I was fascinated with Goalondo Chicken Curry or Goalondo Steamer Curry when I heard the name for the first time. I though, not have any first-hand information about the said Chicken Curry. However, this is what I found while searching for the history. Goalondo Steamer Curry is a simple chicken dish from Goalondo a small town in “Opar Bangla” a.k.a Bangladesh. Goalondo is now a small town in Rajbari District in Bangladesh and situated on the bank of river Padma. During British rule, the train connection between the Capital Calcutta and East Bengal was terminated in Goalondo and People used to take the steamer from there to Narayangan to avail connecting train for other places like Dhaka, Chottogram etc. “Goalondo-Narayanganj” was the overnight journey by steamer and the Boatman’s used to prepare this basic chicken curry for their need which was somehow got popularized between the travelers and now it’s a star of Bengali cuisine. This runny, light chicken curry is now famous by the name of the boatman’s from Goalondo.
The specialty of this chicken curry is the use of basic ingredients. This curry is signified by the No use of unnecessary spices. Quite naturally, they were not available with sophisticated spices and used to opt for a simple cooking process. Mustard Oil is a must for the recipe of Goalondo Steamer Curry or Boatmen style chicken Curry. You don’t need to add Garam Masala alike typical Bengali Chicken Curry.
The cooking process as I have mentioned is really simple and there is no requirement of stirring even. You just need to mix everything and to grab a pot to cook the Goalondo Chicken curry.
Goalondo Steamer Curry or Boatman Style Chicken Curry
Author: Debjani
A light chicken or Goalondo Steamer Curry is a famous Bengali Chicken Dish
Ingredients
- 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
- Clean chicken pieces properly.
- Roughly chop Onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies and prepare a coarse powder of dry chilies*.
- Marinate chicken pieces with all the ingredients mentioned except salt.
- This is, however, my personal opinion to not to add salt before cooking.
- Leave it for at least one hour but I prefer to marinate overnight.
- Take the marinated chicken in a thick bottom pan and sauté on high flame for 5 minutes.
- Then cook on low flame till the chicken turns tender.
- No need to add water; chicken will be cooked in its own juice.
- 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.
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.
Serving suggestion: Though Goalondo Steamer Curry goes best with Plain steamed rice but I sometimes served with Ghee Bhat or Peas Pulao as well.
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.
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