Mangsher ghugni aka chicken ghugni recipe is a rich, spicy, flavoured and scrumptious yellow peas keema curry. It is the non-vegetarian version of the most beloved Kolkata street food ghugni recipe. It is an immensely popular Bengali snack recipe which is prepared in almost every Bengali house and by the few selected ghugni stalls, as specials. In this preparation, boiled yellow peas or white peas are cooked with marinated chicken keema, onion, tomato, potato chunks, whole spices and Bengali spice mix – bhaja masala. This Keema ghugni is mostly served with some chopped onion, green chillies and few drops of lemon juice, as snacks or simply as a side with luchi for breakfast.
Table of Contents
About the recipe
Tips and Suggestions
How to make Mangsher ghugni (step wise photos)
Recipe Card
What is Ghugni?
Though ghugni recipe is crazily popular in West Bengal, Orissa and few other subcontinents of east India, but many of us are not aware of the dish ‘Ghugni’.
Ghugni is a simple whole yellow pea or Matar (Motor) curry where yellow peas are soaked overnight and then boiled before preparing the curry. It is a semi liquid curry which is neither too watery nor too dry in texture with intact boiled matars. Ghugni is one of the staple breakfast or snacks recipes in Bengal, Orissa and it can be prepared in myriad ways.
Types of Ghugni
Usually, ghugni recipe is prepared in two different ways. One is mangsher ghugni or keema ghugni which can be prepared with either mutton keema or chicken keema and another type is niramish ghugni. In niramish ghugni, it is subdivided into two different types. One is niramish ghugni with onion and garlic and another is niramish ghugni without onion-garlic.
As I have already posted niramish ghugni with onion and garlic, you can check it in my previous post. This time, I am going to share my most favourite ghugni recipe i.e. Mangsher ghugni which is usually prepared at every Bengali home on special occasions like Bijoya Dashami, bhai phota, nababarsha etc. In this recipe, I have used chicken keema to prepare the keema ghugni.
Normally, mangher ghugni is paired up with phulko luchi. Luchi and Mangsher ghugni is a deadly and heavenly breakfast combo for any Bengali since ages. Other than these, homemade chicken ghugni can also be paired up with rotis and chapatis for dinner. In short, it is a super versatile spicy curry which can get fitted any time in our diet.
Whenever I talk about mangsher ghugni recipe, it always makes me feel nostalgic. As a bong, I have grown up eating this delicacy and have never got bored of it yet. I still remember how my mom used to prepare mangsher ghugni on special occasions like after bijoya dashami or on bhai fota for more than 20 persons and the whole house used to smell divine and make each person hungry. Still now, I start drooling to recall those golden moments.
I have learnt to prepare this Bengali signature dish from my mother. She taught me this salivating recipe with few simple tricks which always help me to prepare perfect ghugni recipe with perfect texture and flavour.
Honestly, the whole trick to prepare a perfect ghugni mainly depends on two things.
- Boil the yellow peas or matar perfectly so it gets cooked but remains intact.
- Use of Bengali bhaja masala. The flavour of ghugni will always remain incomplete without this Bengali spice mix.
Other than these, preparing mangsher ghugni at home is a super easy task. It is a simple but slow cooking recipe which gets prepared without investing much effort. The best part of the recipe is that you can double or triple the amount without investing any extra time or effort. All the ingredients to prepare the ghugni recipe are very common and easily available in any Bengali kitchen pantry.
Mangsher ghugni with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instruction’ section of the recipe. If you follow each step of my recipe precisely then you will get chicken ghugni with perfect flavour and consistency which will even taste better than the market bought ones. I have included all the tips and tricks below to prepare a perfect chicken ghugni.
Tips to prepare perfect Mangsher ghugni
- To prepare a perfect ghugni recipe, it is very important to soak the dried white peas or yellow peas overnight or at least for 8 hours or else the ghugni will not get cooked properly.
- Secondly, boil the peas or matar very carefully so that they just get cooked and at the same time remain whole without losing their shape.
