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    Home » By Ingredient » Meats & Poultry » Chicken

    Published: Apr 7, 2014 · Modified: Dec 27, 2019 by Usha Rao

    Chicken Xacuti, Goan Curry

    Chicken Xacuti is a spicy flavorful curry from Goa. Xacuti is one of the speciality dishes from the state, served with rice or bread.

    A bowl of chicken xacuti with rice of bowl, lemon wedges and salt shaker on the side.

    Jump to recipe or Pin It for later

    Indian State of Goa

    As part of Indian cooking odyssey, today we travel to Goa. Goa is the smallest state and is on the west coast bordering Maharashtra on the north, Karnataka in the south & the east, and the Arabian Sea on the west. It was a Portuguese colony for 450 years before it was annexed by India in 1961 and the cuisine has a huge Portuguese influence.

    Bowl of chicken xacuti with a bowl of rice and lemon wedges on the side

    Goan Cuisine

    Goan cuisine is influenced by both the Hindus and the Portuguese. Portuguese introduced Potatoes, tomatoes, cashews and pineapples to Indians and one of the most important spices, chili.

    Some of the common ingredients in Goan cuisine are rice, coconut, coconut oil, seafood, kokum and array of spices. Kokum is a dry fruit and used extensively as a souring agent. This gives curries the dark color and is a substitute for tamarind in Konkan region of Goa.

    Since it is a coastal state, seafood is very popular. Fish is a staple in the region, hence one of the staple food is rice with xit kodi (fish curry). Most common fish is Kingfish followed by pomfret, shark, tuna and mackerel. The other popular seafood is prawn, crab, lobster, squid and mussels.

    Bowl of Chicken Xacuti

    The Hindu Goan cuisine is mainly vegetarian but also includes seafood. Hindu cuisine is not spicy, uses kokum and tamarind as souring ingredients and jaggery for sweetening. Cuisine includes lots of vegetables, lentils, pumpkins, gourds, bamboo shoots and, onion garlic is sparingly used. Coconut oil is the medium of cooking.

    Goa has a decent Christian community and their cuisine has seafood, pork, beef and baked goods. Their curries use coconut, coconut oil, spices and vinegar. Speciality food from this community is Vindaloo, Xacuti and Sorpotel. Sorpotel is a pork and mutton/beef curry cooked in vinegar and spices. It is served with bread or sanna, a variation of idly.

    Food common in both communities is Sanna (variation of idly), Khatkhate, bebinca (rich layered sweet), feni. Khatkhate, a Goan vegetable stew is a common preparation during festivals in both Hindu and Christian households. Feni is an alcoholic beverage prepared fermenting cashews or sap of toddy palms.

    Experience in Goa

    I visited Goa twice, once when I was very young, in 4th or 5th grade and do not remember much about the food. The second visit was last February, for my niece’s pre-wedding celebrations. Then, we visited a seafood restaurant, Martin’s Corner and I tell you, it is a must visit place if one is a foodie and loves seafood.

    PicMonkey Collage Martin's Corner

    Frequent customers to the restaurants are Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, to name a few. The seafood here was the best seafood I ever tasted and no wonder all the celebrity keep revisiting this place. The collage of seafood in the above picture is from Martin’s Corner.

    Today’s recipe is Chicken Xacuti pronounced shakuti. Xacuti is a curry prepared with lot of spices, poppy seeds and coconut. Since seafood is a staple in this state, the plan was to make a seafood dish but this chicken xacuti looked exotic and we loved it.

    The first time I made the curry, I was not satisfied with the taste. However, I felt I could tweak the recipe to suit our palate. And I was right. The second time I made, we loved it. We enjoyed despite it being fiery hot. We blew our noses, wiped the sweat beads on our foreheads and licked our fingers clean!

    Bowl of chicken xacuti

    How to make Chicken Xacuti

    Adapted from: Sanjeev Kapoor, Goan Food and Goan Kitchen

    Total Time: 25 – 35 minutes
    Preparation: 10 – 15 minutes (this excludes time required to cut the chicken)
    Cooking Time: 15 – 20 minutes
    Serves: 2 - 3
    Spice Level: Very Spicy

    Ingredients:

    Marinade

    • 600 grams or 1.3 lbs. cleaned Chicken (I used ½ cleaned whole chicken cut into pieces)
    • 2 small Green Chilies
    • ¼ cup chopped Cilantro ~ Coriander Leaves
    • 1 tsp. Salt

