Chicken Shorva

Chicken shorva is a flavorful stew like curry from Telangana region. It is light, flavorful and goes well with rice, flatbreads and dosa. Consistency of the shorva is somewhere in between that of a soup and a curry.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian Cuisine, Telangana Cuisine

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Servings

Calories 587kcal

Author usha

Equipment

1 Mixing Bowl
1 Cutting Board and Knife
1 Saucepan (2-2½ quart) and spoon

Ingredients

Marination

650 grams cleaned Chicken about 1.4 pounds
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
¾ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste

Shorva

5 tablespoons Oil
2 Cloves
3 Cardamoms
⅓ teaspoon Shah Jeera
¼ inch Cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped Onion
1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic paste
2 small Green Chilies cut in half
1 teaspoons Coriander Powder
1 teaspoon Chili Powder adjust to taste
½ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
¼ teaspoon Methi/Fenugreek Powder opt
½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 Green Onion chopped opt
⅓ cup Yogurt
¼ cup chopped Cilantro

Instructions

Use chicken pieces with bone; a combination of thighs with bone, drumsticks and breast pieces with or without bone. My preference is to cut up whole chicken.

Marination (opt)

Rub all the ingredients listed under marination to chicken. Marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. If you are pressed for time, you can skip the marination.
Meal Prep Idea - You can freeze marinated chicken in Ziploc bags or reusable silicone bags for later use. Thaw chicken completely before using. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or keep it in warm water for couple of hours.
If not freezing the marinated chicken, you can add yogurt to the marinade.

Shorva

Heat oil in a saucepan or a wide pan. Roast cardamom, clove, cinnamon and shah jeera in oil. Then add onions and saute until light golden brown.
Throw in the green chilies, ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell of ginger dissipates.
Add coriander powder, chili powder, turmeric, salt, methi powder (if using) and roast the spices for a few seconds.
Add marinated chicken, green onions (if using), and saute on medium - medium high flame until spices coat the chicken pieces and chicken is lightly roasted.
Cover and cook on medium - medium high flame for 3-5 minutes until oil begins to separate.
Skip this step if chicken is marinated with yogurt. Whisk yogurt, reduce the flame to low and gradually add yogurt to chicken, mixing it quickly. This is a crucial step, don’t leave unattended until yogurt blends into the masala. Fry for a minute.
Increase the flame to medium - medium high, cover and cook until chicken releases some juices and chicken pieces are semi cooked.
Add 1 cup of water or as needed, coconut powder and bring to a boil.
Reduce the flame and simmer for 5-10 minutes until desired consistency is reached.
If using roasted coriander powder and garam masala powder, simmer for a couple of minutes and turn off the flame.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Serve it with rice, roties, parathas, puri and dosa.

Notes

Chicken - use bone in chicken pieces or a combination of bone and boneless chicken pieces. Bone releases juices which enhances the flavor of shorva.

Gram Masala - You can use whole garam masala spices or masala powder. In the recipe I used whole spices. You can do a combination of both, Add few whole spices when sauteing onions and a powder at the end, before turning of the flame.

Jalapeno Peppers - If you like green chili flavor, add 1-2 jalapeno peppers cut in half or long green chilies slit up when simmering the shorva. Don't forget to adjust the chili powder accordingly. And skip small green chilies in the recipe.

Tomatoes - a variation to the recipe is addition of tomatoes. Before adding chicken to the masala, add tomatoes, cover and cook until tomatoes are soft and mushy. Then add the chicken and follow rest of the recipe. Cut down on yogurt.

Roasted Onion Paste - saute onions with spices, with or without tomatoes. This gives the shorva and nice smooth texture. I always prefer roasted onions paste over a raw onion paste. Add this paste after frying ginger garlic paste.

Nutrition - values mentioned below are approximate.

Nutrition