Chicken Cafreal

5 from 8 votes

Chicken Cafreal (Galinha Cafreal) Tender chicken cooked in a tangy, spicy, green-coloured gravy made of coriander leaves, spices, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, and ginger — a restaurant-style Goan classic.

Course Appetizer, Appetizers, Main Course

Cuisine Goan, Indian, Portuguese

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 30

Servings People

Author Raksha Kamat

Equipment

Tava / frying pan
Saucepan
Mixer grinder
Mixing bowl

Ingredients

500 grams chicken cut into pieces

For marination:

½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ tablespoon red chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste 7 garlic pods + ¼ inch ginger, crushed in a mortar and pestle
2 tablespoons lime juice

For cafreal masala:

1 bunch fresh coriander leaves with stem / cilantro about 2 cups chopped
10 garlic pods
½ inch ginger
2 green chilies
5 cloves
8 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 inch cinnamon
1 bay leaf
¼ cup vinegar
¼ teaspoon lime juice
Salt to taste
4 tablespoons oil

For the potato wedges:

1 medium potato cut into wedges with skin on
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup oil

Instructions

Marinate the chicken with the marination ingredients for at least 4 hours, refrigerated.
Salt the potato wedges and boil until slightly soft. Drain and pat dry. Deep-fry in 1 cup oil until golden; set aside.
Grind the cafreal masala ingredients together into a thick green paste, using minimal salt since the chicken is already marinated.
Coat the marinated chicken with the green masala and set aside for 30 minutes.
Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a pan. Separate the chicken from the reserved masala and shallow-fry for 8–10 minutes on medium flame.
Add the reserved green masala to the pan, cover, and simmer on low flame, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked and the gravy turns dry.
Adjust salt to taste, then coat the fried potato wedges in the finished gravy.

Notes

Rum can optionally be added while making the green masala.
Add salt gradually across marination, grinding, and final cooking stages, adjusting at the end.