    Masala Paste

    • 1 tbsp. Oil
    • ¾ cup chopped Onion (¾ of a medium onion. Keep aside the remaining onion for the curry)
    • ⅓ cup chopped Tomato
    • ¼ cup shredded frozen Coconut (can use fresh coconut)
    • 4 Garlic Cloves

    Xacuti Powder (Curry was spicy. Check notes)

    • 7 – 8 Dry Red Chilies
    • ¾ tsp. Cumin Seeds ~ Jeera ~ Jilakara
    • ½ - ¾ tsp. Fennel Seeds (I used ½ tsp.)
    • 1 tbsp. Coriander Seeds
    • 6 - 8 Black Peppercorns (I used 8)
    • 1 tbsp. Poppy Seeds
    • 2 – 4 Cloves (I used 4)
    • 2 – 4 Cardamom I forgot check the camera
    • 1 – 1 ½” Cinnamon Stick, broken into small pieces
    • Pinch of Star Anise (I used ½ a petal from the star anise. Check notes)
    • ¼ cup roughly chopped Dry Coconut

    Xacuti Curry

    • 2 tbsp. Oil
    • 1 small – medium sized Onion or ¾ cup chopped Onion (I used 1 small onion and the remaining ¼ onion from the masala paste)
    • 1 – 1 ½ tsp. Ginger paste
    • 1 ½ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
    • 1 ¾ - 2 tsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste. Check notes)
    • 2 ¼ tsp. Tamarind Paste (I used homemade paste. Check notes)
    • ⅛ - ¼ Nutmeg Powder

    Preparation:

    • Marination: Remove the skin and cut the chicken into small pieces. I cut it into 2” pieces. The quantity mentioned in the ingredient list is after cleaning and removing the skin.
    • Grind coriander leaves and green chilies with salt.
    • Rub the paste to the chicken pieces. Marinate chicken for ½ - 1 hour or for few hours in the fridge. I am a marinating freak and marinated it for 4 hours, and left it on countertop for ½ - 1 hour to bring it to room temperature before cooking.
    • Masala Paste: Heat a pan with 1 tbsp. of oil and sauté the onions listed under masala paste.
    • Once the onions are light brown, add frozen or fresh coconut and fry for couple of minutes.
    • Add tomatoes garlic and fry until tomatoes are soft and mushy. 5- 8 minute
    • Cool the mixture and grind to fine paste. Use some water if required. I used about ⅛th cup of water. Keep the paste aside.
    • Xacuti Powder: Dry roast all the ingredients listed under xacuti powder.
      Cool and grind to fine powder. Keep the powder aside.
    • Xacuti Curry: Heat oil in a sauce pan and sauté onions till brown. Add ginger and fry for a minute.
    • Add marinated chicken and mix well. Reduce the flame to medium, cover and cook for 3 - 4 minutes until the chicken is lightly roasted.
    • Add xacuti powder and mix well so that chicken is well coated with powder.
    • Add masala paste, chili powder, salt and mix well. Fry for a minute or two.
    • Add 1 ½ - 1 ¾ cup water and mix well. Check the consistency and add more water if required.
    • Add tamarind paste and give it good stir.
    • Increase the flame to medium high, cover and bring it to boil.
    • Taste the curry and adjust salt & spices to taste. Add nutmeg powder and cook for 3 – 5 minutes are until the curry is done or until chicken is cooked. Chicken in the US cooks very fast and do not overcook the curry.
    • Turn of the heat, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice or pav, Indian bread.

    Note:

    • The curry was very spicy and please adjust the spices to your spice tolerance level.
    • In Xacuti Powder ingredient list, for some of the spices I gave a range of quantities and how much I used. For less spice, use the low end of the quantity range. For eg. I have 6-8 peppercorns listed for Xacuti powder. For a milder curry, use 6 peppercorns or less.
    • I do not use star anise in my cooking and do not like the smell and flavor of it. I used it very sparingly to keep the recipe as original as possible. If you like this spice, then use ½ star anise or 3-4 petals. The first time I made xacuti, I used 1 petal and we did not like the flavor. But it is just us.
    • I used homemade tamarind paste. Can use pulp from a small ball size tamarind. Soak tamarind in water and extract the pulp.

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    Chicken Xacuti

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    1. Michele says

      March 20, 2019 at 10:34 am

      I made this dish with pork. Used the desiccated coconut as per your instructions. With recipe is awesome. So worth the extra effort. I'll be making it again and again!!

