Kolhapuri Chicken is a Maharashtrian chicken curry that is full of the rich, varied, spicy kolhapuri flavors – a more involved chicken curry to make, but the pay off is so worth it, that you’ll consider every minute very well spent.
In- fact even the aromas released during making this curry / roasting the spices will make you drool!
So if you have never tried making chicken kolhapuri at home, definitely give this a go! Trust me, once you try it, you’ll want to make it for every special occasion, or just the weekend. 🙂
I remember when I was first figuring out to make this curry, just looking at the number of ingredients that went in making the kolhapuri masala was daunting.
But once I figured out the right proportions, the taste was 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 tips with you to make the BEST kolhapuri chicken curry EVER!
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 You Need
For chicken marination
- Chicken leg quarters – 3 pounds
You can use drumsticks too - Ginger garlic paste – 5 tablespoons
- Red chilli powder – 1 tablespoon
- Garam masala powder – 1 tablespoon
- Coriander powder – 1 tablespoon
- Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
- Haldi powder – 1/4 teaspoon
- Salt – 1 teaspoon
- Kasoori methi flakes – 1 tablespoon
- Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
- Water / oil – 1-2 tablespoons
Whole spices for curry
- Jeera / cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Whole red chillies (dried) – 2
- Bay leaf – 1
- Cinnamon stick – 1 inch
- Black cardamom – 1
- Green cardamom – 5
- Cloves – 7
- Black peppercorn – 7
- Mace – 1
- Dhania / coriander seeds – 2 tablespoons
- Til / white sesame seeds – 4 tablespoons
- Khaskhas / white poppy seeds – 2 tablespoons
Other ingredients for curry
- Cooking oil – 1/2 cup for curry, and 3 tablespoons for tarri
- Garlic cloves – 8, chopped
- Chopped onions – 2 cups
- Chopped tomatoes – 3/4 cup
- Salt – 3 teaspoons, divided
- Red chilli powder – 2 teaspoons, divided
- Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 tablespoon
- Dry coconut powder – 1/2 cup
- Water – 2 cups for making paste, 4 cups for curry
- Chopped coriander leaves – 1/2 cup
Step by Step Recipe
- Like shown above, start with marinating the chicken. I usually do this the night before, and refrigerate the marinated chicken overnight for 8-12 hours, so that the chicken really absorbs the spices. But 4-6 hours of marination time will suffice.
- To start making the curry – in a wide bottomed pan, heat up 1/2 cup oil, and add in cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start crackling, add chopped garlic, and saute for 1-2 minutes, till the garlic starts turning light red.
- Next add the whole chillies, and let it roast for a minute or so.
After the whole chillies have been roasted, roast these whole spices in this order – for them to cook evenly and well
- Whole garam spices (bay leaf, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, black peppercorn, and mace) – roast for 1-2 minutes, till it starts giving off a light aroma
- Dhania seeds – roast for 2-3 minutes, till it starts changing light color
- Sesame seeds – roast for 2-3 minutes, till it starts changing light color
- Poppy seeds – roast for 2-3 minutes, till it starts changing light color
- Once the whole spices have been roasted well, add in the chopped onions, and a teaspoon of salt to brown the onions faster, and saute till the onions turn light golden brown in color. This is the most time consuming step of them all, but you can cut down the time it takes drastically by using a wide bottomed pan to roast the spices and onions etc.
- Next add in the chopped tomatoes, and a 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.
- While you are roasting the onions and tomatoes, in another small pan on the side, dry roast the coconut powder till it turns light red in color. It will only take a couple of minutes to roast the coconut powder.
- Then add the roasted coconut powder to the main roast, once the tomatoes have cooked down, and mix well. No need to switch the flame back on, just mix in the roasted coconut powder, and let the roast cool down.
- Once 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.
- Then in a large heavy bottomed pan, lightly heat up 3 tbsp oil, to it add 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder, and mix it in. Let the chilli powder roast for 30 seconds or so on medium low flame. Ensure 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, and a teaspoon of red chilli powder, and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Next add in the marinated chicken, 1.5-2 tsp salt, and 4 cups of water, and mix well.
- Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes on medium high flame, stirring intermittently, till the chicken is completely cooked.
For adding extra tarri
- In a small tadka pan, lightly heat up 2 tbsp oil, and lightly roast 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder in it. 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. 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
SERVE HOT with Roti, Naan, or Rice.
