Goan chicken xacuti

Goan chicken xacuti ( goenche kombde mutton/ goenchi kombde xacuti):

Hello everyone, here am sharing with you the most popular chicken recipe of Goa and that is chicken xacuti. Everyone who comes in Goa always go for it and love it. Everyone is ever inquisitive to know the recipe of chicken xacuti and let me tell you it's one of the common dish of Goa whenever chicken enters their home.

However chicken xacuti turns out different in taste in each house, this depends on the way you prepare it, though the basic ingredients remain the same. It also depends on type of red chillies you use, like example bedgi chillies give more taste to the chicken rather then local chillies. Some its like you have to try your hands on different kind of chillies, do some mix match to increase the quality of taste of your xacuti. It also depends on how you marinate your chicken, time of marination, spices used in marination, amount of coconut used, the way you roast your spices etc. So always remember, if first time you don't get the expected taste, always do some mix and match, change your ingredient quantity and also main your method of preparation.

Some prepare chicken xacuti in a very simple manner, whose outcome is not up to the mark. Thodi si zyada mehnat karoge toh result bi super ayega, that's my funda. If you work more hard, the results are also excellent.

So let me take you to my recipe, which I have tried, tested and tasted in my kitchen, loved by my family and still they all love it whenever I prepare it this way. So friends, look at my recipe, understand, try and am sure you will love it to the fullest.

Ingredients and method of preparation:

Chicken - 2kg.
Wash it nicely 3 times in water. Drain water and keep aside.

Marination:
Garlic-10pods, coriander seeds-2 tsp, ginger-1 inch, peppercorns-5-6, green chillies-12, red chillies ( bedgi/guntur/local)-5, haldi-1 tsp, lemon juice of 1/2 lemon, cashewnuts-3, coriander leaves-fistful. Grind all these ingredients with required water to a fine paste. Remove this paste in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of curd and mix well. Put your washed and drained chicken pieces and marinate them very well so that each piece is coated with this masala. Keep this marinated chicken at room temperature for 30 minutes or atleast 1 hr if you plan to make the chicken right way or keep it in refrigerator ( not freezer) overnight if you plan to make your chicken the next day.

Spices to roast:
Coriander seeds-2 tablespoons, peppercorns-5-6, lavang(cloves)-10,cinnamon( tikki)-3, star anise(dagadful)-7, javetri( jaipatri)-1-2, nutmeg( jaiphal)-3/4 th part, fennel seeds( badishep)-2 tsp, red chillies-10 (bedgi/guntur/local), 2 kashmiri red chillies- roast in 3 tsp of oil. Cool and grind to paste. This paste turns out red depending upon type of red chillies used. This is paste 1(red paste).

Step 2- in 3 tsp of oil roast garlic pods (5-6), 2 fat big onions long slitted till brown. Then grind them with 2 tomatoes roughly chopped, fistfull of coriander leaves, tamarind- a small ball with required water to a paste. This is paste 2.

Step 3-Roast 1 medium onion with 1/2 scraped coconut and then grind with required water to a paste. This is paste 3.

Step 4-Roast another 1/2 scraped coconut with khuskhus( poppy seeds-2 tablespoons) and grind to paste with required water. This is paste 4.

Note 1: Some roast coconut with onion and khuskhus together and grind to paste. Its each ones wish. Some roast khuskhus with other spices and then grind. I have mentioned above, your method of preparation always is very important, that varies your final outcome of your dish. Coconut should be roasted on low flame, it should turn light brownish but not get burned. Khuskhus also needs a very low flame. Khuskhus can also be roasted along with onion. Never roast it alone as it gets burned out, so take care.

Final procedure:
In a cooking vessel add oil or ghee 2 tablespoons ( ghee gives your xacuti awesome taste, you can add half amount of each), chopped 2 fat onions, add paste 1, saute till oil oozes, then add marinated chicken and saute well. Close with a lid for 5 mins. Your chicken will loose water. Now heat 1 bowl of water and pour this hot water in it and let it cook. Once the chicken gets cooked well, add paste 2. Stir and let it cook. Check the softness of chicken piece. After chicken is cooked, add paste 3 and give a boil. At last add paste 4, salt and mix well. Just a boil again.

At last add ghee 2 tablespoon on top, stir and off the flame.

You are done with your Goan speciality chicken xacuti. Keep the cooked chicken for atleast an hour to allow the flavours to get mix well.

Note 2: Some add potatoes in the chicken gravy, they say it gives more taste, I don't add. This depends on each ones wish. You can add and see. Either add cut potato pieces and boil with chicken or add boiled potato pieces at last in gravy and give a stir.

Serve with Goan rice/bread/pao/chapati/parata/roti etc.
In my next post I shall show you preparation of Ros omlette with left overgravy of this chicken xacuti.

Till then happy cooking!!

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