Kolhapuri Chicken is a Maharashtrian chicken curry that is full of the rich, varied, spicy and drool-worthy kolhapuri flavors.
A more involved chicken curry to make, but the pay off is so worth it, that you’ll consider ever minute well spent! And trust me here, that once you make it, this spicy chicken kolhapuri will be your go-to chicken curry for special occasions!
This kolhapuri chicken is my go-to special occasion chicken curry to make, whenever I am expecting guests or even for potluck parties. It’s always a hit!
Though I remember when I was first figuring out how to make this curry, quite a few years ago now, I found the sheer number of ingredients that went in making the kolhapuri masala base, pretty daunting. But thankfully I persisted. Because when I finally figured out the right proportions – the taste was simply divine! And I was hooked for life!
Since then I have figured out a few tricks and hacks to make cooking this chicken curry a little easier and quicker, and today I’ll share those with you in this step by step recipe for making kolhapuri chicken curry.
Jump to:
- What is Kolhapuri Chicken
- How to Make the BEST Chicken Kolhapuri
- This Kolhapuri Chicken Curry is
- Ingredients for Chicken Marination
- Marinating Chicken for Curry
- Ingredients for Kolhapuri Style Masala & Curry
- Step by Step Recipe
- Pro Tips
- Serving Suggestion
- Popular chicken recipes on the blog..
- 📖 RECIPE
What is Kolhapuri Chicken
Kolhapuri Chicken is a kolhapuri style chicken curry, that is infused with the bold & flavorful spices of the kolhapur region, which is known for its vibrant and spicy cuisine.
How to Make the BEST Chicken Kolhapuri
You can make chicken kolhapuri with ready-made kolhapuri masala from the store, but nothing replicates the flavors, when kolhapuri chicken curry is made at home from scratch. And yes, while it is a little more of an involved recipe, it’s not complicated at all.
Think of it this way – you would need to brown onions, and cook down tomatoes like you would for any chicken curry. In this case, in addition to that, you would just need to roast some whole spices too, which takes only a few additional minutes. It’s actually the browning of onion that takes the most amount of time. But you can use a wide bottomed pan to cut down on the time it takes.
This Kolhapuri Chicken Curry is
- hot, spicy and delicious
- full of bold, vibrant flavors
- made from scratch
- perfect for parties
Ingredients for Chicken Marination
Ingredient notes
You can use any kind of chicken for making kolhapuri chicken, but preferably only go with bone-in chicken. I personally prefer leg quarters over drumsticks, but you can use either.
Marinating Chicken for Curry
- Take 3 pounds of chicken leg quarters, wash it well, and drain out all the excess water.
- In a bowl, take 5 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, 1 tablespoon red chilli powder, 1 tablespoon garam masala powder, 1 tablespoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon kasoori methi powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water or oil. Mix everything together to form a smooth marinade.
- Apply the marinade to the chicken, ensuring to coat all the chicken pieces very well.
- Refrigerate the marinated chicken for 4-6 hours.
Ingredients for Kolhapuri Style Masala & Curry
Step by Step Recipe
- In a wide bottomed pan, heat up ½ cup of oil, and then add in 1 teaspoon cumin seeds.
- When the cumin seeds start crackling, add in 8 cloves of garlic (roughly sliced), and saute for 2-3 minutes, till the garlic just about starts changing color and turning light red.
- Then add in 2 whole chillies (broken in 2 pieces each), and lightly roast it for 30-60 seconds.
- After which, it’s now time to add in and roast the whole spices.
Roast whole spices in this order
(for it to get evenly roasted)
- Start with adding whole garam spices all together (1 bay leaf, 2 inch cinnamon stick, 5 green cardamom, 1 black cardamom, 7 cloves, 7 black peppercorns, and 1 mace), and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till it starts giving off a light aroma.
- Then add in 2 tablespoon coriander seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till there is a slight change in color.
- Next add in 4 tablespoon white sesame seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till there is a slight deepening in color.
- After which add in 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till it starts slightly changing color.
Roasting onions and tomatoes
- Once the whole spices have been roasted well, add in 2 cups of chopped onions, and 1 teaspoon of salt to brown the onions faster, and saute till the onions turn light golden brown in color. This might take about 15-20 minutes or so, but it’s a crucial step, so best not to rush it. Using a wide pan helps speed up the process a bit.
- Then add in ¾ cup chopped tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder. Mix well, and saute for 5 minutes or so, till the tomatoes cook down a bit, and then turn off the flame.
