Chicken Xacuti | Chicken Shaguti

Chicken Shaguti is the version cooked in Hindu Brahmin homes in Goa. This dish is also known as Chicken Xacuti and has its roots influenced by Portuguese cuisine. One thing which stands out is the manner in which this dish is made by Goan Hindus vs Goan Christians. The jury is still out on that and I think the biggest differentiating factor is the use of Lime vs Vinegar and local chillies for e.g Bicholim Chillies vs Kashmiri Chillies. If you visit any home in Goa for a Shaguti lunch, you will hear this comment coming often. This recipe is from a very close friend's Mum who hails from Siolim, Goa. My favorite Chicken recipes are Chicken Shaguti, Chicken Cafreal and Kori Rotti.

The color of Chicken Shaguti curry is greenish brown and is thicker than fish curry but very rich, intense and spicy. The meat is first dunked in a marinade with turmeric powder, large knobs of crushed ginger and loads of herbs. The quantity might seem a lot, but it is what the recipe requires and hence the masala is 'zhanzhaneet' as my friend informed me. In Goa, we usually eat this with Pao, Katri, Unno, Tandlachi Bhakri or white rice. Since this is a curry with a very strong gravy base, Rotis prove to be meek and cannot withstand the strong intense aroma of this curry. The base of the gravy can be used to cook Prawns and Clams. The vegetarians need not lose heart. You could use the same gravy with Paneer, Soya Chunks, Potato or Beans of different kinds. I enjoyed this style of chicken cooked in a spicy gravy.

~ Chicken Shaguti ~
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
Chicken (Dark Boneless Meat) - 3 lbs.
Goan Garam Masala - 1 tbsp
Indian Bay Leaf - 2
Coconut milk - 1/3 cup
Turmeric powder - 3 tbsp

Onion (medium, sliced finely) - 5
Garlic cloves (peeled and slit into two) - 10-12
Grated Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1/3 cup

Green Masala/ Harvo Masalo -
Ginger (peeled and cut into large chops) - a large knob of 2" piece
Green Chillies - 3
Coriander leaves - 5-6 strands
Lime juice - half of a lime

Shaguti Masala -
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Black Pepper (whole) - 10-12
Poppy seeds - 1 tsp
Cloves - 6
Cinnamon (broken into pieces) - 2" piece
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 2
Tamarind (optional) - 1 tbsp

Oil
Salt

For Garnish -
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 2-3 strands

Contraptions required -
Blender
Coffee Grinder

Method:
Chicken in Marinade - Clean and trim the chicken of any excess fat. Wash and pat dry. Cut each piece to 2" chunks and add to a mixing bowl. Crush ginger and green chillies roughly and add to the chicken. Do not make a mushy paste just crush them roughly. Make a smooth paste of coriander leaves with little water and add to the chicken. Mix well and add turmeric powder and Goan Garam Masala powder along with salt and lime juice. Leave the chicken in marinade for atleast 4 hours.
Shaguti Masala - In a wide mouthed frying pan, heat a tsp. of oil and roast all the spices in masala except Poppy seeds. Add the ingredients one by one and toast lightly on low flame. Add the Poppy seeds toward the end and allow to cool. Grind this to a powder and keep aside. You could also make this in advance to save time.
Onion-Coconut-Garlic Paste - In the same pan used before, heat few spoons of oil and saute onions, coconut and garlic. Fry them well till they turn reddish brown. It takes around 15-20 minutes to get the right color of browning. Once done, turn off the flame and allow to cool completely. Once done, blend to a paste with little water. Save the water rinsed to add to the gravy at a later stage.
Assembly - In a large deep-bottomed wide mouthed vessel, heat few spoons of oil/ghee, add bay leaves and add the chicken with marinade side by side. Increase the heat and let the chicken brown on both the sides. The chicken will turn couple of shades darker, will be part cooked and turn opaque. Add the water from the rinsed marinade (about a cup of hot water), add additional water (1/2 cup of hot water). Cover with the lid on and let the chicken cook. This process takes about 30-40 minutes. Check if chicken is done, if done add the onion-coconut-garlic fried paste and the Shaguti Masala. Mix well, adjust salt and seasoning and bring to a medium boil and cook for 5-8 minutes. Once done, turn off flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. I served with cooked white rice.