- Always use keema rather than small pieces of chicken or mutton to prepare the dish. It gives better texture and flavour.
- Don’t forget to marinate the keema before cooking for better flavour.
- The consistency of chicken ghugni recipe is slightly thicker than normal ghugni recipe. But still its neither too thick nor too runny. It is moderate in consistency.
- Use the yellow peas stock for the gravy. It gives better flavour to the dish.
- Don’t skip bhaja masala. It is one of the most necessary components to flavour up the ghugni.
What is bhaja masala?
Bhaja masala recipe aka Bengali bhaja masala is one of the most important spices of Bengali culinary. It is the spice mixture of few different types of whole spices which are dry roasted and then ground to a fine dust after cooling down. This spice blend creates a magnificent aroma. Bhaja masala is one of the key ingredients of flavouring Ghugni, mangsher ghugni, phuchka, vegetable chop, Bengali singara, Niramish alur dom, aam pora sarbat, aamer achar, kuler achar and many more delicious recipes. Countless recipes have been enhanced with this magical spice mix.
How to make mangsher ghugni?
To prepare the mangsher ghugni, first soak the yellow peas for 8 hours or for overnight in a large bowl with enough water. On the next day, drain the water and wash the soaked peas for couple of times.
Transfer the peas in the pressure cooker and add salt, turmeric powder, water into the cooker and give a stir. Close the lid of the cooker and pressure cook it in medium flame for 3 whistles. Then allow the pressure cooker to release its pressure. Preserve the stock and boiled peas separately for later use.
On the other hand, take the keema into a bowl and marinate it with salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, ginger-garlic paste, few drops of lemon juice and some oil. After mixing all the ingredients, cover the bowl and keep it aside for at least half an hour.
For the keema ghugni gravy, make a smooth masala paste by grinding onion, ginger cubes, garlic cloves and green chillies and keep it aside. Add some water if required to grind it.
Now put a pan on flame and add mustard oil into it. Once the oil is hot, add diced potatoes into the pan and fry them evenly till golden and crisp. Then keep them aside on a separate plate.
Into the same pan, add cardamoms, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds for tempering and let them crackle.
Then add finely chopped onion into the pan and give a nice mix. Cook it over medium flame for 5-6 minutes.
Add the masala paste into the pan and give a nice stir. Cook it in medium flame for another 12-13 minutes until the masala releases oil.
Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and cook the masala in lowest flame for another couple of minutes.
Then add the tomato chunks into the masala and cook them till soft. After this, add cumin powder, coriander powder into the pan and mix it well. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water into the masala and cook it till it releases oil.
Add the marinated chicken keema into the pan and mix it well. Cover the pan and cook it in medium to low flame for 10 minutes until it releases oil.
Add tomato ketchup, garam masala powder into the pan and mix it well. Cook it in low flame for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the boiled yellow peas and fried potato chunks into the pan and give a nice mix. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame for another 5 minutes.
Add the preserved peas stock into the pan and give a nice stir. Add green chillies and the most important element bhaja masala into the pan and mix it. Cover the pan and cook it in high flame until the gravy starts boiling. Then put the flame in low and simmer it for another couple of minutes. Now, switch off the flame and your mangsher ghugni is ready to serve.
