MURGH MORICH POLAU

(CHICKEN AND BLACK PEPPER PILAF)

This quintessentially Bengali take on the pulao has the addition of pepper, which counters the sweetish tinge of the fragrant Gobindobhog rice.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Serves: 5 persons

For the stock:

kg chicken bones

10gm whole black pepper

gm cinnamon

5–6 bay leaves

7–8 small cardamom

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

4 litres water

10 ml refined oil

1 onion, sliced

For the polau:

1 kg gobindo bhog rice

(aromatic rice)

½ tsp turmeric powder

150 gm ghee (clarified butter)

2 gm whole black pepper

1 tsp green chilli paste

3–4 green chillies, slit

1 tsp ginger paste

2 gm whole garam masala

5 eggs

Sugar to taste

Salt to taste

For the chicken:

1 kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces

50 ml refined oil

½ tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 gm whole garam masala

50 gm curd

1.	Wash and clean the chicken and chicken bones. Remove and drain. Keep aside.
2.	Pick and clean the rice and then soak for 2 hours. Drain the rice and keep the water aside.
3.	Boil 5 eggs and set aside.

Making the stock:

4.	Heat a pan, add refined oil, black pepper whole, cinnamon, bay leaves, and small cardamom. As it splutters, add onion slices, and sauté lightly.
5.	Add ginger paste, garlic paste, and chicken bones. Mix well.
6.	Stir for 3 minutes and add 3 litres of water.
7.	On a low flame, simmer till the water evaporates. Turn off the flame, drain the stock and keep aside.

Making the chicken:

8.	Marinate the chicken pieces with curd, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and cumin powder for 15 minutes.
9.	Heat oil in a pan, add whole garam masala. As it starts to splutter, pour the marinated chicken. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
10.	Add one-fourth of the stock. Mix well.
11.	When the chicken is three-fourths cooked, turn off flame and set aside the preparation.

Making the pulao:

12.	Heat ghee on a pan. Add whole black pepper and whole garam masala. As it splutters, add the soaked rice kept. Mix and cook for 10 minutes.
13.	Add the cooked chicken, green chillies, and the boiled eggs.
14.	Mix slowly, making sure that the boiled eggs do not break.
15.	Pour the remaining stock to a level of 1 inch above the mixture.
16.	Turn off the flame, cover the pan with a lid, seal the lid from all sides so that the steam doesn’t escape. Keep it for 15 minutes.
17.	Cover the pan with a lid and keep it under pressure for 15 minutes on a low flame.
18.	Remove the lid, and check if the water has totally evaporated, and if the rice is cooked.
19.	Serve hot in a rice bowl.

Gondharaj Salad (p 160)

Kaju Kismis Polau (p 156)