Note - I made the Shaguti masala separately in my coffee grinder. If you wish, you could grind them together to a paste after separately frying. This recipe is spicy and hot, reduce the proportion if the need be. If you do not have Goan Garam Masala, use your own brand of Garam Masala.

Chicken Cafreal - A Goan Portuguese Delicacy

Chicken Cafreal is a very popular ambrosial dish of Portuguese origin found in the Indian state of Goa. If you visit any non-vegetarian joint in Goa, you are sure to be enthralled and welcomed by this dish. The charm of the interplay of flavours comes from the fiery, hot spicy green hued paste. The heat enduring combination of Green chillies, Garlic cloves, Ginger aptly balanced with a generous hand of Coriander leaves. Cumin, Cinnamon, Cloves, Pepper add the zing with the spicy flavours; add a bite of the odd spices with strong dominant flavours - Poppy seeds, Nutmeg and Mace. If you don't like meat, make your own Vegan or Vegetarian Cafreal version with vegetables like Potato, Soya Chunks.

In the Goan version, the grilled chicken drumstick is first cooked for good 30 minutes in a bubbly mix of the green spice paste. Thereafter, the chicken drumsticks are bathed in butter and charred on the heat for the crispy fried finish. I prefer to soak in the green pasty marinade for 24 hours for better retention of flavours. The lime juice supports the meat tenderising process which enables the breakdown of tissues and absorption of the spices. Chicken Cafreal is the Goan Tandoori Chicken if I may say so. I have eaten this version which was a home cooked one at a friend's place and then many of them at restaurants. The flavour is distinct since the Chicken pieces are cooked and then pan fried. Served with Salad on the side, this one surely opens up your senses and is a unique quintessential Goan way of eating spicy hot Chicken.

Preparation time: 24 hours (includes the steeping time for the chicken in marinade)
Cooking time: 30-45 minutes
Note - This is a spicy dish. Use spices as per discretion and preference.

Ingredients:
Chicken Drumstick (skinless) - 5
Coriander leaves (chopped) - 2 cups packed
Green Chillies - 4
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup packed
Garlic - 10-12 flakes
Ginger - 1 and 1/4 " piece
Poppy seeds - 1 teaspoon
Whole Black Pepper corns - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon stick - 2" piece
Cloves - 2-3
Mace - 1/2 teaspoon
Nutmeg - 1/2 teaspoon
Butter
Lime juice - 1 tablespoon
Lime zest - 1 tablespoon

Oil
Salt

Method:

Clean the Chicken Drumstick thoroughly in water and pat dry. Defrost the Chicken completely before use. Soak Poppy seeds in warm water for 20 minutes. Make a smooth paste with just enough water of all the ingredients except Butter. Apply this paste to the Chicken, drizzle some juice and refrigerate in a tall zip lock bag for 24 hours. The lime juice aids as a good meat tenderising agent and makes the Chicken soft and supple.

Next day while cooking, remove and thaw for 1/2 before use. Heat the pan, add oil and the ground paste. Add Chicken Drumstick one by one and cook till the chicken is cooked completely. Cover with a lid to aid faster cooking and gravy reduction. Add Lime zest at this stage to make the meat tender and soft. Once done the gravy will reduce 1/4 in volume, add butter shavings on the side and fry the chicken on all sides. If you are health conscious omit the step of adding butter and just leave the chicken on its own. Add lime juice and pan-fry for 2 minutes. Turn off flame and serve hot as a side dish. Support with Salad of choice.

Note - For better tasting Chicken, marinate for 24 hours. The flavour of Chicken has a profound difference. Do not overcook your Chicken. By doing so you run the risk of disintegrating the meat from the bone.

Egg Bafat Curry

I had earlier written about Manglorean Bafat spice blend ~ a smooth spice powder used in many a Goan-Portuguese, Anglo-Catholic and Catholic cooking in Goa and Mangalore. I used the spice powder to make Egg Curry with ample amount of onions and tomatoes. I did not saute the duo's but sweated them to get the mushy texture. This one goes well with cooked rice, I specially liked the tangy flavour owing to the vinegar flavour embedded in the Bafat spice blend. Another discovery was making long gashes in the cooked eggs enables them to absorb the spices giving a good flavour to otherwise bland egg whites and yolk, the egg whites indeed tasted spicy and yummy! Retain or discard egg yolk as per choice. Most important - allow the curry to rest for atleast 30 minutes you serve. This is certainly not the original way of making Egg Bafat curry; I have adapted and changed the recipe to suit my family's taste.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes (including boiling eggs)