Dry roasting desiccated coconut
- Also, while you are roasting the onions and tomatoes – in another small pan on the side, dry roast ½ cup of dry desiccated coconut, till it turns light red in color. It will only take a couple of minutes to roast the coconut powder, but just ensure to do this on a low flame, and constantly stir the coconut powder around, so that it gets evenly roasted without getting burnt.
- Then add the roasted coconut powder to the main roast, and mix it in. No need to switch the flame back on, just mix in the roasted coconut powder, and let the roast cool down.
Making kolhapuri masala base
- When the roast has cooled down to about room temperature, transfer it all to a mixie, and grind it with 2 cups of water to make a smooth paste.
Making kolhapuri chicken curry
- In a large heavy bottomed pan, lightly heat up 3 tablespoon oil, then to it add 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder, and mix it in. Lightly roast the chilli powder for 30 seconds or so on medium low flame, ensuring that the oil is not too hot and the flame is not too high, else the chilli powder will burn.
- Once the kashimiri chilli powder is lightly roasted, then add in the roasted curry paste from the mixer, 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder, and the marinated chicken.
- Finally add 4 cups of water, and 1½ teaspoon salt, and mix everything together.
- Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes on medium high flame, stirring intermittently, till the chicken is completely cooked.
- When done, add in ½ cup of chopped coriander leaves, and mix it in.
For adding extra tarri (optional)
- In a small tadka pan, lightly heat up 2 tablespoon oil, and lightly roast 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder in it for 30-60 seconds, on medium low flame. Tarri is ready!
- Add this tarri to the cooked chicken curry, and serve hot.
Note: If you like only a very little tarri to be floating on the top of your curry, then you don’t need to make and add the extra tarri I shared above. It will be taken care of by the kashmiri chilli powder roasted in oil in the pot before adding the paste from the mixie, and the chicken etc to make the curry.
Pro Tips
- Use a wide bottomed pan for roasting the spices and onion etc, because it will significantly cut down on the time it takes for roasting the spices and browning the onion.
- I have suggested the order of roasting whole spices based on the size. For instance relatively bigger dhania seeds will take longer to roast than the fine poppy seeds, so if we add dhania seeds first, and give it a headstart, before we roast sesame and poppy seeds, then they’ll all get a relatively even roast.
Serving Suggestion
Chicken kolhapuri on plain steamed rice tastes divine! But you can also have it with rotis or naan.
Popular chicken recipes on the blog..
⭐️ Restaurant Style Chicken Lollipops
⭐️ Chicken Kali Mirch / Pepper Chicken
⭐️ Whole Chicken Tandoori in Oven
⭐️ Spicy Chicken Keema Recipe
⭐️ Mangalorean Chicken Ghee Roast
⭐️ Easy Chicken Fried Rice
⭐️ Instant Pot Chicken Biryani
As always, I hope you found this recipe useful. If you did, please let me know your rating ⭐️ and feedback 📲 in the comments below, or simply rate the recipe right on the recipe card. I’d really appreciate it. ❤️
📖 RECIPE
Chicken Kolhapuri Recipe (Kolhapuri Chicken Curry)
Equipment
- Wide saute pan
Ingredients
For chicken marination
- 3 pounds chicken leg quarters
- 5 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 tablespoon dried kasoori methi flakes
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoon water or oil
For kolhapuri chicken curry
- 11 tablespoon oil divided
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 8 cloves garlic roughly sliced
- 2 whole dry red chillies
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 black cardamom
- 5 green cardamom
- 7 cloves
- 7 black peppercorn
- 1 mace
- 2 tablespoon coriander seeds (dhania)
- 4 tablespoon white sesame seeds (til)
- 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds (khaskhas)
- 2 cup chopped onion
- 2½ teaspoon salt divided
- ¾ cup chopped tomato
- 2 teaspoon red chilli powder divided
- ½ cup dry desiccated coconut
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder
- ½ cup chopped coriander leaves
- 6 cup water divided, for making paste & curry
For making kolhapuri tarri
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder
Instructions
Marinating the chicken
- Take 3 pounds of chicken leg quarters, wash it well, and drain out all the excess water.
- In a bowl, take 5 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, 1 tablespoon red chilli powder, 1 tablespoon garam masala powder, 1 tablespoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon kasoori methi powder, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water or oil. Mix everything together to form a smooth marinade.
- Apply the marinade to the chicken, ensuring to coat all the chicken pieces very well.
- Refrigerate the marinated chicken for 4-6 hours.
- When done, ensure to thaw out the chicken for at-least 20-30 minutes at room temperature, before adding it to the curry.
