Hi all…Hope you are all geared up for a lovely weekend!! I’m here today to share an ace delicacy from my hometown….Gongura Chicken Andhra Style !! This special chicken curry uses the quintessential leafy vegetable from this cuisine, which is none other than gongura, also known as sorrel leaves.
There are many traditional gongura recipes such as gongura pachadi, gongura mutton, gongura prawns, gongura pappu, gongura chicken and many more. Each recipe has a unique and distinct flavour, but anything cooked with gongura is my favourite.
Chicken, when cooked with a spicy masala base along with these sour leaves, imparts a distinct flavour to the chicken. The memorable experience to relish in this dish is the tangy taste of succulent pieces of chicken balanced with the fiery taste of the green chillies and spices…..An absolute delight to the senses. Hope this mouthwatering Gongura Chicken Andhra Style is a super hit in your family too!!
There are different ways to make this curry, but today, I’m going to share the simplest version to prepare, it. This recipe is prepared with leftover chicken curry. It could be a regular chicken curry, chicken fry or a chicken korma. I usually make this gongura chicken the following day after I make the regular chicken curry, especially when we are bored to eat the same leftover curry…..And of course when I have gongura leaves at home. I will also share how to make it from scratch, that’s with raw chicken.
Off to the recipe for Gongura Chicken Andhra Style!!
Step-by-Step process to prepare Gongura Chicken Andhra Style:
1. Preparing the chicken base with:
You can prepare this either with leftover chicken curry or by preparing the chicken base from the scratch. We will see both the methods:
(a) Leftover chicken curry:
- Click here for the recipe for chicken curry. You can also use any other recipe of chicken curry as long as it has basic ingredients like ginger, garlic, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Today I’m using leftover chicken curry to prepare Gongura Chicken Andhra Style.
(b) Preparing chicken base from the scratch:
You will need:
- 400 grams Chicken (with or without bones)
- 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
- 2 teaspoons Red chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- Required salt
To the process:
- Marinate the chicken with ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder , turmeric powder and required salt. Leave it for 20 minutes.
- Heat the pan with the marinated chicken over medium heat and cook till soft and tender. If required you can sprinkle some water while cooking if the chicken doesn’t release enough moisture.
- Cook chicken till all the water evaporates. This takes about 10 minutes. This is exactly how I do the prepping for the South Indian chicken fry recipe. Set aside to add it later to the gongura base.
2. Preparing the gongura base:
- Pluck Gongura/Sorrel leaves and separate them from the stems.
- Discard the stems and wash the leaves twice or thrice to remove the dirt and soil from it.
- Drain the water well. Transfer the leaves to a pan.
- To this add chopped onions, green chillies and a few curry leaves.
- I also like to add finely chopped chives to this…but it’s optional.
Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt under the heading “For gongura base”.
- Cook over medium heat till all the water evaporates.
3. Making gonguran chicken:
- To the gongura base, add the chicken curry or chicken cooked in spices.
- Give it a nice stir and cook on low heat. Close with a lid and till everything blends well for about 6 to 8 minutes. The curry should look dry without much gravy. Optionally you can also give a tadka to this curry….Check below!!
- Gongura Chicken Andhra Style is ready to be serve with hot piping rice….ENJOY!!
4. Tempering (Optional step):
If you want you can finally temper with 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil.
- For this heat oil in a small pan over medium heat.
- Add a teaspoon of mustard seeds and cumin seeds, 3 to 4 crushed garlic pods and 2 dry red chillies.
- Once the mustard seeds splutter and the garlic turns light brown, add curry leaves and tun off the heat.
- Transfer the tempering to the Gongura chicken and give it a nice stir and serve.
- I have not used any tempering in today’s recipe.
- If you would like to store it for 2 to 3 days, then it’s better to temper to increase the shelf life. This tastes even better the as it sits.
A Quick Summary:
Gongura Chicken Andhra Style | Gongura Chicken Fry Recipe
Ingredients
- For Gongura base:
- 3 cups tightly packed Gongura/Sorrel leaves
- 1 Medium Onion finely chopped
- 3 to 4 Green Chillies
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- For chicken gravy base:
- 1 Cup Leftover chicken curry or click here for the recipe
Instructions
- Pluck Gongura/Sorrel leaves and separate them from the stems.
- Discard the stems and wash the leaves twice or thrice to remove the dirt and soil from it. Drain the water well and transfer to a pan.
- To this add chopped onion, green chillies, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt under the heading “For gongura base”.
- Cook over medium heat till all the water evaporates.
- Now add in the chicken curry,
- Give it a nice stir and cook on low heat. Close with a lid and till everything blends well for about 6 to 8 minutes.
- The curry should look dry without much gravy.
My Notes:
- Please refer to the detailed explanation above if you are preparing gongura chicken with raw chicken.
- Make sure the tangy taste of the gongura leaves is balanced well with the amount of spice to get the best taste.
- Chicken with bones is more delicious than boneless chicken in this recipe.
- The more curry gets cooked after putting in the chicken, the more flavourful it is. But don’t over cook it.
- Cook gongura chicken with closed lid after adding chicken. This lets the chicken and gongura leaves blend well.
- You can also make a paste of sorrel leaves and use. But I prefer it this way.
Do check out recipes for GONGUA PACHADI and GONGURA PRAWNS.
Many more to come!!…..STAY TUNED!!
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma.