Ingredients:

Eggs (hard boiled) - 3-4

Onions (sliced into quarters) - 2 cups

Tomatoes (chopped) - 1 cup

Bafat spice blend - 1 tablespoon

Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Green Chilli paste - 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger paste - 1/2 teaspoon

Garlic paste - 1/2 teaspoon

Garam Masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Ghee/Oil

Salt

Coriander leaves (chopped) - 1/2 cup

Method:

Hard boil eggs, once done peel them and make long gashes in the egg white and set aside. Heat few spoons of oil or ghee and add Ginger-Garlic paste and let the oil catch the flavour. Add chopped onions and tomatoes and let them sweat in oil, so do not saute, just leave them the way they are. After few minutes, they will turn mushy and soft. Add all the spice powders and green chilli paste except Bafat and Garam Masala powder, adjust water and salt and bring to boil. Once the gravy is cooked and not raw, add the Garam Masala powder and Bafat blend and cook for some more time. Add the eggs now, mix gently and turn off flame. Leave the curry aside for atleast 15-20 minutes before you serve. Garnish with chopped Coriander leaves. Goes well with cooked rice.

Manglorean Bafat ~ A Portuguese Inspired Spice Blend

Manglorean Bafat or Bafad spice powder is a commonly used spice blend in Manglorean Catholic and Goan Catholic cuisines. Bafat spice powder is a spice blend of lots of Red Chillies, some Cumin seeds, some Coriander seeds, generous Whole black pepper corns and stub of Turmeric stick if available. Add a touch of Vinegar and you can make the spice powder with the easily available pantry ingredients right within the comfort of your kitchen.

Traditionally, Bafat based curries made liberal use of Bafat spice blend. The explosive heat generated due to the spices and Red Chillies are snapped off by the sublime hint of tangy vinegar flavour in the meat dishes with pepper undertones. Primarily they are used for Pork, Poultry and Meat dishes of choice. Some buy ready made spice powder, some prefer to make it at home. I prefer buying ready made spice powders from local vendors in Mangalore simply because I need not add Vinegar while cooking the meat dishes. The spice powder already has preserves of Vinegar in it which makes a chef's life easy. :)

The curries are very easy and simple to make. More often than not all the ingredients are thrown in the pot, allowed to steam cook, garnished with all the spices and your Bafat is ready. I recall watching a dear Aunty of Catholic heritage, a very close friend of ours who cooked the most amazing Portuguese dishes when I was a tiny tot. She cooked the tastiest Cafreal, Vindaloo, Balchao's. Her Christmas special spread was always bursting with the tangiest dark Guava Cheese, crispy pink Rose cookies, Kul-Kuls, Jujubes, Coconut Bolinhas, Bebincas and Marzipans. Needless to say, I was the proud taste tester in her kitchen. She once asked me if I am interested to watch her cook Pork Bafat and I nonchalantly watched her pouring in all the meat, spices, onions, loads of garlic and steam cooking all of it. I did not pay much attention because I am not much of a Bacon/Pork lover. But the whole process seemed very fascinating to me at that age.

More in details - select your meat of choice, saute large amount of onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies and cook the meat with some whole spices (optional) along with the Bafat spice blend with some water. The steam cooked meat soaks in all the spices and since its cooked on slow flame the dish gets the spicy yet tangy flavour of Bafat Masala. Based on ones preference of meat, one can make Pork Bafat, Chicken Bafat, Prawns Bafat or if you wish a Vegetarian Bafat dish as well. This spice blend primarily discovered to be cooked with Pork, has now been tweaked around to suit various meat and vegetarian preferences. We prefer the masala for fish and egg based recipes. If bursting with sweaty beads is your idea of a perfect meat dish, than Bafat perfectly fits the bill.

