Charred Dry Chicken Bhuna With Naga!Charred Dry Chicken Bhuna With Naga!

A Bengali dry bhuna. Often a way to revamp leftover chicken curry…

This is an old family recipe, tweaked by everyone to suit individual palates!
The key to this dish is to let the curry catch a little on the pan. This dries out the old sauce and makes it more intense and deep.
The slight char adds a little smoky nuance.

The naga adds a fresh floral heat but this is optional! However it does make for an authentic flavour. Do try keep the mushrooms thick…4 slices out of medium closed cup or 5 for large. This gives the meaty tender bite and retains the integrity of the mushrooms…!

The garnish of fresh coriander and julienned ginger add a vibrancy and the black ground pepper the lovely piquant heat and nasal hit!

And there you have a charred dry chicken bhuna with naga!

INGREDIENTS:

I used a takeaway container of leftover chicken curry on the bone.
I onion sliced
Quarter of green pepper sliced
1 fresh naga or scotch bonnet sliced
8 closed mushrooms cut into thick slices
1 small fresh tomato sliced
5 cloves garlic sliced
1 inch ginger finely sliced
Handful fresh coriander

Half tsp coriander powder
Half tsp cumin powder
Half tsp salt
1 tsp black ground pepper
3 tbsp oil

METHOD:

Heat the oil.

Add sliced onion, garlic, naga, green peppers.

Fry this till onions are just colouring and softened.

Add the fresh tomatoes, powdered cumin and coriander, salt and cook this for a few minutes until oil starts to split a little.

Add the chicken curry, mushrooms and break up chicken. Fry this and let it catch the bottom of pan to slightly char then stir and continue till the chicken has dried and semi fried/charred.

Switch off heat. Add sliced ginger, fresh coriander and black pepper. Taste and adjust.

Stir well and serve…

Tips:

If you wish to make this with fresh uncooked chicken then slice the chicken in thin strips.

Include whole spices in the oil first. Bay leaf, cinnamon stick and 3 split cardamoms will do.

Increase the coriander and cumin to 1 full teaspoon. Also add 1 tsp of Kashmiri chili powder and half tsp of turmeric.

Remember though this is primarily used to revamp left over curry!

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