Chicken Cafreal Recipe | Goan Galinha Cafreal (2024)

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Chicken Cafreal aka Galinha Cafrealis a Portuguese influenced dish popular in theGoan cuisine! Learn how to make this Goan delight with step by step pictures.

No festive occasion is complete without chicken cafreal on the menu along with the popular sorpotel, vindaloo’s/vindalho’s, xacuti and the likes.

But who really needs an occasion to indulge in some chicken cafreal? I prepare it quite frequently, mostly for our Sunday meals, coz weekend meals are meant to be special, at least that is what I remember since my childhood. Pulao, biryani’s and rich curries were mostly reserved for Sunday’s!

Table of Contents

Let’s talk about cafreal masala

In this dish, chicken is marinated with an uber-flavorful greenspice paste known as cafreal masala. And here’s what goes into this spice paste;

  • Coriander (cilantro) leaves
  • Green chillies
  • Ginger and garlic
  • Ground turmeric
  • Whole spices like peppercorn, cinnamon, cloves, and cumin seeds
  • Poppy seeds
  • A sour ingredient which may vary from tamarind to lime juice to vinegar!

Chicken cafreal is fiery, rustic, a bit tangy, utterly aromatic and absolutely delicious all at once!

Adjectives fall short to describe how fantastic this dish is!

Some folks add a splash of rum when the chicken is almost done which actually adds a nice, festive finish to the dish!

Served alongside some potato wedges/fries and salad, and you have a complete, wholesome meal!

Some easy tips to keep in mind before making this recipe

Chicken leg pieces are your best bet to make chicken cafreal, the meat is succulent, tender and just falls apart. So delicious! You may use breast pieces too. I’ve made a semi gravy version, allowing the marinade to almost dry up, coating the chicken with all that aromatic and flavorful deliciousness.

You can have it in the form of curry too, adjust the liquid as required and enjoy it with some pulao or bread instead.

Marinating the chicken in the cafreal paste overnight gives maximum flavor to the dish, so I highly recommend you do a little prep work in advance to thoroughly enjoy chicken cafreal! If you have any leftovers (highly unlikely :D) use them in sandwiches, wraps etc.

You may also enjoy these Goan dishes

Recheado masala stuffed squids

Recheado masala chicken drumsticks

Mussels rava fry

How to make authentic Goan chicken cafreal recipe – Step by step instructions

Step 1: Marinate the chicken

Pat dry the chicken (1.5 pounds), make some gashes on the chicken thighs. Rub it well with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste & 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside for 30 minutes. In the meanwhile prepare the cafreal masala.

Step 2: Cafreal masala

In a blender/grinder, add 1 cup coriander leaves with tender stems, 6-7 green chilies, 6-7 garlic cloves, 1.5 inch ginger root, 4 cloves, 8 peppercorns, 1-inch cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 2 teaspoons poppy seeds, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, and a small ball of tamarind. Grind to a smooth paste using water as required. I used a little more than 1/4 cup water.

Step 3: Marinate the chicken

Apply half of the prepared marinade to the chicken and let it marinate 2-3 hours or overnight preferably. Reserve the remaining marinade in the refrigerator.

Step 4: Cook

Before you cook the chicken, remove it out from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Heat butter and oil in a pan. Once it is hot, add the chicken pieces, cook until golden brown on both sides.

Then add the reserved marinade along with 1/2 cup water, cook covered on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces.

When the chicken is almost done, cook uncovered, till the gravy dries up a bit and the masala coats the chicken well.

Step 5: Serve

Once done, sprinkle lemon juice and serve hot along with some potato wedges, lime wedges, and salad.

★ If you try this Goan chicken cafreal recipe, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Feel free to share your feedback and suggestions at [emailprotected]. Thanks so much 🙂

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Chicken Cafreal Recipe | Goan Galinha Cafreal (12)

Chicken Cafreal Recipe | Goan Galinha Cafreal

Chicken Cafreal Recipe | Goan Galinha Cafreal (13)Freda Dias

Chicken Cafreal aka Galinha Cafrealis a Portuguese influenced dish popular in theGoan cuisine! Learn how to make this Goan delight with step by step pictures.

