal masala or spices in it. That spicy yet soupy bengali chicken curry was our all-time favorite. Though you may add oil and chilli as per your requirement to make a chicken er halka or non-spicy jhol which is healthy too. That healthy chicken curry is easily served to small kids and old people of our Bengali family. This Bengali light chicken curry or chicken er halka jhol is best for any hot summer Sunday afternoon too.

On Sunday I’ve seen my mom busy in the kitchen in the morning and we were attracted there when the wonderful aroma of mugrir mangsher jhol spread all over our house. My mom can quickly cook a wonderful murgir jhol recipe with simple ingredients (easily available at home). Even though I have never seen her using curd or tok doi, instead, she used lemon juice and tomato together to make the meat of chicken (or murgi) soft and tender. And this bengali style chicken curry is also incomplete without mustard oil which lifts its aroma and taste with its pungency. 

As you all know as a bengali it’s our basic right to use aloo or potato in our chicken or mutton curries. So this aloo diye murgir mangshor jhol or potato added bengali chicken curry can not be the exception. Though as per my personal opinion taste-wise this jhol tastes best with desi murgi than the poultry murgi. Here desi murgi(country chicken) is not always available like Kolkata so broiler murgi’r mangsho is the only option for making this jhol er recipe. 

I first marinate the chicken then fry it in mustard oil till it separates oil and then adds hot water to make this easy recipe of jhol. If you don’t have enough time in your hand, you may cook it in the pressure cooker.

But it’s not a traditional recipe of bengali cuisine as initially chicken or murgi was not allowed to our bengali kitchen. Then chicken meat was banned to only Bengali Hindu community but potato added pathar mangsher jhol was common before the partition of Bengal too. Actually, during the British period, murgir mangsho or chicken meat was firstly accepted by a few bengali families who were not so orthodox. And then gradually the bengali hindu society accept it to have. Even I heard my grandma never allowed chicken in her kitchen and she rarely cooked mutton in her ranna ghor. 

“How to make murgir patla jhol in the pressure cooker?”

For making this simple and easy pressure cooker version, first, marinate the chicken as I did in this recipe. Then put the pressure cooker on medium flame, after frying the turmeric-salt coated potatoes, fry the onions and then tomato. Then use the same process to add the marinated chicken in the pressure cooker with aloo. Fry it till oil starts separating from the masalas. At that moment add hot or lukewarm water and let it boil. Add a little salt to it and cover its lid. Slow down the heat to its minimum and wait for one whistle. When the pressure automatically released then add garam masala powder. Then after cooking it for 1 more min on medium flame, turn off the heat. And your murgi or chicken er patla jhol will be ready in the pressure cooker.

How to make a quick recipe of this bengali chicken curry or jhol without marinating the chicken?“

For making a quick recipe of this bengali chicken curry or jhol if you don’t marinate the chicken must use the pressure cooker. Otherwise, it’ll take a long time to cook in the pan. But if you want to cook this bengali chicken curry in a pan then you must use kochi murgi or small size chicken. Then either you first add all the masalas and lemon juice with chicken and cook it as described in my recipe or after frying onion and tomato, add all the masalas little saute then add the chicken and aloo to fry it till it starts separating oil. Then add the hot water and cook in the same way as I described in my pressure cooker method in the last paragraph.

This Sunday afternoon’s chicken er jhol is so special to every bong if it’s cooked by our mom so today I’m sharing my mom’s recipe. Try this bengali light chicken curry recipe at home and let me know your valuable feedback by writing your comment in the comment section below. 

You may try other Bengali recipes from my website

• Kosha Murgir Mangsho
• Chicken Chaap recipe
• Mutton Kosha recipe

Murgir jhol recipe (aloo diye) | Bengali sunday special light chicken curry

Prep time: 25 mins

Cooking time: 1 hr

Served in: 1 hr 25 mins

Served for: 5-6 people

Course:  Main course or lunch

Cuisine: Bengali

Author: Moumita Paul

Ingredients

• 1 kg of Chicken (curry cut pieces)
• 5-6 medium Onion (finely sliced)
• 2 tsp Ginger paste
• 3 tsp Garlic paste
• 4 Green chilies paste
• 1 medium Tomato(chopped)
• 1 medium Lemon juice
• 8-9 Potatoes(or 9-10 pieces)
• 3/4 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 3/4 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• Garam masala powder(described below)
• 8-9 tbsp Mustard oil
• Salt(as required)

How to make murgir jhol (a bengali sunday special light chicken curry with potato)

Instructions

Preparation 

• Clean and wash the chicken pieces then first marinate with 1 medium-sized lemon juice.

• Then add 1 tsp cumin powder, 3/4 coriander powder, and 1 tsp turmeric powder to the chicken.

• Add 2 tsp ginger paste + 3 tsp garlic paste + 4 green chillies paste + 3/4 tsp red chilli powder. Mix it well with the chicken pieces.

• Then add 2-3 tbsp mustard oil and 1 tsp salt to the chicken. Mix it and leave it for a marination of 1hr.

• Wash and peel out the potatoes. And prick the potatoes with a fork from each side to cook it well and absorb the masalas in it (as I’ve used small potatoes, not baby potatoes). 

• Then smear the potatoes with 1 tsp turmeric powder + 1/2 tsp salt. Mix it well.

How to make murgir jhol gravy

• Put the pan on medium heat, add 5-6 tbsp mustard oil to the heated pan and let it get hot.
• Then add salt-turmeric-coated potatoes to the oil.

• Fry the potatoes on low flame by covering the pan with a lid till it gets golden in colour. Remove it from the pan.

• Then first add 2 bay leaves and then add finely sliced onion to the pan. 

• Add 1/2 tsp of sugar to quickly get caramelized (a nice golden brown fried onion).
• Then add chopped tomatoes to it. Fry it nicely.
• Though you may add the pureed or chopped tomato while marinating the chicken.

• While the tomato pieces are almost cooked, then add 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder to it. Stir it well.

• Then add the marinated chicken to the pan and mix it with fried onion and tomato. 

• After stirring well add the fried potatoes to it and mix it together. 

• Then add the salt. Mix it well, and cover the pan with a tight lid. 

• After every 2-3 mins interval, stir the chicken to avoid burning from the bottom.
• When the gravy is a little dried up, then add 3-4 slit green chillis and mix it well.

• Then after 1-2 mins, add hot water and stir it well. Bring it to a boil.

• When the chicken er jhol will start boiling, then add salt as per taste.
• Then again cover the pan and slow down its flame to its minimum.

• Let it cook till the potatoes and chicken are perfectly cooked.
• Once the cooking is done, add gram masala powder(2 cardamoms, 3 cloves, and 1/2 inch cinnamon stick), mix it well and turn off the heat.

• Aloo diye murgir mangshor patla jhol or light chicken gravy is ready, serve it with piping hot rice and a wedge of lemon. It will surely make your Sunday afternoon.

Tips

• Here I’ve used small potatoes, even you may use medium or big potatoes and cut into two or four pieces respectively.
• You may add the tomato while marinating the chicken as my mom does.
• Kashmiri red chilli powder is my addition though you may skip that part.

Summary

Recipe Name

Murgir Jhol aloo diye

Author Name

Moumita Paul

Published On

2020-01-24

Preparation Time

25M

Cook Time

1H

Total Time

1h25M

Average Rating

4.5 Based on 20 Review(s)