Many kolkata street food recipes have already been shared in my previous posts. You can check few of them like
Vegetable chop recipe
Bengali singara recipe
Kolkata egg roll
..And Many more…
Ingredients:
To pressure cook the peas
- 1 cup dried white or yellow Peas
- 2½ cups Water
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
To marinate the chicken keema
- 250 grams Chicken keema
- ½ tablespoon Ginger-Garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red Chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala powder
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon Mustard oil
For the masala paste
- 1 large Onion, diced
- 2 inches Ginger, peeled and diced
- 5-6 large cloves of Garlic
- 2-3 green Chillies
- 1-2 tablespoons of Water
Other ingredients for chicken ghugni
- 1 large Potato, medium diced
- 1 large Onion, finely chopped
- 1 large Tomato, deseeded and diced
- 2-3 green Chillies, whole or half slit
- 1 Bay leaf (Tejpatta)
- 4 Cardamoms (Elaichi)
- 2 inches Cinnamon stick (Dalchini)
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red Chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon Coriander powder
- ¾ teaspoon Garam Masala powder
- 1 teaspoon Bhaja masala
- 1 tablespoon Tomato ketchup
- 2 cups boiled Peas stock, for the gravy
- 3 tablespoons Mustard oil, for cooking
- 2 tablespoons Onion, finely chopped (For garnishing)
- 1 green Chilli, finely chopped (For garnishing)
Instructions:
- Take the dried peas in a large bowl and soak it with enough water for overnight or at least for 8 hours. The dried peas will increase in size after getting soaked. So, it is important to soak it in larger bowl as compared to the volume of the dried peas. Drain the water and wash the soaked peas nicely.
- Shift the soaked peas into a pressure cooker. Add 2½ cups of water, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, one by one into the pressure cooker. Give a stir and close the lid of the pressure cooker.
- Put the pressure cooker on medium flame and cook it till 3 whistles. Allow the pressure cooker to stand and release the pressure completely.
Note: For a good ghugni, the peas should just get boiled and remain whole. Don’t overcook them or else you will not get the perfect texture. - Separate the boiled peas and the stock into two different utensils.
- Take 250 grams chicken keema into a separate bowl. Add 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon garam masala powder, ½ tablespoon ginger-garlic paste, ½ tablespoon mustard oil and ½ tablespoon lemon juice into the bowl and mix it nicely until the keema gets coated evenly.
- Cover the bowl and keep it aside for at least half an hour to marinate.
- On the other hand, add the onion chunks, garlic cloves, ginger pieces, green chillies into the jar of grinder and pulse it to a smooth paste. Add little water if required. Keep the masala paste aside.
- Put a pan on flame and allow it to become completely dry. Add 3 tablespoons Mustard oil into the pan and wait until the oil is hot.
- Add potato pieces into the pan and fry them evenly from all the sides on medium high flame till crispy and golden brown in colour. Flip the pieces in between. Then keep them aside on a separate plate.
- Into the same pan, add 4 cardamoms, 1 bay leaf, 2 inches cinnamon stick, ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds for tempering and let them crackle.
- Add finely chopped onion into the pan and give a nice mix. Cook it over medium flame for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the masala paste (Step 7) into the pan and give a nice stir. Cook it in medium flame for another 12-13 minutes until the masala releases oil.
- Add salt, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder and cook the masala in lowest flame for another couple of minutes.
- Add the tomato chunks into the pan and give a nice stir. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes get tender.
- Add ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder into the pan and mix it well. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water into the masala and cook it till it releases oil.
- Add the marinated chicken keema (Step 6) into the pan and mix it well. Cover the pan and cook it in medium to low flame for 10-12 minutes until it releases oil.
- Add 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup, ¾ teaspoon garam masala powder into the pan and mix it well. Cook it in low flame for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the boiled yellow peas (Step 4) and fried potato chunks (Step 9) into the pan and give a nice mix. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame for another 5 minutes.
- Add 2 cups preserved peas stock (Step 4) into the pan and give a nice stir.
- Add 2-3 green chillies and 1 teaspoon bhaja masala into the pan and mix it.
- Cover the pan and cook it in high flame until the gravy start boiling. Then put the flame in low and simmer it for another couple of minutes.
- Then switch off the flame and your mangsher ghugni is ready to serve.
Serving Instruction
Transfer the mangsher ghugni into a bowl and add some chopped onion, chopped green chillies on it. Serve it simply as an evening snacks or pair it up with some luchi or pooris and enjoy the Bengali delicacy.
