Shorshe Murgi literally means Mustard Chicken. But here ‘Chicken in Curried Mustard Sauce’ would be more appropriate to describe this village style Bengali Chicken Curry. It’s not another fusion dish which has been whipped up in fancy kitchen. Rather it’s one of the oldest chicken preparations from rural Bengal which is getting extinct in the path of modern cooking.
In this rustic Bengali chicken curry chicken is cooked using Mustard Paste and of course in Mustard Oil. And the bold pungent punch of mustard is balanced with the heat from fresh green chilli and mild sweetness from coconut milk. Traditionally this rustic chicken curry is cooked in matir hanri (earthen pots) which actually enhances the flavours of shorshe (mustard). If you have good quality earthen pots in hand I will insist you to use that and you will be amazed by the difference.
This is a very simple preparation which is cooked in a jiffy with basic ingredients. That is why it is quite popular in rural areas of Bengal. They enjoy this Shorshe Chicken with Bhat, Shorsher Tel ar Kancha Lonka (rice, mustard oil and green chilli). You can also find this village style chicken curry in roadside food stalls which is commonly known as ‘Bhater Dokan’ along the highways of Bengal. They create few variations of this unusual Bengali Chicken Curry depending on the local taste buds. Like adding chopped onion and tomatoes or replacing the coconut milk with daber jol (tender coconut water) are local adaptation of centuries old Shorshe Murgi.
Recently this ‘Shorshe Chicken’ has turned into our new Sunday Chicken Curry. Reason?
1. It’s uber rich which we Bengalis look for on Sunday lunch menu.
2. Minimal ingredients and no prep work which means ‘late to rise’ on Sunday is justified.
3. It takes around 30 minutes to get shorshe murgi on your plate from kadai.
4. No need of koshano at all which is a must do for Sunday chicken curry.
And if all these reasons are not enough for you then
5. Shorshe Chicken is a spicy yet extremely flavourful Bengali Chicken Curry
Watch my elaborated step by step video recipe of Shorshe Murgi aka Chicken cooked in Curried Mustard.
Read the entire recipe and Notes carefully before you start cooking. Do make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (unless mentioned) and weighed or measured correctly in appropriate weighing scale or measuring instruments such as cups or spoons. Remember these are not regular cups or spoons which is used in daily life.
SERVING & STORAGE:
Shorshe Chicken is served with Bhat, Shorsher Tel ar Kancha Lonka (rice, mustard oil and green chilli) in roadside food stalls or ‘Bhater Dokan’.
Excess Mustard Chicken can be stored in airtight container and refrigerated for 3-5 days.
- Chicken: 1 kg, with bone
- Garlic clove: 8-10
- Ginger: 2”
- Black mustard seeds: 4 tbs + ¼ tsp
- White mustard seeds: 3 tbs + ¼ tsp
- Green chili: 8-10
- Turmeric powder: 2 tsp
- Kashmiri Red chili powder: ½ tsp
- Salt: 2 tsp
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Coconut milk: 200ml
- Warm water: ¼ cup
- Mustard oil: ½ cup
- Wash and clean chicken pieces and pat dry with kitchen towels.
- Soak both mustard seeds (reserve ¼ tsp of each) and 5-7 chilis in ¼ cup warm water for 15 mins. and blend into smooth paste without additional water. Don’t grind more than three times as mustard seeds tend to get bitter in taste in case of over grinding.
- Add turmeric & chili powder with salt and 2 tbsp of mustard oil into the mustard paste and mix well.
- Marinate the chicken with this mustard mixture, cover and leave it to rest for 30 mins.
- Take a deep bottomed large pan and heat rest of the mustard oil. When the oil is smoking hot switch off the flame and add reserved mustard seeds and one slightly slitted green chili.
- Turn he flame on and add marinated chicken pieces one by one into the pan. Shake off the marinade from each chicken piece before adding to pan. Reserve the marinade that will be needed later.
- Fry chicken pieces on medium flame till chicken turn golden brown in colour from both sides. Flip chicken pieces couple of time for even cooking on both sides. It will take 8-10 mins.
- Once chicken is browned add reserved marinade to the pan and cook on high flame for 3-5 mins or until oil floats on top.
- Now add coconut milk over chicken and mix well. Once bubbles begin forming cover the pan and allow to cook for 10 mins on simmer.
- After 10 mins check if chicken is done; if not cook for another 5-7 mins. Add sugar and adjust seasoning at this point.
- Continue cooking on high flame until curry reaches to personal preference. I cook it further until oil floats back on top.
- Switch off the flame, add more green chilli, cover and keep on stand by for another 10 mins.
- Serve hot Shorshe Murgi with steamed rice. Enjoy!
EAT, LOVE & ENJOY! REPEAT!!!
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Osm recipe. We all enjoyed the dish…. thank you sooo much
It is a bit surprising that both ginger and garlic are mentioned in the ingredients, but they have not been used in the recipe.
Exactly. I just peeled them!
If you watch the video, ginger and garlic are included. I guess she missed mentioning this in the text instructions of the recipe.