Gongura Chicken Curry Recipe

Gongura / Pulicha keerai  is a plant, grown for its edible leaves, and it is called by different names in India. With this gongura leaves, we will be making a very tasty chicken curry. Gongura chicken is spicy and tangy in taste, soo good with hot rice or naan bread. Easy to make this delicious curry with this recipe in less than 30 minutes. Enjoy the seasonal greens by making this unique and nutritious chicken curry.

This recipe includes,

• Step by step pictures of how to make the gongura chicken curry on the stove top
• What is Gongura ? and its benefits
• How to clean the gongura leaves and chicken
• Serving suggestions and storing instructions

This is one of our family favorite chicken curry. I make it every week without fail during summer, as gongura is a seasonal greens. Also this recipe does not need much cooking or sautéing time, because marinating the chicken cuts down steps. Especially for a mom, you’ll want to cook something fast and at the same time make tasty and healthy food. Gongura chicken curry is one best way to include greens/ vegetables in your meal.

What is Gongura?

Gongura is a plant, Roselle (Kenaf Leaves in english), grown for its edible leaves in India and few other countries. It  comes in two varieties, green stemmed leaf and red stemmed. The red stemmed variety is more sour than the green stemmed variety. I used red stemmed leaves in this recipe. These leaves is a rich source of iron, vitamins, folic acid and anti-oxidants essential for human nutrition. Many usually take sorrel for lot of its medicinal values. Its help in reducing inflammation in nasal passage , aides in digestion and many more. Including the fresh leaves in the food is the best way to consume it.

How to clean and dry the fresh Gongura leaves?

• Pluck only the leaves from the stem. In a wide bowl, add enough water and leaves, and clean /rinse it well to remove any impurities. Drain the dirty water and repeat the above step once or twice depending on the dirt on the leaves.
• Drain the water completely from the leaves, and pat dry them on a paper towel /cloth, some water on the leaves is okay. This is optional – cleaning and drying the leaves overnight will save some time and leaves will get dried thoroughly.

What to do with the leftover steam after plucking the leaves?

This is most useful thing, “YOU CAN REGROW NEW LEAVES” with this steam. Soak the root part ( bottom side of the stem)  in a cup of tap water for one full day or two. Then plant the stem directly in the soil or in a large pot ( depending on the number of stems). Water them regular everyday, you will see new leaves popping up in a weeks time. You can pluck these new leaves directly from the plant and use it in the recipe. I buy few bunches of gongura only once in the starting of summer, and re use the stem to grow fresh leaves for the entire summer, how cool is this right? 

Cleaning the chicken as given below is completely optional

Cleaning the cut chicken pieces is completely optional, I personally like to clean the meat for all the Indian curries in the mentioned below way. Also using turmeric, helps to clean any bacteria in the chicken, and plain yogurt / curd helps to tenderize the chicken naturally.

How to clean ? cut the chicken into small pieces ( 1 inch strip or cube ), add the cut pieces in a bowl, add 3 tablespoons – white distilled vinegar, 3/4 th teaspoon – turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon – salt, 2 tablespoon – plain yogurt, and water to cover the chicken. Mix it well, and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Now drain the water completely, and rinse the chicken again with fresh water one more time, make sure to drain the water completely, and set the chicken pieces aside for marination.

Can I use other meats instead of chicken?

Yes, you can add other meats instead of the chicken. Mutton /Lamb is one best substitute to chicken, and the curry tastes equally delicious. Mutton take longer time to cook, so make sure to increasing the pressure cooking time until the mutton is completely cooked ( increase the number of pressure cooker whistles accordingly) . Remaining steps and process remains the same as in the recipe below.

How to make the curry nuts free?

Skip the cashew nuts in the recipe , which I only used to garnish the curry in the end. Note – if you are not allergic to nuts, then I highly recommend to add fried cashew nuts, because it enhances the taste and texture of the chicken curry.

Serving suggestions.

This is a spicy and tangy chicken curry, so plain rice , mildly flavored rice , naan bread will go well with the curry. Check the links below for the recipes,

• Best Naan Bread Recipe
• Thengai Paal Sadam | Coconut Milk flavored Rice

Storing and heating instructions. 

