Goan Chicken Xacuti

Chicken Xacuti (Pronounced Sha-coo-ti) is a popular coconut-based curry that originates from Goa. Goa is a little tiny state in India that my family originates from AND is also hands down India’s most beautiful state…In my opinion at leasts

Goan Cuisine is quite different from cuisines found in other parts of India mainly because it was formerly a Portuguese Colony, hence the Portuguese influence in our food palette...

So today, I am going to share with you my family’s favorite Chicken Xacuti recipe. It’s a mixture of my dad and husband’s recipe that I’ve just made my own…

My dad’s recipe is more casual and he never used to measure anything, so it came out amazingly different every time. My husband is super meticulous and his comes out perfect every time…

So let’s get started…

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (cut up into 2-inch pieces, marinated with 1 ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp turmeric and 1 tbsp Ginger and Garlic Paste) 2 Green Chilies (optional if you don’t want it too spicy) 1 large, sliced onion 2 cups grated coconut (dry or fresh) 4 – 6 Kashmiri Chilies ( De-seeded ) 2 tablespoons Ginger/Garlic Paste 2-inch cinnamon stick 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 2 whole star anise 4 cloves 10 peppercorns 1 tbsp poppy/sesame seeds ¼ tsp nutmeg powder ¼ tsp turmeric powder 2-inch ball of tamarind soaked in warm water 3 tablespoons Coconut/Canola Oil 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice 1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 cup of water Salt to taste and chopped coriander to garnish ½ cup of coconut milk (my secret ingredient)

Yea Yea I know it’s a lot, but trust me…it’s worth it…and you’ll get 2 meals out of it! (ScratchPaper Meal…yay)

So, what do you do with all these million and one ingredients…?

1. Heat up a pan, and throw in all your dry spices ( Kashmiri chilies, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, star anise, cloves, peppercorn, nutmeg, poppy seeds)

2. Once, it starts to leave off an amazing aroma (about 2 minutes), add your coconut … WATCH THE PAN, don’t let it burn. It needs to be lightly roasted to a golden brown

3. Let the ingredients from the pan cool a little, and then add it to your grinder. Using a 1 cup of water, grind the ingredients to a fine paste, along with the ginger and garlic paste

4. Add ½ of this paste to the chicken with ¼ tsp of salt and marinate for 1 hour (for best results overnight)

5. In a Dutch oven or similar sized pot, heat up 3 table spoons of oil. Finely slice the onion and add it to the pot and cook until it’s translucent

6. Add your chicken! Turn the stove up to high and let the chicken brown a little. So cook it for about 3 minutes before stirring it. Cook again for another 3 minutes and turn the stove to medium.

7. Add the soaked tamarind along with the water and rest of the masala paste to for more gravy. If not reserve the rest of the masala for a later time *

8. Cover and cook for 15 minutes and then turn the stove to low and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Top it with the coconut milk for a creamy texture

Tip: For a dry Xacuti, decrease the water, for more gravy increase the water content by 1/2 cup at a time. You want a thick consistency, not a watery one!

1. Add sugar, lime juice and salt to taste. Cook for 2 more minutes

2. Garnish with Fresh coriander and serve with Hot basmati Rice, French/Sourdough Bread or Goan Pao (here in the US, I serve it with ciabatta or potato rolls)

Instant Pot Version:

1. Turn the IP to sauté mode and follow steps 5-7

2. Turn IP to Pressure cook mode, add ¼ cup water ½ tsp salt and cook for 6 minutes

3. Allow it to Vent, open the pot back to sauté mode

4. Add Coconut Milk or 1 cup of water, Sugar, Salt, Lime juice and sauté on medium for 10 minutes

5. Garnish and Serve!