A more involved chicken curry to make, but the pay off is so worth it, that you’ll consider ever minute well spent! And trust me here, that once you make it, this spicy chicken kolhapuri will be your go-to chicken curry for special occasions! This kolhapuri chicken is my go-to special occasion chicken curry to make, whenever I am expecting guests or even for potluck parties. It’s always a hit! Though I remember when I was first figuring out how to make this curry, quite a few years ago now, I found the sheer number of ingredients that went in making the kolhapuri masala base, pretty daunting. But thankfully I persisted. Because when I finally figured out the right proportions – the taste was simply divine! And I was hooked for life! Since then I have figured out a few tricks and hacks to make cooking this chicken curry a little easier and quicker, and today I’ll share those with you in this step by step recipe for making kolhapuri chicken curry.
What is Kolhapuri Chicken
Kolhapuri Chicken is a kolhapuri style chicken curry, that is infused with the bold & flavorful spices of the kolhapur region, which is known for its vibrant and spicy cuisine.
How to Make the BEST Chicken Kolhapuri
You can make chicken kolhapuri with ready-made kolhapuri masala from the store, but nothing replicates the flavors, when kolhapuri chicken curry is made at home from scratch. And yes, while it is a little more of an involved recipe, it’s not complicated at all. Think of it this way – you would need to brown onions, and cook down tomatoes like you would for any chicken curry. In this case, in addition to that, you would just need to roast some whole spices too, which takes only a few additional minutes. It’s actually the browning of onion that takes the most amount of time. But you can use a wide bottomed pan to cut down on the time it takes.
This Kolhapuri Chicken Curry is
hot, spicy and deliciousfull of bold, vibrant flavorsmade from scratchperfect for parties
Ingredients for Chicken Marination
Ingredient notes
You can use any kind of chicken for making kolhapuri chicken, but preferably only go with bone-in chicken. I personally prefer leg quarters over drumsticks, but you can use either.
Marinating Chicken for Curry
Take 3 pounds of chicken leg quarters, wash it well, and drain out all the excess water.In a bowl, take 5 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, 1 tablespoon red chilli powder, 1 tablespoon garam masala powder, 1 tablespoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon kasoori methi powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water or oil. Mix everything together to form a smooth marinade.Apply the marinade to the chicken, ensuring to coat all the chicken pieces very well.Refrigerate the marinated chicken for 4-6 hours.
Ingredients for Kolhapuri Style Masala & Curry
Step by Step Recipe
In a wide bottomed pan, heat up ½ cup of oil, and then add in 1 teaspoon cumin seeds.When the cumin seeds start crackling, add in 8 cloves of garlic (roughly sliced), and saute for 2-3 minutes, till the garlic just about starts changing color and turning light red.Then add in 2 whole chillies (broken in 2 pieces each), and lightly roast it for 30-60 seconds.After which, it’s now time to add in and roast the whole spices.
Roast whole spices in this order
(for it to get evenly roasted)
Start with adding whole garam spices all together (1 bay leaf, 2 inch cinnamon stick, 5 green cardamom, 1 black cardamom, 7 cloves, 7 black peppercorns, and 1 mace), and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till it starts giving off a light aroma.Then add in 2 tablespoon coriander seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till there is a slight change in color.Next add in 4 tablespoon white sesame seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till there is a slight deepening in color.After which add in 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till it starts slightly changing color.
Roasting onions and tomatoes
Once the whole spices have been roasted well, add in 2 cups of chopped onions, and 1 teaspoon of salt to brown the onions faster, and saute till the onions turn light golden brown in color. This might take about 15-20 minutes or so, but it’s a crucial step, so best not to rush it. Using a wide pan helps speed up the process a bit.Then add in ¾ cup chopped tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder. Mix well, and saute for 5 minutes or so, till the tomatoes cook down a bit, and then turn off the flame.
Dry roasting desiccated coconut
Also, while you are roasting the onions and tomatoes – in another small pan on the side, dry roast ½ cup of dry desiccated coconut, till it turns light red in color. It will only take a couple of minutes to roast the coconut powder, but just ensure to do this on a low flame, and constantly stir the coconut powder around, so that it gets evenly roasted without getting burnt.Then add the roasted coconut powder to the main roast, and mix it in. No need to switch the flame back on, just mix in the roasted coconut powder, and let the roast cool down.
Making kolhapuri masala base
When the roast has cooled down to about room temperature, transfer it all to a mixie, and grind it with 2 cups of water to make a smooth paste.
Making kolhapuri chicken curry
In a large heavy bottomed pan, lightly heat up 3 tablespoon oil, then to it add 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder, and mix it in. Lightly roast the chilli powder for 30 seconds or so on medium low flame, ensuring that the oil is not too hot and the flame is not too high, else the chilli powder will burn.Once the kashimiri chilli powder is lightly roasted, then add in the roasted curry paste from the mixer, 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder, and the marinated chicken.
Finally add 4 cups of water, and 1½ teaspoon salt, and mix everything together.Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes on medium high flame, stirring intermittently, till the chicken is completely cooked.When done, add in ½ cup of chopped coriander leaves, and mix it in.
For adding extra tarri (optional)
In a small tadka pan, lightly heat up 2 tablespoon oil, and lightly roast 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder in it for 30-60 seconds, on medium low flame. Tarri is ready!Add this tarri to the cooked chicken curry, and serve hot.
Note: If you like only a very little tarri to be floating on the top of your curry, then you don’t need to make and add the extra tarri I shared above. It will be taken care of by the kashmiri chilli powder roasted in oil in the pot before adding the paste from the mixie, and the chicken etc to make the curry.
Pro Tips
Use a wide bottomed pan for roasting the spices and onion etc, because it will significantly cut down on the time it takes for roasting the spices and browning the onion.I have suggested the order of roasting whole spices based on the size. For instance relatively bigger dhania seeds will take longer to roast than the fine poppy seeds, so if we add dhania seeds first, and give it a headstart, before we roast sesame and poppy seeds, then they’ll all get a relatively even roast.
Serving Suggestion
Chicken kolhapuri on plain steamed rice tastes divine! But you can also have it with rotis or naan.
Popular chicken recipes on the blog..
⭐️ Restaurant Style Chicken Lollipops⭐️ Chicken Kali Mirch / Pepper Chicken⭐️ Whole Chicken Tandoori in Oven⭐️ Spicy Chicken Keema Recipe⭐️ Mangalorean Chicken Ghee Roast⭐️ Easy Chicken Fried Rice⭐️ Instant Pot Chicken Biryani As always, I hope you found this recipe useful. If you did, please let me know your rating ⭐️ and feedback 📲 in the comments below, or simply rate the recipe right on the recipe card. I’d really appreciate it. ❤️
📖 RECIPE
This recipe was first published in July 2020, and has been republished with updated instructions, notes & tips, step images, as well as video in Dec 2021. If you’d like FREE recipes and meal prep ideas delivered directly to your email inbox every Friday in one short email, then subscribe to the Foodie Friday list HERE, and never run out of ideas on what to cook over the weekend or prep for the week ahead. 🙂
