By Murgir Jhol (Bengali Chicken Curry) is spicy, delicious and soupy chicken curry with potatoes flavoured with aromatic whole spices. Aloo diye Murgir jhol is a quick and easy Sunday special Bengali recipe best eaten with piping hot rice and squeeze of lime.
“Aloo diye Murgir Jhol” my definition of ultimate comfort food. Murgi is chicken and jhol means soupy curry in Bengali. Murgir jhol or kosha mangsho used to be a regular Sunday affair at our household or if I am not wrong each and every Bengali household.
As a Bengali, fish used to be an everyday thing at home. So chicken or mutton used to be like a treat, which we enjoyed on Sundays’. Hence Sunday Special Murgir Jhol. Baba used to get fresh cut of meat in the morning form bazaar and maa used to prepare delicious curry. Kosha mangsho or jhol is indeed very special to us. Still makes me so nostalgic.
One more thing, Bengali curries used to be incomplete without large pieces of potatoes. The potatoes soak up all the lovely juices from the curry make it juicy and irresistibly delicious. So please never skip adding the potatoes in the curry.
My little one totally enjoys eating this healthy and delicious curry with rice.
What are the ingredients used for Bengali chicken curry?
Apart from the chicken the rest of the ingredients are all basic.
- Chicken (I used drumsticks)
- Onions
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Green chillies
- Yogurt
- Lemon juice
- Mustard oil (You can also use regular vegetable/sunflower oil)
- Bay leaves
- Cardamoms
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Turmeric powder
- Chilli powder
- Kashmiri chilli powder (for the colour)
- Cumin powder
- Coriander powder
- Salt
- Sugar
I like to marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer the better. We love out curry quite spicy, you can adjust the amount of chillies and dried red chilli as per your liking. If you do not have yogurt, use tomato to add a little tang to the curry.
Now let’s jump to the detailed recipe to see the recipe.
Here are few Bengali Chicken recipes that you can try.
Dhonepata Murgi (Coriander Chicken)
Kosha Murgir Mangsho (Bengali Chicken Bhuna)
Dhonepata diye Murgir Mangsho (Coriander Chicken Curry)
Aloo diye Murgir Jhol
Murgir Jhol | Bengali Patla Chicken Curry |
Equipment
- Large bowl
- large thick bottomed pan
Ingredients
Marination:
- 1 kg Chicken
- 1 small Onion roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 inch Ginger roughly chopped
- 6-7 large Garlic pods roughly chopped
- 2 1/2 tbsp Yogurt
- 2 tsp Lime/lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
- 1 tsp Chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Mustard oil
For the Curry:
- 3-4 medium Potatoes washed, peeled and cut in half
- 2 Large Onions thinly sliced
- 2-3 Green Chillies slit
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- 2×1 inch Cinnamon
- 5-6 Cloves roughly pounded in pestle n mortar
- 5-6 Green Cardamom roughly pounded in pestle n mortar
- 1/2 tsp Bengali Garam masala
- 1 tsp Ghee
- 1 tsp Sugar
- Salt as per taste
- 3 tbsp Mustard Oil/ Veg oil
Instructions
Marination:
- Firstly add onion, ginger, garlic, yogurt in a mixer grinder and ground into a paste.
- In a large bowl add the chicken and all the ingredients mentioned under marination along with the onion-ginger-garlic paste.
- Mix it really well with hands and cover and keep it aside for at least 30 minutes.
To make the Chicken Curry:
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large thick bottomed pan/ Kadhai on medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot toss in the potatoes along with some salt and fry till the potatoes are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep it aside.
- Add the rest of the oil in the same pan and heat it on medium high heat. Temper it bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms and saute until the oil is infused with the flavours of the spices.
- Add in the sugar and heat is slightly until it caramelises a bit. (This adds a lovely reddish tinge to the curry).
- Now add the sliced onions and saute on medium high heat until it is soft and golden brown in colour.
- Now add in the marinated chicken along with the marinade and cook on medium high heat stirring continuously for 9-10 minutes or until the meat is no longer raw.
- Now add in the fried potatoes along with some salt and mix it well with the chicken. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes stirring frequently so that it does not stick to the pan.
- When the chicken looks dried up (kosha) and you see oil seeping through the sides, add 2-3 green chillies and 2 1/2 cups of hot water(you can adjust the amount of water as per your liking, add more water if you like the jhol more thin) to the chicken and and potatoes.
- When the chicken curry starts boiling, check the seasoning add salt or sugar if required.
- Cover and cook on low to medium heat until the chicken and the potatoes are cooked through.
- FInally add Bengali Garam masala and 1 tsp ghee to the curry and give it a good mix. Boil for another 2 minutes and take it off the heat.
- Serve it hot with rice or roti or paratha.
I hope you enjoy this Murgir Jhol (Bengali Chicken Curry) as much as we do!
You know what guys I would love to see your creations. If you do try this recipe, just click a pic and tag me @gastronomicbong or #gastronomicbong on Instagram or on Facebook.
Bon Appetit!!!
angiesrecipes
April 13, 2020I love all sorts of chicken curry! Hopefully one day I could taste some of yours :-)) This looks incredibly delicious.
Laila khan
November 22, 2020“Murghir jhol”..
Hi, my name is Laila and I am a British born Bengali..
As I read your blog, I found it very nostalgic! It tapped into my childhood memories of amma, making exactly this on a Sunday and the meat version too.. mouthwatering! The tradition carried on here in the UK in my family.
She didn’t use the same method, but yours looks exactly the same. I am trying it out right now!
Your images are beautiful… very well done, for that and the recipes..
It would be nice to see some fish recipes, wet and dry as this is an area that I am weak in and since Bengalis are renowned for their love of fish, I really would like to learn authentic dishes.
I love cooking for friends and my 12 year old daughter is a very keen chef.. I want to pass on recipes to her.
Very well done.. and thank you.
Arpita@Gastronomic Bong
November 22, 2020Hi Laila. It feels so nice to read such lovely messages. Yes I will definitely be sharing some authentic Bengali fish recipes soon. For the time being you can check out some delicious macher recipes on the blog too. There are variety of dry as well as curry recipes already on the blog. Do have a look.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a lovely msg ♥
Rutuja Nandi
January 24, 2022Tried this recipe yesterday. Me and my family just loved it…. It is very flavourful and light as the ‘jhol’ is a soupy curry…. Its a must try!
I am a Maharashtrian married to a Bong and just love to cook… I keep trying new dishes and this recipe surely goes in my recipe book.
Thanks a ton!
Armain
May 31, 2022Finally an actual kosha murgi curry recipe on the internet! Good job
Shruthi
September 27, 2024Thank you for sharing such a wonderful authentic Bengali curry from your home. The delicately spiced and flavourful curry was enjoyed by me and family. Next one to try in my list is the Donepata Murgi ☺️