Chicken cafreal. The fragrant and vibrant masala flavors the chicken to create juicy and succulent bites of deliciousness. Not only is this dish delicious and flavorful, it’s also easy to prepare and nutritious. Guaranteed dinner winner!
What are your goals for 2021? Eat healthier, work out more, learn new skills? Well, if you want to focus on adopting healthy eating habits this year, stay tuned, I’ll be sharing plenty of healthy recipes this month to help you kick start your healthy eating journey.
This classic Indian chicken cafreal is the ultimate healthy way to cook your favorite chicken. Chicken marinated with green cafreal masala, and baked or grilled to perfection. Traditionally, it’s served with classic poee (poi) bread and potato wedges. But, feel free to serve it with naan or your favorite flatbread. With the potato wedges, I’ve opted for the spicy potato wedges recipe on the blog. Cooked basmati rice also taste delicious with this chicken dish.
Cafreal Masala
To make the masala, start with frying the whole spices including cloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon and black peppercorns. Fry until it changes the color lightly. Wait until it cools completely before you transfer the spices to a food processor to grind to a fine powder. Now, you’ll need to add the rest of the ingredients of the masala - garlic, ginger, green chilies, tamarind, vinegar, coriander (cilantro) leaves and ground turmeric. Coriander (cilantro) leaves is the key element that add the beautiful green color and flavor to the masala. The light tangy flavor from tamarind and vinegar is simply amazing. Grind everything together to form a smooth paste.
How To Make Chicken Cafreal
As for the chicken used in this recipe, drumsticks are the traditional choice, but you can also use chicken breasts or thighs. All you need to do is marinate chicken with green masala and bake or grill. You can also pan fry if you like.
I’ve also made a sauce to go with the chicken. However, it’s totally optional. To make the sauce, you just need to combine together a tablespoon of cafreal masala and chick stock, and simmer for few minutes.
Serve this chicken with baked potato wedges and flatbread.
More Baked/Grilled Chicken Recipes:
- Easy Baked Tandoori Chicken
- Sumac Chicken | Mussakhan
- Lemongrass Chicken
- Portuguese Chicken | Peri Peri (Piri Piri) Chicken
- Spicy Chicken Wings
- Grilled Vietnamese Chicken Wings
- Easy Grilled Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
Cafreal masala:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- ▢ 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- ▢ 1 and ½ teaspoon cloves
- ▢ 2 inch cinnamon stick
- ▢ 3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- ▢ 1 inch fresh ginger peeled and chopped
- ▢ 3 green chilies chopped
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground turmeric turmeric powder
- ▢ 1 tablespoon tamarind soaked in 2 tablespoons water
- ▢ 1 tablespoon coconut vinegar or cider vinegar see notes
- ▢ 1 bunch coriander cilantro stems and leaves
- ▢ Salt to taste
Chicken cafreal:
- ▢ 1 kg boneless chicken breasts
Sauce: (optional)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon cafreal masala
- ▢ ¼ cup chicken broth stock
To serve:
- ▢ Potato wedges
- ▢ Poee (poi) bread or naan
Instructions
- To make cafreal masala, place cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon stick in a small frying pan over low heat.
- Fry, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat. Cool completely.
- Place cooked spices in a food processor. Process to fine powder. Add garlic, ginger, green chilies, ground turmeric, tamarind, vinegar and coriander (cilantro) leaves. Season with salt. Process to a smooth paste.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of masala for the sauce
- Coat chicken in the masala. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 220C or 425F.
- Place chicken in a baking tray lined with baking paper in a single layer.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through. A meat thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast should register 165 F. Cooking times may vary depending on the thickness of the chicken.
- Remove from oven. Cover with aluminum foil. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
- To make the sauce, place masala and stock in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
- Serve chicken cafreal with the sauce (optional), potato wedges , and poee bread (for traditional meal) or naan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Ingredients
Cafreal masala:
- ▢ 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- ▢ 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- ▢ 1 and ½ teaspoon cloves
- ▢ 2 inch cinnamon stick
- ▢ 3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- ▢ 1 inch fresh ginger peeled and chopped
- ▢ 3 green chilies chopped
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground turmeric turmeric powder
- ▢ 1 tablespoon tamarind soaked in 2 tablespoons water
- ▢ 1 tablespoon coconut vinegar or cider vinegar see notes
- ▢ 1 bunch coriander cilantro stems and leaves
- ▢ Salt to taste
Chicken cafreal:
- ▢ 1 kg boneless chicken breasts
Sauce: (optional)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon cafreal masala
- ▢ ¼ cup chicken broth stock
To serve:
- ▢ Potato wedges
- ▢ Poee (poi) bread or naan
Instructions
- To make cafreal masala, place cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon stick in a small frying pan over low heat.
- Fry, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat. Cool completely.
- Place cooked spices in a food processor. Process to fine powder. Add garlic, ginger, green chilies, ground turmeric, tamarind, vinegar and coriander (cilantro) leaves. Season with salt. Process to a smooth paste.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of masala for the sauce
- Coat chicken in the masala. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 220C or 425F.
- Place chicken in a baking tray lined with baking paper in a single layer.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through. A meat thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast should register 165 F. Cooking times may vary depending on the thickness of the chicken.
- Remove from oven. Cover with aluminum foil. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
- To make the sauce, place masala and stock in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
- Serve chicken cafreal with the sauce (optional), potato wedges , and poee bread (for traditional meal) or naan.
