Chicken Cafreal Recipe

• Clean and wash the chicken and place it in a large bowl/vessel (Cafreal tastes better with the skin on, but I remove it as nobody at my place likes the skin)
• Make 2-3 random inscisions(slits) on each chicken piece

  Note:- if using small pieces of chicken, Do NOT make inscisions, rather make holes in the chicken using a fork. 
• Apply 1 tspn salt and 1 tspn Ginger garlic paste to the chicken, mix it well and keep it aside

Follow these steps to make the Cafreal masala

• In a mixer grinder, add all the ingredients mentioned under the masala section
• Add water only of required and Do NOT add all the water. Add little by little
• Make a thick smooth paste out of all these ingredelients

Follow these steps for the Marination of the chicken

• Now add in all the masala to the chicken and hand mix it well so that each and every piece of chicken is coated well with the masala
  
• Cover the vessel/bowl tight and place it in the refrigerator either over night or for minimum 6 hrs
• In the mixer grinder that the masala was ground, add in about 1/2 cup water, shake it well and empty this water into a bowl and keep it in the refrigerator(remember, we Goans don't waste any precious masala😀😀)

Follow these steps to make the Cafreal

• After 6hrs or overnight, remove the marinaded chicken from the refrigerator and give it a quick hand mix

  Also remove the water that we have kept aside from the ground masala
  
• Now take a wide pan, and add oil into it for frying the chicken

  Note:- please Do Not skip this step as Cafreal tastes best when the chicken is pan fried first
  
• Once the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces into the pan and fry the Chicken on medium high flame till it gets it's golden brown colour

  Note:- we Don't have to fry the chicken till fully cooked. We just want a nice brown crusty surface on the chicken. This step will take just about 3-4 minutes
  
• Remove the chicken and keep it aside
  
• Now in a skillet or a vessel, add 2 tbspns oil 
  
• Place the skillet/vessel on medium flame 
• Once the oil becomes hot, add the masala that is left from the marinaded chicken, into the vessel/skillet and cook for about 10 minutes 
  
• Now add in the Vinegar, Sugar, Cinnamon powder and the water that we have kept aside in the bowl from the ground masala
  
• Let this gravy cook until all the taste of the raw spices gets completely cooked
  
• Add the pan fried Chicken to the gravy and mix well till each and every piece of chicken is coated with gravy
  
• Let the chicken cook in the gravy  and check for salt, vinegar or sugar. If required, then add it at this stage. I like my Cafreal Abit more vinegary, so I add in some more vinegar at this stage

  Note:- Do Not cover the skillet/vessel and ensure to stir and mix the chicken at intervals or else it may get stuck or burnt at the bottom
  
• After about 10 minutes or so, turn the gas flame to high and let all the gravy thicken
  
• Once the gravy thickens, your Cafreal is ready to be served
• Enjoy your Chicken cafreal with Hot Pao or Poee
• Note:- The Cafreal that I make is a Semi Gravy Cafreal. However if you like your Cafreal with more gravy, you can grind more quantity of the masala and alter the water content

Follow these steps to make the Ginger Garlic paste

• Add the following into a mixer grinder

  *100 gms Garlic (skinned and roughly chopped)

  *60 gms Ginger (thoroughly washed and roughly chopped. Some people like to remove the skin of the ginger. I don't. However, you can do it the way you are comfortable 🙂

  -Grind these two ingredients to a thick fine paste

  -Transfer this paste into an Air Tight container

  -As soon as the paste is ready, it will be hot, due to the pressure of the mixer rotation. Please wait until the paste has turned completely cool and only then cover it with a lid

  -Ginger Garlic paste should be stored in the refrigerator. It can be stored up to 15-20 days

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