Chicken kosha(Aloo diye kosha murgir mangsho) recipe with Bengali video

Chicken kosha (also known as kosha murgir mangsho) is an authentic Indian Bengali style dark colour chicken curry with a thick gravy made by chicken cooked in mustard oil with spices without adding water. Goes well with white rice, Bengali fried rice, Basanti Pulao, Luchi, porotha or with plain roti or phulka.

I said this is an Indian Bengali style recipe, as the same chicken curry recipe is called chicken bhuna among Bangladeshi Bengalis. Because the words “Kosha” and “Bhuna(A hindi word)” mean the same is “roasting”. “Roasting of chicken meat in oil with spices” is called chicken kosha in West Bengal and Chicken Bhuna in Bangladesh. Chicken kosha or Chicken Bhuna is cooked with potatoes or without potatoes, depending on our choice. Though in Kolkata and in Bangladesh, no restaurants serve this dish with potatoes.

Today I am sharing my family’s favourite, a finger-licking, delicious, homemade, unique chicken kosha recipe, which I cooked with aloo(potato. This recipe is unique because it is a little different from the regular Bengali chicken kosha recipe; however, the method is very simple; even beginners can easily make it at home, just following my step by step instructions.

To cook this unique chicken kosha recipe, we need curry-cut chicken pieces(poultry or deshi chicken) means medium to small-sized chicken pieces, that pieces can be boneless or with bones, does not matter. Curry-cut chicken pieces easily get cooked and evenly absorb the spices and flavour. Mustard oil, lemon, kashmiri red chilli, green chilli, curd, potato, onion, ginger and garlic paste, tomato, whole black pepper, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt are the other ingredients for this recipe.

Here I have shared a Bengali cooking video(attached below) for this recipe. Hope this video will also guide the novice through all stages of this cooking.

About Chicken Kosha recipe

Chicken kosha originated in West Bengal, India. Kosha is a Bengali word(comes from West Bengal) that means a food is prepared by frying or roasting in oil with spices (but without water), as here we do with chicken. Chicken meat denotes murgir mangsho in the Bengali language, so this recipe is also called kosha murgir mangsho. The same recipe is popular as chicken bhuna in Bangladesh, as Bangladeshi Bengalis use the term bhuna except for kosha.

Chicken kosha can be spicy or not, depending on your taste. If homemade, you have the option to choose the heat level while ordering in Bengali restaurants must discuss about the spice level you want before placing the order.

Chicken kosha can be cooked with or without alu. Mainly, aloo is not added to chicken kosha, especially if made in Bengali biye bari or Bengali restaurants. Though today I cooked it with aloo.

To make this unique chicken kosha recipe, I first marinate the chicken in lemon juice. Lemon juice will make the chicken tender and juicy. Then fry the aloo in mustard oil until golden brown, and keep aside. Next, fry the onion and tomato in the same oil with a little sugar(to quickly caramelise the onion), whole garam masala, bay leaves and black pepper until brown. Cool them down, blend them into a fine paste. Roast the masala paste in oil with ginger, garlic paste and well-beaten curd, red chilli powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, cumin, coriander, and turmeric powder, salt & sugar. Roast until the spices separate oil. In this stage, mix the marinated chicken and fried aloo with the roasted spices and cook until the chicken and aloo both get soft and juicy. Here, I add a little water to avoid burning of spices and to perfectly cook the potatoes.

Without using an iron wok or iron kadai, just caramelising the onion, tomato and whole spices brings the dark colour of this gravy. However, to bring a dark black texture to your chicken kosha like Kolkata’s famous golbari restaurants, I must suggest using an iron wok or an iron kadai.

Serving suggestion

Chicken kosha with plain steamed rice is a comforting food to me, though it goes fantastic with luchi, Bengali fried rice, Kolkata Chicken Biryani, Bengali Basanti pulao. Even roti/phulka, Paratha, rumali roti, tandoori roti, or chapati is not a bad idea as a side dish.

Even you can check Kolkata Chicken Chaap and Chicken Rezala recipe from my website. You can also try my mutton kasha recipe too.

Try this recipe at home, and let me know if you like it or not. Write in the comment section below this post.