Ingredients
To pressure cook the peas
- 1 cup dried white or yellow Peas
- 2½ cups Water
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
To marinate the chicken keema
- 250 grams Chicken keema
- ½ tablespoon Ginger-Garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red Chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala powder
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon Mustard oil
For the masala paste
- 1 large Onion, diced
- 2 inches Ginger, peeled and diced
- 5-6 large cloves of Garlic
- 2-3 green Chillies
- 1-2 tablespoons of Water
Other ingredients for chicken ghugni
- 1 large Potato, medium diced
- 1 large Onion, finely chopped
- 1 large Tomato, deseeded and diced
- 2-3 green Chillies, whole or half slit
- 1 Bay leaf (Tejpatta)
- 4 Cardamoms (Elaichi)
- 2 inches Cinnamon stick (Dalchini)
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red Chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon Coriander powder
- ¾ teaspoon Garam Masala powder
- 1 teaspoon Bhaja masala
- 1 tablespoon Tomato ketchup
- 2 cups boiled Peas stock, for the gravy
- 3 tablespoons Mustard oil, for cooking
- 2 tablespoons Onion, finely chopped (For garnishing)
- 1 green Chilli, finely chopped (For garnishing)
Instructions
- Take the dried peas in a large bowl and soak it with enough water for overnight or at least for 8 hours. The dried peas will increase in size after getting soaked. So, it is important to soak it in larger bowl as compared to the volume of the dried peas. Drain the water and wash the soaked peas nicely.
- Shift the soaked peas into a pressure cooker. Add 2½ cups of water, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, one by one into the pressure cooker. Give a stir and close the lid of the pressure cooker.
- Put the pressure cooker on medium flame and cook it till 3 whistles. Allow the pressure cooker to stand and release the pressure completely.
Note: For a good ghugni, the peas should just get boiled and remain whole. Don’t overcook them or else you will not get the perfect texture.
- Separate the boiled peas and the stock into two different utensils.
- Take 250 grams chicken keema into a separate bowl. Add 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon garam masala powder, ½ tablespoon ginger-garlic paste, ½ tablespoon mustard oil and ½ tablespoon lemon juice into the bowl and mix it nicely until the keema gets coated evenly.
- Cover the bowl and keep it aside for at least half an hour to marinate.
- On the other hand, add the onion chunks, garlic cloves, ginger pieces, green chillies into the jar of grinder and pulse it to a smooth paste. Add little water if required. Keep the masala paste aside.
- Put a pan on flame and allow it to become completely dry. Add 3 tablespoons Mustard oil into the pan and wait until the oil is hot.
- Add potato pieces into the pan and fry them evenly from all the sides on medium high flame till crispy and golden brown in colour. Flip the pieces in between. Then keep them aside on a separate plate.
- Into the same pan, add 4 cardamoms, 1 bay leaf, 2 inches cinnamon stick, ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds for tempering and let them crackle.
- Add finely chopped onion into the pan and give a nice mix. Cook it over medium flame for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the masala paste (Step 7) into the pan and give a nice stir. Cook it in medium flame for another 12-13 minutes until the masala releases oil.
- Add salt, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder and cook the masala in lowest flame for another couple of minutes.
- Add the tomato chunks into the pan and give a nice stir. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes get tender.
- Add ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder into the pan and mix it well. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water into the masala and cook it till it releases oil.
- Add the marinated chicken keema (Step 6) into the pan and mix it well. Cover the pan and cook it in medium to low flame for 10-12 minutes until it releases oil.
- Add 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup, ¾ teaspoon garam masala powder into the pan and mix it well. Cook it in low flame for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the boiled yellow peas (Step 4) and fried potato chunks (Step 9) into the pan and give a nice mix. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame for another 5 minutes.
- Add 2 cups preserved peas stock (Step 4) into the pan and give a nice stir.
- Add 2-3 green chillies and 1 teaspoon bhaja masala into the pan and mix it.
- Cover the pan and cook it in high flame until the gravy start boiling. Then put the flame in low and simmer it for another couple of minutes.
- Then switch off the flame and your mangsher ghugni is ready to serve.