      Reply
    2. Michele says

      March 04, 2019 at 7:54 pm

      Can I use desiccated coconut instead of frozen or fresh coconut? Recipe looks wonderful and I'm dying to try it.

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        March 04, 2019 at 8:33 pm

        Michele, yes you can but I have not used it in this curry. Soak desiccated coconut in warm or hot water for 10-15 minutes to hydrate coconut and then use it in the curry.. Happy cooking!

        Reply
    3. Priya Srinivasan says

      March 09, 2018 at 11:59 am

      beautiful vibrant click usha!! love that chopping board with white base and those cracks give it a rustic look! i bet the curry is tastes best with rice!!!

      Reply
    4. Harini says

      March 01, 2018 at 11:30 am

      Stunning clicks. Good to read about Goan cuisine.

      Reply
    5. Jayanthi says

      February 27, 2018 at 10:23 pm

      Lovely clicks, I totally love to gaze at all your pictures. Being a vegetarian I have zero knowledge about this dish and don't know how to comment on the dish.

      Reply
    6. Jayashree says

      February 27, 2018 at 12:24 am

      I enjoyed reading all the information on Goa and its cuisine that you've shared. Nice click.

      Reply
    7. mayurisjikoni says

      February 26, 2018 at 4:36 pm

      Beautiful pictures. I would definitely like to try the xacuti powder and gravy with a veggie option.

      Reply
    8. sushma says

      February 26, 2018 at 4:35 pm

      Lovely pics.....I love the goan dishes. Coconut milk / grated coconut makes the gravies so rice and delicious.

      Reply
    9. Sandhiya says

      February 26, 2018 at 3:49 pm

      Love the color of the curry, it's really very catchy and tempting. Xacuti Powder sounds so aromatic and flavorful !!! As usual, good clicks and well presented,Usha.

      Reply
    10. Ammaji Kitchen{Sree} (@sreevallie) says

      May 01, 2014 at 10:51 pm

      Lovely dish with beautiful color..

      Reply
    11. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      April 28, 2014 at 10:42 pm

      Lovely pictures and I saw so many xacuti for the A-Z mega marathon! Love the spicy masala powder!

      Reply
    12. nalini says

      April 17, 2014 at 7:37 am

      Loved the vibrant color of the xacuti,must be a flavorful one with all those spices.Awesome click..

      Reply
    13. themadscientistskitchen says

      April 13, 2014 at 11:41 am

      Usha I cannot say a word about the prep and the ingredients but the xacuati looks awesomely authentic. Wish I could dig in.

      Reply
    14. Srivalli says

      April 13, 2014 at 12:46 am

      The pictures are so stunning Usha..it has a such a classic texture to the entire presentation..so well clicked..will surely want to try this for my family..

      Reply
    15. Chef Mireille says

      April 12, 2014 at 7:08 pm

      I love seafood so goa sounds like my kind of town 🙂

      Reply
    16. Pavani says

      April 10, 2014 at 10:45 pm

      Xacuti is sure a spicy dish. Lovely clicks.

      Reply
    17. Gayathri Kumar says

      April 08, 2014 at 6:23 am

      Looks so inviting...

      Reply
    18. pradnya says

      April 08, 2014 at 3:14 am

      lovely captures, and looks delicious

      Reply
    19. Jayanthi says

      April 08, 2014 at 2:49 am

      I love your pictures.. and your style.. minimalist and classy.. Xacuti looks fingerlicking good.. noting it down to try later

      Reply
    20. manjula bharath says

      April 08, 2014 at 1:01 am

      awesome captures dear , lovely info about the cuisine of goa 🙂 fabulous write up dear 🙂

      Reply
    21. Varada says

      April 07, 2014 at 10:56 pm

      Spicy and colorful. Beautiful pictures.

      Reply
    22. Sowmya says

      April 07, 2014 at 2:36 pm

      Clicks are awesome!!! No comment on the food as I do not know about non-veg food...

      Reply
    23. sapana says

      April 07, 2014 at 6:33 am

      Beautiful clicks and the dish looks inviting !

      Reply
    24. Vaishali Sabnani says

      April 07, 2014 at 6:20 am

      Usha these are some awesome clicks..I would not comment on food...have no clue about non veg recipes...but I love to gaze at your clicks..amazing!!

      Reply
    25. Priya says

      April 07, 2014 at 2:57 am

      I have couple of seafoods to cook and eat from Goan cuisine, Xacuti looks extremely prefect for me, may be i'll do for a sunday lunch.

      Reply

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