Making the main roast
- In a wide bottomed pan, heat up ½ cup of oil, and then add in 1 teaspoon cumin seeds.
- When the cumin seeds start crackling, add in 8 cloves of garlic (roughly sliced), and saute for 2-3 minutes, till the garlic just about starts changing color and turning light red.
- Then add in 2 whole chillies (broken in 2 pieces each), and lightly roast it for 30-60 seconds.
- After which, it's now time to add in and roast the whole spices.
Roast whole spices in this order
- Start with adding whole garam spices all together (1 bay leaf, 2 inch cinnamon stick, 5 green cardamom, 1 black cardamom, 7 cloves, 7 black peppercorns, and 1 mace), and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till it starts giving off a light aroma.
- Then add in 2 tablespoon coriander seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till there is a slight change in color.
- Next add in 4 tablespoon white sesame seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till there is a slight deepening in color.
- After which add in 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds, and lightly roast it for 1-2 minutes, till it starts slightly changing color.
Roasting onions and tomatoes
- Once the whole spices have been roasted well, add in 2 cups of chopped onions, and 1 teaspoon of salt to brown the onions faster, and saute till the onions turn light golden brown in color. This might take about 15-20 minutes or so, but it's a crucial step, so best not to rush it. Using a wide pan helps speed up the process a bit.
- Then add in ¾ cup chopped tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder. Mix well, and saute for 5 minutes or so, till the tomatoes cook down a bit, and then turn off the flame.
Dry roasting desiccated coconut
- Also, while you are roasting the onions and tomatoes – in another small pan on the side, dry roast ½ cup of dry desiccated coconut, till it turns light red in color. It will only take a couple of minutes to roast the coconut powder, but just ensure to do this on a low flame, and constantly stir the coconut powder around, so that it gets evenly roasted without getting burnt.
- Then add the roasted coconut powder to the main roast, and mix it in. No need to switch the flame back on, just mix in the roasted coconut powder, and let the roast cool down.
Making kolhapuri masala base
- When the roast has cooled down to about room temperature, transfer it all to a mixie, and grind it with 2 cups of water to make a smooth paste.
Making kolhapuri chicken curry
- In a large heavy bottomed pan, lightly heat up 3 tablespoon oil, then to it add 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder, and mix it in. Lightly roast the chilli powder for 30 seconds or so on medium low flame, ensuring that the oil is not too hot and the flame is not too high, else the chilli powder will burn.
- Once the kashimiri chilli powder is lightly roasted, then add in the roasted curry paste from the mixer, 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder, the marinated chicken, and 1½ teaspoon salt, along with 4 cups of water, and mix everything together.
- Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes on medium high flame, stirring intermittently, till the chicken is completely cooked.
- When done, add in ½ cup of chopped coriander leaves, and mix it in.
For adding extra tarri (optional)
- In a small tadka pan, lightly heat up 2 tablespoon oil, and lightly roast 1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder in it for 30-60 seconds, on medium low flame. Tarri is ready!
- Add this tarri to the cooked chicken curry, and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Video Recipe
This recipe was first published in July 2020, and has been republished with updated instructions, notes & tips, step images, as well as video in Dec 2021.
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Hina
It was a huge hit! Followed all your steps and it came out PERFECT!! THANKYOU:)
The Love of Spice
So glad to hear that, Hina! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
Sami
Well I made it. It was good, but I will definitely do some adjustments next time. I’m going to use whole garlics or put them in much later to avoid them burning.
Also the result while tasty was a little bland. I think there was a bit too much water. Next time I will put 2/3 of the water and then try it out. Add more if needed. Also going to add more chili. I suppose my red chili powder was too mild. Says 4/10 on the package.
Also one problem was I bought cardamom, but after opening when preparing I noticed it wasn’t green pods, it was seeds. Used 10 seeds. I suppose pods would have given more taste.
The Love of Spice
Hi Sami, thank you so much for taking the time to try out the recipe, and share a review. I really appreciate it.
You also helped me fix the oversight of not mentioning whether whole red chillies were wet or dry. Actually, to counter this, since the past few months I have started adding ingredient photos, and making recipe videos. I have yet to update this recipe with ingredient photos and video, but will get to it soon.
And yes, if the garlic is small, you can add them whole, and definitely use a spicier chilli powder. Also yeah green pods would definitely add more flavor, but it is interesting you got the seeds. I haven’t come across the seeds here, just the whole pods, or the powder.
Thanks again for taking the time to share. It means a lot.
Sami
So I used dried Kasoori methi leaves to make the 1 Tbsp of the powder. I don’t really understand how your pictures are possible. The marinade got really dark browngreen. In your picture the marinade is really light color.
