Chicken Rassa (means gravy) is a Maharashtrian chicken curry. This is adopted from my mother's recipe. I have grown up eating this curry. Interesting part is my mother is vegetarian and has never eaten any nonveg food. She learnt to make this curry for my dad. But, everyone in the family and also friends love this curry. In fact one of my college friend she still remembers the taste of this curry and asked me to share this recipe.

 

One of the essential ingredients for this curry is a homemade Goda (sounds like 'Go’ + ‘daa') masala which gives this curry a unique taste.

 

Goda masala is a homemade spice powder. Every household has their own recipe of this masala. It has got approximately 14 different spices. Goda literally means sweet but it means mild in this case. This masala is not very hot. This is generally prepared in summer in a bulk quantity to last for the entire year. This masala is used in lot of Maharashtrian dishes.

 

Difference between Goda masala and Garam masala is that Garam masala is made from just a spice mix. Whereas Goda masala has sesame seeds and grated dry coconut (sun-dried). Some, people also add sun-dried onions and garlic as well. This version is more popular in the region's where people eat spicy food.

 

I am lucky that I get my yearly stock of masala from my mother and mother in law. They both have slightly different proportions of spices being used. My mother in law uses more chilli so when I use her masala I don't add chilli powder separately.

 

Goda Masala is available in some Indian shops. It can be replaced by Garam Masala.

 

Note : If using Garam masala,

• add 1 teaspoon of roasted sesame seeds to the masala paste.

• add additional ½ tablespoon of desiccated coconut to the one mentioned in the recipe

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Preparation time :  10 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Serves : 4