• Refrigerate any leftover chicken curry in a clean dry container, preferably glass. Chicken curry stays good for 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. Make sure to place the container in the inner most part of the refrigerator ( away from the door) , use a clean dry spoon when you use the curry every time, these things may help the curry from getting spoilt quickly. To reheat – microwave the required quantity of curry for few minutes or until warm.
• This chicken curry can be made ahead of time for a party or pot luck. Cook the gongura chicken curry, cool down completely to room temperature. Transfer to foil trays or a big container, if using foil trays, then cover the trays with the lid if you have one or use a clear wrap and cover the foil. Can also use foil sheet warps to cover over the clear warp just for an extra protection and leak proofing.
• To reheat the foil trays –  pre heat the oven to 350 degree F , place the trays in the oven and heat it for 10 to 15 minutes or until the curry is heated , stir halfway. Another way is to use a chafing dish – burner to reheat the curry ( recommended this method – this helps the food to keep warm for the entire party).

Check the link below for other Gongura Recipes ,

A very tasty and addictive pickle, also know as thokku or pachadi. Gongura pickle is spicy and tangy in taste, soo good with hot rice and a drizzle of ghee. Easy to make this delicious pickle with this recipe, super fresh and preservative free, much better than store brought! Make this homemade Gongura Pickle during summer and enjoy it for the rest of the year.

•  Gongura Thokku | Pachadi | Pickle – stepwise pictures and detailed instructions given.

For other Indian cuisine curry recipe check the link below, I have listed few below, for the complete list of recipes, check the link here – Indian Cuisine Recipes

• Easy Instant Pot Palak Paneer
• Restaurant Style Easy Instant Pot Butter Chicken Recipe
• Best Instant Pot Chicken Curry Recipe
• Easy Instant Pot Pav Bhaji
• Coimbatore Style – Street Food Kaalan | Mushroom Masala
• Saravana Bhavan Style – Instant Pot Vegetable Kurma / Korma

Step by step pictures of how to make the gongura chicken curry

Ingredients required for the chicken marination – Boneless / skinless chicken thighs ( clean and cut chicken into small pieces), ginger and garlic paste, turmeric, salt, curd, lemon juice, red chilli powder, tomato (pulse / whip the mixer to break down the tomatoes into smaller pieces, fine puree not needed ), garam masala, coriander powder, water.

Ingredient required for cooking the making the curry – finely chopped onions, cinnamon sticks, cloves, green whole cardamom, dry red chillies, curry leaves few, oil, cashew nuts, ginger and garlic paste and water.

Ingredients for roast and grind – Gongura leaves (wash the leaves, drain the excess water and set aside the leaves) and green chillies.

Cleaning the chicken is optional – cut the chicken into small pieces , add the cut pieces in a bowl,  white distilled vinegar,  turmeric powder, salt, plain yogurt, and water to cover the chicken. Mix it well, and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Now drain the water completely, and rinse the chicken again with fresh water one more time, make sure to drain the water completely, and set the chicken pieces aside for marination.

Marinate the chicken

Take all the ingredients under the chicken marination in a bowl with the cleaned chicken pieces. Mix it well and let it sit for few minutes until the cooking time.

Roast and grind

I used pressure cooker for cooking the chicken. So I used the same cooker for roasting. Add 3 tablespoons oil or ghee (optional) and heat in medium flame. Once hot add the cashews nuts and fry it till slightly brown and drain oil and remove cashews and set aside.

Now in the same remaining oil, add gongura leaves and whole green chilies and sauté them both until the gongura leaves shrink in size, and changes color ( approximately 2 to 3 minutes). Remove from the cooker and cool down completely before grinding it.

Grind it to a smooth paste in the mixer /food processor by adding some water. Set aside the ground paste.

Pressure cook the chicken.

In the same pressure cooker, add 5 Tablespoons oil and heat in medium flame. Once hot add cinnamon sticks , clove , cardamom , whole dry red chilies and sauté for a minutes , then add curry leaves and sauté until it stops crackling. Now add chopped onions and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions turns translucent , Add ginger and garlic paste and sauté till raw smells goes (for a minutes).

Add the marinated chicken with all the masala and sauté for 3 – 4 minutes in medium-high flame. Now Add water to the chicken masala and mix well.

Take the lid of the pressure cooker fitted with the rubber gasket. Close the pressure cooker and cook in high flame. Once you see the steam coming along with water, put the weight on the cooker and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Simmer immediately to low flame for 5 minutes. Switch off the flame. Let it rest until the pressure all the pressure is released, then open the lid. Switch on the stove again to medium flame. Add the roast and ground masala ( gongura leaves and green chillies) to the pressure cooker along with cooked chicken.

Stir well and bring it to boil and simmer for 2 minutes in low flame. Switch off the flame, add the fried cashew nuts and garnish with chopped cilantro, stir well and serve with rice or naan bread .