Malabar Spinach Soup (Vaali Bhaajji Soup)

Cold winter, being confined to warm indoors and a bowl of soup to slurp is certainly indispensable. I cherish the warmth and nutrition value a soupbowl brings to the table. I'd a pound of Malabar Spinach which I had bought from Indian store recently. Amongst all the greens, Malabar Spinach is one of my favorites. Basella Alba is the scientific name, Vaalchi Bhaaji in Goan-Konkani, Vaali Bhaajji in GSB Konkani, Basale Soppu in Kannada and Mon Thoi in Vietnamese. Its large stemmed laden with leaves, thick and sturdy, semi-succulent one upon cooking with expansive heart shaped leaves. I enjoy this plant-protein. Upon washing they render a slimy texture to the surface. These are great for Vaali Bhaaji Ambat, a common dish made out of Malabar Spinach in Konkani homes. Malabar Spinach is known to be an excellent soluble fiber and plays a pivotal role in eliminating toxins from the body. The Spinach soup packs all the goodness which health requires. Since, the noodles dissolve and give a great texture and body to the soup, its a good Kiddy Brunch-time soup as well. The tiny tots in my extended family love this to the core.

This recipe was passed on to me by a dear Aunty, who specialises in Anglo-Indian Catholic preparations. A descendant from South Africa, she made this soup with different vegetables as a brunch-time eat for kids. I used to happily slurp spoonful of this soup, rather gobble a bowl and run back home, pestering my mom to learn from her.

Preparation + Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4-6 individuals

Ingredients:

Malabar Spinach (finely chopped) - 4 cups

Water or Vegetable stock - 6 cups

Onions (chopped) - 1/2 cup

Maggie Soup Buillion or Maggi Veg Cube - 1

Salt - As per taste

Oil - For frying

Noodles (Uncooked) - 1/2 cup

Method:

Heat oil in a saucepan and saute onions till they are browned and fried well. Add the chopped Spinach, let them wilt a little for 5 minutes. Add the soup cube, salt, water and noodles which are not cooked. Do not add too much salt as cubes essentially carry sodium. Bring to boil and simmer on low flame for 15 minutes. Turn off flame after the vegatable and noodles are completely done and cooked. You will notice a profound color change in the Spinach once its cooked, the broth would have a dark mossy green color. Turn off flame and serve hot with Crackers or warm Italian Bread.

Fish Fry in Racheado Paste (Tilapia in Racheado Paste)

Goan Portuguese dishes are something I relish. I specially love the vast varieties of curry sauce, paste and traditional cuisine which have been passed on from generations to generations. Few of my favorite Goan-Portuguese Non-Vegeterian food items are Cafreal (very similar to Chicken Tandoori), Xacuti (Chicken or meat of choice cooked in green gravy which is spice and coconut based) and Racheado (red paste dominant with pepper, garlic and vinegar, applied to the meat as a stuffing and pan-fried). The curry pastes are spicy and hot. They have garlic, vinegar and spices as the main ingredient. Infact, these 3 ingredients form the base for most of the Goan-Portuguese dishes. Recently, I watched a TV show hosted by Madhur Jaffrey which showcased Goan-Portuguese delicacy, she aptly mentioned the origin of the word - Vindaloo in Portuguese which is a combination of vin + aloosh = vinegar (wine) + garlic (aloosh).

Traditionally, Fish Rachaedo is made as a red curry paste, applied first to the slits made on the fish, below the bone. Pomfret or Baangdaa is a local delicacy for Rachaedo in Goa. One of our close friends makes this amazingly well, when she cooks her kitchen wafts with aroma of Rachaedo masala everywhere. Pomfret/ Baangdaa Rachaedo is pan-fried wherein the Pomfret (whole fish) is cleaned, slits made below the bone, Racaedo masala stuffed, the fish is then dredged in a batter/ rava and shallow fried.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Fish fillet pieces - 15-20 pieces

Rice Rava - 5 tablespoons

Oil - For frying

For Rachaedo paste -

Onion - 1/2 Onion

Garlic - 5-6 pods

Ginger - 1 " piece

Red Chillies - 6-10

Pepper corns (whole) - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - as per taste

Vinegar - 1 tablespoon (optional)

Grind all of the above to a fine paste.

** This is very spicy paste, tone down as per choice **

Method:

Thaw the fish and get them to room temperature. Once thawed completely, wash the fillet well. Make bite sized pieces and apply the Rachaedo paste. Keep aside for 20 minutes.

Dredge each piece in rice flour and pan-fry with oil on the sides. Turn them over after 5 minutes and fry well till they crispy and the meat is well cooked. Serve hot with lime wedges.