Chicken ChaaNp with Sayantani Mahapatra

At the dawn of my blogging craze, every day I used to encounter many Food Blogs and kept on adding them to my reading list. One day I found this blog "A Homemaker's Dairy". The title of the blog made me so attracted that I started exploring the blog. A met a "true blue Bengali and a mom" who is chronicling the food journey that she has inherited from her grandmothers and mother. Her posts used to make me so much familiar and nostalgic. Never thought in my imagination that this was that Sayantani Mahapatra  whom I know from my childhood as a very studious student, multi-talented creative girl. World is too small and round that we both bumped each other again through our blogs. Today my joy knew no bound when my turn came to introduce my classmate cum friend, my neighbour, the sweet spoken personality who always in return gives back a heart melting smile. So no guess at all, this week our star of the event "Know your Kolkata Blogger Friend"   going on in the Kolkata Food Bloggers group, is my near dear friend Sayantani. She is a very good cook who is always an inspiration for me during my student life as whenever I used to visit her home she would treat me with some delectable dishes made by her own. The Dal Tarka I can still remember that she made with the egg drops and tasted so sumptuous. At the same time her creative handicrafts always make her friends proud with the gifts she makes by her own hand. Whether it's our birthdays or an occasion like Valentine's day we are always lucky to own something precious handmade stuff from her. Humble she is, down to earth she is, who never knows to bask her own glory to the world, though she will never accept the fact how famous she is in the world of Food Blogging and also the Best Food blogger of Kolkata. Her blog is a treasure of traditional Bengali recipes and also I am so much fond of her amazing Food Photography. Her knowledge about different world cuisine contemplates and reflects in her Blog through her posts. A great Photographer, a great baker, a talented Interior and fashion designer and above all a great friend she is who will be always there at one call. And I always take the pride of being her old childhood buddy, now whose talent is a blessing for me/us whom we consider as the gem of our Kolkata FoodBloggers group. If I start talking about her I think it will take a whole day writing about her as there is so many things to write about her. So now let me stop here and share the recipe that I have chosen from her blog and recreated it.

I have tried Sayantani's Chicken ChaaNp dish. No need to say that it comes out super delicious. I have always drool over this dish in Kolkata Food Corners but never thought I could make this dish at home so easily. Thanks to Sayantani's dish now I often can make this dish. It is very easy to cook, takes very short time and energy too. So here is the recipe:

Chicken ChaaNp

Ingredients:

Whole Leg Piece – 4

Spice paste:

Onion: 2 medium

Ginger: 3” piece

Garlic: 4-5 fat cloves

Sattu:1 tbsp (You can use dry roasted besan/gram flour)

Curd: 1/2 cup

Dry red chillies: 2 pieces (I didn’t use any)

Red chili powder: 1 tsp

Water: ½ cup

Salt

Shajeera (caraway seeds)/ black cumin: ½ tsp

Garam masala powder: 2/3 tsp

Keora water: few drops

Rose water: few drops

(Pls note: If you don't have Keora or Rose water you can use Mitha Ator/sweet essence) 

Green cardamom: 2 pieces

Cloves: 3-4  pieces

Cinnamon: ½” piece

Bay leaf: 1 big

Oil: 1/4 cup

Ghee: 1 tbspn

Method:

1. Wash the chicken pieces and slit each at 4 places. Keep aside. 

2. Take all the ingredients under Spice Paste and make a fine paste. Adjust the salt. Mix in all the chicken pieces. Rub well and keep covered for at-least 2 hours. 

3. Heat the oil in a flat frying pan. Once the oil is hot add lightly crushed whole garam masala, wait till it splutter. 

4. Now take the chicken pieces out of the marinade, remove as much marinade as possible and add to the oil. On very low flame keep on frying the pieces till they look pale (approx. 5 minutes). 

5. Now add the marinade and little water. Mix well and let it cook on medium flame. The chicken will leave a lot of water and would be cooked in it. Keep on stirring from time to time. 

6. After another 5 minutes add crushed shajeera, half of the garam masala and give it a good mix. 

7. Once the chicken pieces are cooked and oil comes oozing out from the sides the dish is done.

8. Add keora water, rose water and garam masala. Keep covered.

(I have exactly followed the method same way Sayantani has written so most of the method I have copied from her post.)