5 from 9 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Resting Time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Goan, Indian

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml

  • 1.5 lbs chicken thighs
  • 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice/vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt

For the cafreal masala

  • 1 cup loosely packed cilantro/coriander leaves with tender stalks, about 30 stalks
  • 6-7 green chillies, adjust as per desired heat
  • 6-7 large garlic cloves
  • 1 & 1/2 inch piece of ginger
  • 4 cloves
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 1 inch of cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp poppy seeds
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • A smallball of tamarind/Juice of half a lime

Other ingredients

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

  • Pat dry the chicken, make some gashes on the chicken thighs. Rub it well with lemon juice. ginger garlic paste & salt. Set aside for 30 minutes. In the meanwhile prepare the cafreal masala.

  • In a blender/grinder, add all the ingredients listed under cafreal masala and make a smooth paste using water as required. I used a little more than 1/4 cup water.

  • Apply half of the prepared marinade to the chicken and let it marinate 2-3 hours or overnight preferably. Reserve the remaining marinade in the refrigerator.

  • Before you cook the chicken, remove it out from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Heat butter and oil in a pan. Once it is hot, add the chicken pieces, cook until golden brown on both sides.

  • Then add the reserved marinade along with 1/2 cup water, cook covered on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces.When the chicken is almost done, cook uncovered, till the gravy dries up a bit and the masala coats the chicken well.

  • Once done, sprinkle lemon juice and serve hot along with some potato wedges, lime wedges, and salad.

Keyword Chicken Cafreal

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Chicken Cafreal Recipe | Goan Galinha Cafreal (14)

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Chicken Cafreal Recipe | Goan Galinha Cafreal (2024)

FAQs

What is cafreal sauce made of? ›

The generic preparation involves green chillies, fresh coriander leaves, onion, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, chilli, mace, clove powder and lime juice or vinegar.

What is the meaning of cafreal in English? ›

Noun. cafreal (uncountable) (cooking) A shallow-fried spiced chicken dish from Goa, India.

Is Chicken Cafreal Portuguese? ›

Slide 8: So, to answer the question, Chicken Cafreal is a Goan dish with Portuguese and African influences. It's a true representation of Goa's rich cultural history.

What is TSO made of? ›

General Tso's (pronounced tsow) chicken is a Chinese-American dish that features deep-fried chicken tossed in an irresistibly sticky glaze made with garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and chiles. The dish is named after 19th-century military leader Tso Tsung-t'ang.

Where is veloute sauce from? ›

A classic velouté sauce is one of the five French “mother” sauces made with only 3 ingredients: butter, flour, and stock.

What is the Portuguese famous chicken? ›

Piri-piri chicken is, like a lot of Portuguese cuisine, a one of Portugal's best dishes. Every restaurant and Portuguese mother has their own secret ingredient that makes their frango piri-piri the best, but overall it is a fairly simple dish.

Why is it called Portuguese chicken? ›

Despite its name, Portuguese chicken did not originate from Portugal, but from its former colony Macau. The dish is not found in Portuguese cuisine. The dish consists of chicken pieces served with Portuguese sauce, which is likened to a mild yellow curry thickened with coconut milk.

How do you say chicken in Brazil? ›

Portuguese translation of 'chicken'
  1. galinha.
  2. ( food) galinha ⧫ frango.
  3. ( informal: coward) covarde m, f ⧫ galinha.
Oct 30, 2020

Is Peri chicken Portuguese? ›

While Peri Peri is commonly associated with Portugal it actually hails from Southern Africa. When Portuguese explorers visited Mozambique they brought the bird's eye chilli, the one used in Peri peri sauce. The name peri peri means “pepper pepper” in Swahili.

Where is drunken chicken from? ›

It's also rare to come across an iconic Chinese dish without an elaborate origin story. Canonically, all we can say is that Drunken Chicken was invented in Shaoxing, which has been producing arguably the best huangjiu in China for at least 3,000 years (more on that later).

Is chicken common in Portugal? ›

Chicken, duck, turkey, red-legged partridge and quail are all elements of Portuguese cuisine. Dishes include frango no churrasco (chicken on churrasco), chicken piri-piri, cabidela rice, canja de galinha, and arroz de pato (duck rice), among others.

What is the origin of Portuguese food? ›

The roots of Portuguese food lie in both native peasant cookery and the ingredients obtained through trade routes established many centuries ago. Bread, rice, spices, pastries, sausages, and seafood — especially cod — remain the staples of many Portuguese meals.

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