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Recipe-1 › Curries of the world › Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol)

Kolkata, India

Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol) (Murgir jhol)

A thin, homely chicken curry with potatoes and mustard oil.

Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol)
Close to the base recipe Medium

Too hot for you? Use half the chilli (powder, paste or fresh chillies) and leave out the green chillies.

New here? How this page works

Recipe-1 is one simple curry recipe in nine steps: fry onions and green chillies, add your vegetables or meat, add chilli powder and turmeric, then water and salt, and boil. With small changes the same nine steps make curries from all over the world.

This page takes those nine steps and shows what to change to make Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol). You don’t need to read anything else first: every base step is written out below. The changes are worked out on paper from what is typical for this dish; not yet kitchen-tested. Cooked it? Tell others how it went.

Green: the base recipe step (crossed out = do not use it for this dish)Red: what to do instead for Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol)

See the full base recipe (with timers and tips) · See all curries on the world map

You’ll need

How many people?4

The amounts change with the number of people; cooking times stay about the same (use a bigger pot for more). Taste as you go: you can always add more chilli or salt, but you cannot take it out.

Main ingredient: 1 kg Chicken on the bone, with potato halves.

From the base recipe

  • 2 Onions
  • 2 Green chillies
  • Cooking oil not used
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp · 500 ml Salt and water
  • 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
  • 3 · 3 · 3 cm Cloves, cardamom and cinnamon
  • ½ tsp Garam masala (optional)

Add for Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol)

  • 3 Potatoes, halved
  • 1 Tomato
  • 100 g Curd (yogurt)
  • 4 tbsp Mustard oil
  • 1 · 1 tsp Bay leaf and cumin powder

Leave out

  • Nothing: use it all.

The nine steps, with the changes

Where a step has a red line, do the red line and not the crossed-out green base step. Steps with only green are done just as in the base recipe.

  1. Base step: do not useCut onions and chillies.

    Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol): do thisSlice the onions; slit the green chillies.

  2. Base step: do not useFry in some oil for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol): do thisFry in mustard oil with a bay leaf and whole spices until golden. Add ginger garlic paste.

  3. Base step: do not useCut the vegetable(s) of your choice.

    Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol): do thisHalve the potatoes and fry them first until golden.

  4. Base step: do not useAdd them and fry for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol): do thisAdd the chicken, marinated in curd and turmeric, and brown it.

  5. Base step: do not useAdd red chilli powder and turmeric.

    Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol): do thisAdd chilli powder, turmeric and cumin powder.

  6. Keep frying until just before they start browning.

  7. Base step: do not useAdd some water.

    Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol): do thisAdd water for a thin, soupy jhol.

  8. Add salt.

  9. Base step: do not useBoil until the gravy is as thick as you like.

    Bengali chicken curry (murgir jhol): do thisSimmer 30 minutes with the potatoes until tender. Finish with garam masala.

Serve: With plain rice.

For meat and seafood, make sure it is cooked through: chicken until no pink remains inside; mutton, goat and beef need long, slow cooking.

← Kerala chicken curryAll curries on the mapAndhra chicken curry (kodi kura) →

Food marks, as on packaged food in India: vegetarian · non-vegetarian (meat, fish or egg). Dishes with both marks can be made either way.

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