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    Comfort Food Recipes

    Goalondo Steamer Curry or Boatman Style Chicken Curry

    October 23, 2014 By Debjani 6 Comments

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    A very simple form of Chicken Curry prepared with limited and easily available spices; Goalondo Steamer Curry is bliss. Let me confess, I do not have any first-hand information about the said Chicken Curry. Neither I am from Bangladesh nor I am a hostorian. However, upon asking and through a bit of secondary details what I found is interesting.

    A simple chicken curry the boatmen used to cook with the limited spices is now popular as Goalondo Steamer Curry o Goalondo Ghater Murgi. This is a simplest form of chicken chicken curry.  It can be named anything else as well however, the dish get popularized by the boatmen from Goalondo Ghat. Goalondo a small town in “Opar Bangla” a.k.a Bangladesh. This small town is located at Rajbari District in Bangladesh and situated on the bank of river Padma.

    %Goalondo Steamer Curry

    The story of Goalondo Steamer Curry!

    During British rule, the train connection between then Capital of India Calcutta and East Bengal was terminated in Goalondo. People used to take the steamer from there to Narayangan to avail connecting train for other places like Dhaka, Chottogram etc. “Goalondo-Narayantganj” was an overnight journey by steamer. The Boatmen used to prepare a basic chicken curry for their need.  That curry was somehow got popularized between the travelers as well. This runny, light chicken curry is now famous by the name of the boatman's from Goalondo. These days Golanondo Ghater Murgi is one of the signature Bengali chicken dishes found.

     

    The specialty of this chicken curry is the use of basic ingredients. Quite naturally, the boatmen were not available with sophisticated spices. In addition to that, they did not have time to devote to cooking much. Hence they developed an easy recipe of chicken. Mustard Oil was a must for the recipe of Goalondo Steamer Curry or Boatmen style chicken Curry. Even Garam Masala is also not needed!
     %Goalondo Steamer Curry
    The cooking process as I have mentioned is really simple. There is no requirement of stirring even. You just need to mix everything and to grab a pot to cook the Goalondo Chicken curry. My family loves this simple chicken curry and I cook it often at my place.
     %Goalondo chicken Curry

    Here's how I cook Goalondo Steamer Curry at Debjanir Rannaghar!

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    Goalondo Steamer Curry or Boatman Style Chicken Curry

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    A light chicken or Goalondo Steamer Curry is a famous Bengali Chicken Dish

    • Author: Debjani
    • Prep Time: 15 mins
    • Cook Time: 45 mins
    • Total Time: 1 hour
    • Yield: 3-4 People 1x
    • Category: Chicken
    • Cuisine: Bengali

    Ingredients

    Units Scale
    • Chicken: 500 g (Medium Pieces)
    • Onion: 2
    • Garlic: 8-10 cloves
    • Ginger: 2”
    • Dry Red Chillies: 4-6
    • Green Chilli: 4-5 (according to taste)
    • Turmeric Powder: 2 Tsp
    • Mustard Oil: ½ cup
    • Salt to taste

    Instructions

    1. [url href="https://kitchenofdebjani.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Untitled-5.jpg"][/url]
    2. Clean chicken pieces properly.
    3. Roughly chop Onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies and prepare a coarse powder of dry chilies*.
    4. Marinate chicken pieces with all the ingredients mentioned except salt.
    5. This is, however, my personal opinion to not to add salt to cooking.
    6. Leave it for at least one hour but I prefer to marinate overnight.
    7. Take the marinated chicken in a thick bottom pan and sauté on high flame for 5 minutes.
    8. Then cook on low flame till the chicken turns tender.
    9. No need to add water; chicken will be cooked in its own juice.
    10. Switch the flame off and give the curry a standing time of 10 minutes.

    Notes

    Don’t add any souring agent like tomato, curd, tamarind etc.
    Don’t add any masala like garam masala, coriander powder etc.
    *It’s better to add semi-grinded Red chilies for the actual flavor instead of readily available red chili powder
    Don’t add water as the natural moisture of the chicken and the basic masalas is enough.
    Last but not the least; don’t replace Mustard oil with any other variety as it’s the signature ingredient for Goalondo Steamer Curry.

    Did you make this recipe?

    Share a photo and tag us at @foodofdebjani — we can't wait to see what you've made! Also, you can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar over there!

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    Few More Chicken Recipes from Debjanir Rannaghar!

    • Bengali Desi Murgir Dum (Also known as Bengali Country chicken curry)
    • Bangladeshi Chicken Roast (Also known as Dhakai Roast)
    • Restaurant Style Chicken Malai Kebab (also known as Reshmi Kebab)
    • Kolkata style Chicken Bharta (Also known as Murg Bharta)
    • Orange and Herb Roasted Chicken and Vegetables (Also known as Roast Chicken)
    • Dak Bungalow Chicken Curry (also known as Chicken Dak Bungalow)
    • Chicken Chaap (Also known as Chaap Bhaja)
    • Aam Kasundi Murgi (also known as Bengali Style Chicken in Mango Mustard Sauce)
    • Pish-Pash aka Pish Pash (Also known as Indian Rice and Chicken Hotchpotch)
    • Doi Murgi (Also known as Kolkata style Doi Chicken)
    • Tandoori Chicken (Also known as Tanduri Murg)
    • Robibarer Murgir Jhol (Also known as Bengali Runny Chicken Curry)
    • Kancha Lonka Murgi (Also known as Bengali Chicken Curry cooked with the skin of Green Chili Paste)
    • Authentic Green Thai Chicken Curry (Also known as Chicken Green Curry)

    Have you tried the Goalondo Steamer Curry Recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!

    Do let me know how it came out. Also, I would love to see a picture of the same which you can share here on dolonchttrj@gmail.com or on Instagram you can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar or can tag me at @foodofdebjani.

    You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for updates and recipes from Debjanir Rannaghar.

    Picture Update: I have updated the pictures of Goalondo Steamer Curry on 07-08-2017

    This recipe of Goalondo Steamer Curry was featured by Rediff.

    Goalondo Steamer Curry Pin for your Pinterest Board

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    Comments

    1. Amitabh Hazarika says

      August 10, 2015 at 3:12 pm

      Oh, truly amazing recipe, simple yet so finger licking..!! Thanx a lot for sharing.. tried last weekend at home N everyone in the family appreciated.

      Reply
    2. Sudeep Mukherjee says

      August 09, 2021 at 10:13 pm

      I make this curry with shrimp paste and a double dose of red hot chilli paste.
      The other thing that I do to get the marinade in is to gently pound the chicken pieces before marinating.
      The kucho chingri paste adds to the taste.
      Have also tried with Bombay duck/loitta in the chicken.

      Reply
      • Pritha Ray Saha says

        September 16, 2021 at 4:56 pm

        Hi. Would you please share how you prepare the kucho chingri paste? Could it be made with larger prawns?

        Reply
        • Debjani says

          September 22, 2021 at 6:05 pm

          Kucho stands for small 🙂 .. It is better to use small prawns or shrimps for the right texture. I'll for sure share the recipe soon.

          Reply
    3. Shan says

      February 21, 2022 at 7:05 pm

      The MAIN ingredient of this chicken curry (besides the chicken) is shrimp paste. Even better dried shrimp paste (shNutki). You seemed to have missed that

      Reply
      • Debjani says

        March 04, 2022 at 2:54 pm

        Not really. Do try it once in Bangladesh.

        Reply

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