Chicken kosha(Aloo diye kosha murgir mangsho) recipe with Bengali video

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hr

Served in: 1hr 20 mins

Cuisine: Bengali

Course: Main course

Served: 5-6 people

Author: Moumita Paul

Ingredients of chicken kosha recipe

• 1 kg Poultry or Deshi Chicken(curry cut pieces)
• 4 medium Potatoes
• 5 medium Onion
• 1 Tomato(Medium)
• 3½ tsp Garlic paste
• 1 tbsp Ginger paste
• 1½ tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 2 tsp Red Chilli powder
• 2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 4-5 Green Chilies
• 1½ tbsp Curd (Tok doi)
• 1 Lemon Juice
• 2 Bay leaves
• 3 Green Cardamom
• 1½ inch Cinnamon Stick
• 4-5 Cloves
• 10-12 Black Peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• Salt (as required)
• 6-7 tbsp Mustard Oil

How to make Aloo diye chicken kosha step by step with pictures

Instructions

Step 1: Marinating the chicken

• Wash the chicken pieces with lukewarm water. Drain the water and keep it in a bowl.
• Marinate the chicken with lemon juice, 1 tsp turmeric powder, and 1 tsp chili powder.
• Mix it well and cover the bowl.
• Keep the chicken in the refrigerator for 45 mins to 1 hr for marination. Don’t add salt at this stage.

Step 2: Prepare chicken kosha masala

• Heat the pan, and add 3-4 tbsp mustard oil, heat the oil to release smoke.
• Fry the potatoes(cut into halves and smear with salt & turmeric) until they get golden skin. Remove them from the pan.
• Then add the whole garam masalas(1 bay leaf, 3 green cardamoms, 1½ inch cinnamon stick, 4-5 cloves, 10-12 peppercorns) to the oil. Slight stir fry.
• Then add the sliced onion to the pan and stir it well. After a few minutes, add 1/2 tsp sugar to it. Fry the onion until golden, but remain soft, not crispy.
• Now add chopped tomato to the pan and mix well. Fry the tomato until it is soft and easily mashed.

• Remove them from the pan and keep it aside to completely cool down.
• Once it completely cools down, take a blender jar, add the fried onion, tomato and whole garam masalas, add green chillies, and 2-3 tbsp water to the blender and make a fine paste. As shown in the pic.

Step 3 – Roast the spices

• Now again take the same pan, add 2-3 tbsp mustard oil to it and make it hot.
• Add 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp turmeric powder and 1tsp chilli powder directly in oil. Stir it well for 2-3 seconds.
• Then add the onion-tomato-whole garam masala paste to the oil and stir it nicely.
• Add ginger-garlic paste to it and mix it well.
• Then add cumin powder and coriander powder to it. Mix it nicely.

• Fry until the smell of raw spices goes off and spices get dry and start to release oil from their sides.
• Even the spices also get a nice brown colour(as shown in the pic).
• Then add the curd(beat well before adding to the pan) to it.
• Mix it well with spices, and fry until leaves oil from the sides.

Step 4 – Add Marinated Chicken

• Now add the marinated chicken to it and stir it nicely so that the chicken is evenly coated with masalas.
• After that, add the fried potatoes to it and mix it well with the chicken and masalas and cover it with a tight lid. Cook it on medium heat, not high heat.

• Stir it frequently by removing the lid, or else the chicken will get burned.
• When the chicken gets soft and starts to release oil from its side, then only add the salt(as required) and mix well. Again, cover the pan and cook.
• After a few minutes, you will notice the chicken will start to release water.

Step 5 – Add Little Water

• Then stir it well and add 1 cup of lukewarm water to the chicken and mix it well.
• Cover with the lid again. Raise the heat to high and let the gravy come to a boil.

Step 6 – Cook on low heat

• Once the gravy starts boiling, slow down the heat to the lowest setting.
• Cover the pan and wait until the potatoes cook well.

• When the potatoes are properly cooked and the chicken pieces are soft, or chicken bones are visible from the leg pieces means the chicken is perfectly cooked.
• You can raise the heat and cook until the gravy is thick or dry as per your requirement.
• Indian style Chicken kosha is ready. Turn off the heat.
• Serve it with plain steamed rice, roti, luchi, paratha, basanti pulao, Bengali fried rice anything.

Notes

• Do not add salt at the beginning of cooking or during roasting chicken. Salt will forcibly take out the water from the chicken; as a result chicken does not absorb the spices properly, and the chicken does not taste great.
• Do not add water while roasting the chicken with spices; it will make your chicken kasha totally bland in taste.
• Here I use poultry chicken; if you are using desi chicken, the cooking time will be longer when cooking in a pan. However, for a quick result, first boil the desi chicken in a pressure cooker with little salt and turmeric for 10 mins on low heat. Then roast them as I described here.
• Here, I use water to cook the potatoes mainly. If you are not using potatoes no need to use water. Chicken will release water after mixing with roasted spices and salt. Then just cook on low heat by covering the pan until the chicken gets soft. At last, dry up the gravy by raising the heat until you get the thick consistency of the gravy required.