How is it possible, when all the ingredients are incredibly dark? Cumin, garam masala, coriander, kasoori methi. How can those create a light colored marinade?
The Love of Spice
Hi Sami, the masalas are dark, but there is ginger garlic paste, and haldi too, that affects the color. Dried kasoori methi is correct. I just crushed it into a powder. It’s okay if you don’t. Either way just crush into a rough powder with hand – if you make it into a fine powder, that might increase the quantity, and also contribute to the darkened color. The taste might still be fine, depending on how much kasoori methi you prefer. Hope this helps.
Sami
There is very little Haldi, just 1/4 teaspoon. That doesn’t give much color considering there is tablespoons of darker spices. Why so little Haldi? Isn’t it quite mild in taste?
The Love of Spice
I am not necessarily adding haldi for coloring. It’s just a part of my go-to spices in chicken marinade. You can skip or alter the amount if you wish.
Sami
Ok I now i saw it said 1 table spoon of flakes, much less. I redid the marinade, but still it is pretty dark, not light as in your picture.
The Love of Spice
That should be fine, as long as the quantities are the same. Because as far as the color goes, even the color of ginger garlic paste will matter. Mine is homemade and much lighter in color. But as long as you use the quantities mentioned, it will still turn out well. 🙂
Sami
Going to try this.
The recipe called for Kasoori methi powder. I found everything else but not this in the local store. They had dried Kasoori Methi leaves. Do they work as well?
Also the recipe asks for 2 red chilies. Does it refer to dried or fresh chilies? The only dried ones I found are piripiri or birdeyes. Do they work?
The Love of Spice
Dried kasoori methi flakes are correct. You can choose to crush them into a powder or not.
I should have been more clearer about the red chillies. I am referring to the dried red chillies. Thanks for pointing that out. I have updated the recipe card.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Sami
Thanks for your comments. Another question. The ingredients say garlic chopped but your picture shows them whole.
I chopped them and roasted as instructed. But they went on reallly early. During all other roasting they of course burned.
Why are they put on so early? And shouls they be whole?
Also mixing everything with 2 cups of water did not make a paste, it made it totally liquid. Later adding 4 more cups of water made it a soup.
Is the dish ment to be like that? Not thick like masalas usually are?
The Love of Spice
Hi Sami, those are sliced garlic, not whole. But if your garlic is small, you can put them in whole. Else you can roughly chop or slice them. But I do prefer to put them in early because that’s the only way they get well roasted, and I’ve never had them burn.
As far as consistency is concerned, this makes for a curry consistency, to have with rice. You can reduce the water a little, but you’ll need to adjust the salt & spice.
Vinay
Don’t use salt as mentioned in the receipe you will not be able to eat
The Love of Spice
Hi Vinay, sorry to hear you found it too salty. Salt preference varies from person to person, which is why most recipes suggest salt to taste. Though I prefer to offer a ballpark. That being said, I did double check that there weren’t any typos in the recipe and the amount of salt mentioned is accurate. Is it possible you did not divide the salt, as suggested, and maybe added double the amount in both places? That is a common issue that is often overlooked.
Rajlakshmi
Oh my this looks delicious. I have recently started loving khaskhas. My mil taught me how to add it and it makes curries so good. I recently made veg kolhapuri but not too spicy. I can understand that the ingredients list is daunting. Love this recipe. Will try it someday.
Shantala's Kitchen
Yeah, I remember I started using khaskhas back when I first started making kolhapuri dishes. And I’ve never looked back since then. 🙂
Rachna
I love making Kolhapuri chicken. It is spicy and hot, just the way I like it though I don’t like the floating oil. I can imagine how delicious this must be.
Shantala's Kitchen
Yeah, the floating oil is not the healthiest, and is very indulgent. But I usually add it for my hubby who loves it!
Soumya
I didn’t know what tarri was until today! It looks and sounds delicious and would so much flavor to the curry!
I’m going to be making this this weekend. The steps are a bit much with the paste and all, but I know it will be worth it.
Shantala's Kitchen
Tarri is definitely for someone with higher spice tolerance, as kolhapuri dishes are already spicy. But it makes such a difference!!
And yeah, it is a more involved curry, but you’ll love it! 🙂
Damyanti
Love the recipe. Will try it sometime.
Shantala's Kitchen
Thank you so much. I hope you love it!
Puru
When it comes to chicken curry, I love this one the most. I have tested this recipe many times and it is great!
Shantala's Kitchen
Thank you!