Chicken Cafreal is a freshly prepared spicy green goan curry. Also known as Galinha Cafreal, the chicken curry is well known and quite popular in the sunny Indian coastline state.
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What is Chicken Cafreal?
Chicken Cafreal is a well-known spiced chicken dish from Goa, India. A green spiced paste is prepared with cilantro to infuse the chicken.
Some few dishes out there in the world have the capability of enchanting and taking you to the core of the heart and soul of a culture. Chicken Cafreal is one of those dishes!
Chicken Cafreal also called Galinha Cafreal is a popular Goan chicken dish known for its spicy green cilantro marinade. My version is adapted for everyday home cooking and can be prepared with boneless or bone-in chicken. "Galinha" is Portuguese and means “chicken.”
Process Overview
Chicken Cafreal is easy to make at home. The green curry can be either dry or with lots of gravy.
The base ingredients are fresh coriander, onion, spices, and lemon juice.
You should prepare the paste first, give your chicken some cuts and let the clean chicken marinate in the cafreal paste for as long as possible.
The longer you keep the poultry meat taking in the flavors, the better the result of the curry!
Furthermore, I do use boneless chicken because I am a lazy European, however proper chicken cafreal is always made with chicken thighs and basically with chicken meat on the bone.
The idea is that the bone gives the curry another deep flavor. So I recommend using bone-in chicken cuts such as legs, thighs, or drumsticks.
You can adjust the heat in this chicken cafreal recipe by using more or less green chilies. If you like your curry super hot, add 1-2 more chilies in the paste making process.
We eat chicken cafreal mostly with pao or poi bread, both local bread varieties, but you can serve it with plain rice or rotis too.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Cafreal Recipe
Ingredients
For the paste:
- ½ large Onion
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste or ⅓ Ginger paste and 2/2 Garlic finely chopped
- 2 Small Indian Green Chili Pepper or Serrano Peppers
- 1 Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Ground
- ½ Teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1 Cup Cilantro Fresh packed with leaves and stems
- 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
To cook:
- 1 Pound Chicken boneless or bone-in
- 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil or other neutral cooking oil
- 1 small Onion chopped
- ¼ cup Water less water results in a drier, cleaner if this is what you prefer.
Instructions
- Start by blending all the paste ingredients fine and smooth and keep aside.½ large Onion, 1 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste, 2 Small Indian Green Chili Pepper, 1 Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground, 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Ground, ½ Teaspoon Garam Masala, 1 Cup Cilantro Fresh, 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice, ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground, ½ Teaspoon Salt
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. If using boneless chicken, cut it into bite-sized pieces. For bone-in thighs or drumsticks, make a few shallow cuts in the meat to help the marinade penetrate.1 Pound Chicken
- Massage the paste into the chicken and marinate the chicken covered in paste for 1 hour. (The longer you keep it marinated, the better; I usually keep it for some hours for the best result.)
- Once the chicken has marinated long enough, take out a pan and pour in your oil. Sauté the translucent chopped onion over a medium-low heat setting.2 Tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 small Onion
- Add the marinated chicken to the pan and cook over medium heat for a few minutes, turning the pieces occasionally. Add any remaining marinade and a cup of water, stirring to combine. Reduce the heat and continue cooking until the chicken is fully cooked.¼ cup Water
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the chicken, turning occasionally. Boneless chicken strips generally take 10-15 minutes, while bone-in thighs and drumsticks may require 25-35 minutes or longer depending on their size. Cook until the thickest part reaches an internal temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
- If you need to add a few tablespoons more water to make it more like gravy, you can do so.
- Serve hot with rice, roti, flatbread, Goan pao, or poi bread.
Notes
Nutrition
Serving & Storing
In Goa, this chicken dish is often served as street food alongside omlette poi with Goan “poi” bread or “poa” bread.
You will enjoy too over cooked plain flavored rice or with any other flatbread, such as an Indian roti.
Store leftovers in your fridge for up to 2-3 days in an airtight glass container. You can reheat the chicken cafreal gradually over the stovetop in a pan, in a microwave, or in the oven.
History
The Portuguese brought this dish from Mozambique, an African country, which was a Portuguese colony, to Goa.
Goa was also a Portuguese colony until the 60s, and the Portuguese were known to move local food ingredients and even food dishes from one continent to another.
Back then, the Portuguese empire consisted of Brazil, and countless islands in the Atlantic and in Asia, such as Macao.
The colonial renaissance exploitation gave Portugal the power to hire discoverers such as Vasco da Gamma, which took over land by force, converting areas and making them part of the Portuguese heritage.
Natives in Goa say that the chicken Cafreal dish was inspired by the Mozambique culture and was introduced to Goa at some point in the past 500 years during Portuguese rule.
Goa added its charm to it with its subcontinental spices, and the chicken cafreal, as we know it, was born!
Turns out, chicken cafreal is a hit in Goa and the world. It's one of the main dishes, which you can find in takeaways and some food “bhaji” shops in Goa.
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