Chicken Ghungni
With the slow change in weather towards cold mornings, I started to crave a hearty meal, like this Chicken Ghugni. This comforting stew is very popular in Bengali cuisine, often served as a snack or weekend breakfast. You can make it pure vegetarian too by omitting the chicken from the recipe.
Ingredients
- ½ cup 3.80 oz./108 g dried yellow peas (holud motor)
- 1 medium size potato (7 oz)
- 1 medium size onion (7 oz)
- 1 inch ginger
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 green chili
- 2 small tomatoes (6 oz in total)
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon Bengali five spice- paanch phoron
- 3 tablespoons mustard oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 8.80 oz./249 g ground chicken
- 1 green chili
spice paste with water
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon fennel powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Soak the dried yellow peas overnight. It will puff up and turn to a yellow shade.
- Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of salt to the soaked yellow peas. Boil it in a heavy bottom saucepan with lid for about 20 minutes, or until the peas are softened but still retain their shape. Keep the boiled peas aside once done.
- Blend or vert finely chop ginger, garlic and green chili.
- Dice the potato into small bite size, finely chop the onion and tomato.
- In a tiny bowl, add all the spices under spice paste and mix it with water.
- In a heavy bottom pan or wok at medium heat and pour the oil and once it heats up, add the Bengali five spice and bay leaves. Once it starts to splatter, add the ginger garlic and chili paste and stir it around.
- Scatter the onion and toss it around. Season with salt and let it cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the diced potato and let it cook together for 3 minutes. Then add the spice paste that was kept aside and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the ground chicken, stir it around to break it down. Add the tomato, season with salt and a little bit of sugar, cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Scatter the boiled peas and stir it around. Pour ½ cup water, cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Finally, sprinkle Bengali Gorom Moshla and let it cook for a while.
- Enjoy Chicken Ghugni warm with your choice or bread and sides.
Video
Notes
Important Point on how to boil the yellow peas
These yellow peas are tricky! Just like most dried peas, you need to soak them overnight. The yellow peas are quite easily available in any Indian store. These appear white or pale white but when soaked, it puffs into a yellow shade. It’s very common in India to use a pressure cooker to boil peas or lentils, but with these peas in this particular dish, you want it to retain the shape. It’s tricky to use pressure cooker because these can turn mushy very easily. I prefer to use a heavy bottom pan with a tight lid, so I can keep an eye as it boils. It typically will take about 30 minutes to soften and yet retain the shape. It should be tender but still hold its shape. Perfect texture of Ghugni should be a mouthful and have a bite and not soupy or mushy. You definitely need the texture.Nutrition
Serving: 1Serves 4