More Indian Chicken Recipes:
Whole Chicken Tandoori
Chicken Keema Masala
Crispy Chicken 65
Chicken Fried Rice
Pepper Chicken – Dry
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. ❤️
Kolhapuri Chicken Recipe
step by step recipe for making kolhapuri chicken curry
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Servings: 6
Calories: 935kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
For chicken marination
- 3 lb chicken leg quarters
- 5 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsp red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp garam masala powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp haldi / turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp kasoori methi flakes
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1-2 tbsp water or oil
Whole spices for curry
- 1 tsp jeera / cumin
- 2 whole dry red chillies
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 black cardamom
- 5 green cardamom
- 7 cloves
- 7 black peppercorn
- 1 mace
- 2 tbsp dhania / coriander seeds
- 4 tbsp til / white sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp khaskhas / white poppy seeds
Other ingredients for curry
- 11 tbsp vegetable oil divided
- 8 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 cup chopped onion
- 2.5 tsp salt divided
- 3/4 cup chopped tomato
- 2 tsp red chilli powder divided
- 1/2 cup dry coconut powder
- 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 6 cup water divided, for making paste & curry
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
For making kolhapuri tarri
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
Instructions
For marinating chicken
- Clean the chicken well, and remove all the excess water from it.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, haldi powder, salt, kasoori methi flakes, and lemon juice. Add a few spoons of water or oil if required to make a smooth paste for marinating chicken.
- Add the chicken pieces to this bowl, and ensure to coat all the chicken pieces very well with this marinade.
- Cover this bowl, and let the chicken marinate along with the spices for 4-6 hours.
For making the main roast
- In a wide bottomed pan, heat up 1/2 cup oil, and add in cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start crackling, add chopped garlic, and saute for 1-2 minutes, till the garlic starts turning light red.
- Then add the whole chillies broken in two pieces each, and let it roast for a minute or so. It's now time to add in and roast the whole spices.
Roast whole spices in this order
- Once the chillies are lightly roasted, first add whole garam spices to the pan – bay leaf, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, black peppercorn, and mace. Roast for 1-2 minutes, till it starts giving off a light aroma.
- Then add the whole dhania seeds, and let it roast for 1-2 minutes, till there is a slight change in color.
- Next add sesame seeds, and roast it for 1-2 minutes before adding poppy seeds, and roasting it for 1-2 minutes till it starts changing light color.
Roasting onions and tomatoes
- Once the whole spices have been roasted well, add in the chopped onions, and a teaspoon of salt to brown the onions faster, and saute till the onions turn light golden brown in color.
- Then add in the chopped tomatoes, and a 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.
- Also, while you are roasting the onions and tomatoes, in another small pan on the side, dry roast the coconut powder till it turns light red in color. It will only take a couple of minutes to roast the coconut powder.
- Then add the roasted coconut powder to the main roast, once the tomatoes have cooked down, and mix well. No need to switch the flame back on, just mix in the roasted coconut powder, and let the roast cool down.
- Once 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.
For making the kolhapuri chicken curry
- In a large heavy bottomed pan, lightly heat up 3 tbsp oil, to it add 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder, and mix it in. Let the chilli powder roast for 30 seconds or so on medium low flame. Ensure 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, and a teaspoon of red chilli powder, and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Next add in the marinated chicken, 1.5 tsp salt, and 4 cups of water, and mix well.
- Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes on medium high flame, stirring intermittently, till the chicken is completely cooked.
For adding extra tarri
- In a small tadka pan, lightly heat up 2 tbsp oil, and lightly roast 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder in it. Tarri is ready!
- Add this tarri to the cooked chicken curry, and serve HOT.
Notes
1. You can use any kind of chicken for making kolhapuri chicken, but preferably only go with bone-in chicken. And I personally prefer leg quarters over drumsticks.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Always let the roast cool down completely before blending it into a paste in the mixie. This will avoid the contents overheating and bursting out of the mixie.
Tarri – 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.
Spice Level – Kolhapuri dishes are meant to be spicy, but if you want to tone down the spice level a little, skip the red chilli powder everywhere it is mentioned, and reduce the quantity of spice powders to 75%. And needless to say, skip the tarri. 🙂
Please note: The nutrition values are best estimates provided as a courtesy. The exact values can vary depending on the exact ingredients or brands used. If you rely on them for your specific diet and/or health issues, please consult a registered dietician or nutritionist.
Nutrition
Calories: 935kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 79g | Saturated Fat: 42g | Cholesterol: 189mg | Sodium: 1886mg | Potassium: 763mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1817IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 193mg | Iron: 5mg
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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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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. 🙂
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?
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.
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?
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.
Don’t use salt as mentioned in the receipe you will not be able to eat
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.
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.
Yeah, I remember I started using khaskhas back when I first started making kolhapuri dishes. And I’ve never looked back since then. 🙂
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.
Yeah, the floating oil is not the healthiest, and is very indulgent. But I usually add it for my hubby who loves it!
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.
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! 🙂
Love the recipe. Will try it sometime.
Thank you so much. I hope you love it!
When it comes to chicken curry, I love this one the most. I have tested this recipe many times and it is great!
Thank you!