Til diya kukura mangxo / Assamese style chicken curry with sesame seeds
An Assamese (from Assam, North East India) style chicken curry filled with the nutty flavour of sesame seeds. Not overpowering, and with minimum use of spices. Great with rice or Indian flatbreads.
Ingredients
For marinating
- 850 gms skinless chicken thighs (on the bone), cut into small pieces
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp salt
Others
- 1 cups black sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp mustard oil (see notes at the bottom of the recipe)
- 1½ tsp cumin seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup coarsely ground onion
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 3 fresh chillies, slit halfway through the bottom (I used red chillies)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½+½+2 cups water
Instructions
Marination
- Rub the chicken with the marinating ingredients, cover and keep aside for at least 30 minutes.
Preparing the sesame seeds
- Heat a small pan and add the sesame seeds.
- Stir continuously ( or else it may burn) for 4-5 minutes till it releases its flavour. Some of the seeds may start spitting.
- Remove from heat, cool, grind and keep aside. (see notes below)
The curry
- Heat the mustard oil in a pan. The oil is ready when it turns lighter in colour and is lightly smoky.
- Add the cumin seeds followed by the bay leaves and stir for 10 seconds.
- Add the onion and fry for 1½ minutes, stirring constantly over medium heat.
- Add the garlic, followed by the ginger and stir for another 3-4 minutes or till the raw smell disappears.
- Add the marinated chicken and stir over medium to high heat for about 3 minutes.
- Add the ground cumin and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add splashes of water every now and then to release the spices sticking to the pan. I used ½ cup of water in total for splashing. Keep scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking.
- Add the fresh chillies and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly like before.
- Mix the ground sesame seeds with ½ cup of water and ½ tsp turmeric and add to the chicken.
- Stir for a minute.
- Add 2 cups of water, stir and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for another 6-7 minutes or until the gravy thickens and nicely coats the chicken.
- Remove from heat and enjoy hot with rice or Indian flatbreads,
Video
Notes
- While frying the sesame seeds keep an eye to see if it is burning because if it does, it will negatively affect the flavour of the dish. After removing the pan from heat, transfer the sesame seeds to another dish to cool in order to stop it cooking further from the residual heat in the pan.
- I have used mustard oil to enhance the authentic flavour; if you do not have this, you can cook with your regular cooking oil.