Goan Chicken Cafreal (Frango à Cafreal)

This popular bar dish from Goa combines chicken with a deep green, hot & sour masala.

‘Cafreal’ is a popular chicken dish in Goa, traditionally made with chicken legs and drumsticks infused with a green elixir of chillies and ‘curry’ aromatics. This preparation was brought to Goa by Portuguese seafarers that would eventually settle in the region, influenced by the cookery styles of their other colonies in East Africa. This dish offers the spicy, lively vegetal flavours of green chilli and coriander with an earthy-sweet backdrop of whole spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In Goa, ‘cafreal’ is a popular bar snack today, often enjoyed with potatoes and a cold beer. You can still enjoy cafreal if you hate coriander - simply replace it with spinach instead! Let’s go!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2-3x)

• 4x skinless chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless)

  ---

  CAFREAL PASTE

• 1 tsp salt

• 2-3x green chillies (ideally the thinner, Indian finger chillies)

• 1x handful of fresh coriander with stalks (keep some back for the end)

• 1x tablespoon white wine/cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon lime juice

• 1x shallot

• 3x cloves garlic

• 1x thumb ginger

• 2 tsps sugar

---

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1x cinnamon stick

• 2x cloves

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric

• 1/4 tsp chilli powder

• 1/4 tsp mace or nutmeg

• 150ml water (or chicken stock if using boneless chicken)

• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander, finely chopped

WALKTHROUGH

1. First, let’s make the cafreal paste. Into a food processor or blender, add 1 tsp salt, green chillies, fresh coriander with stalks (keep a small amount back for the finished dish), 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon lime juice, shallot, 3x cloves garlic, ginger and 2 tsps sugar. Blend until you have a coarse paste.

   

2. Now, let’s marinate the chicken. Combine the chicken thighs with the marinade and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour, or up to 24 hours in the fridge. This marinade will allow salt to penetrate the meat, and will also allow the acid ingredients to interact with the aromatics.

   

   

3. Now we’re ready to cook, we’ll toast the larger spices in oil. Place a pan onto medium-low heat and add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. As it heats, add the cinnamon stick and 2x cloves. Allow these spices to gently fry until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

   

4. Now we’ll add the ground spices. Add the 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp chilli powder and 1/4 tsp mace/nutmeg. Fry these spices in the oil for 10 seconds until fragrant.

   

5. Add the marinated chicken along with all of the marinade juices. Increase the heat to medium-high and fry the chicken for 2-3 minutes to cook away some of the acidic aroma.

   

6. Now we’ll add liquid. Add the 150ml of water (or chicken stock if using boneless chicken.) Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes for bone-in chicken, or 10 minutes for boneless chicken.

   

7. Once the chicken is cooked, you can increase the heat to drive off any excess liquid. There should be enough of a thick ‘sauce’ to just coat and moisten the chicken. Add a final 1 tablespoon of finely chopped coriander reserved from earlier to add a fresh hit of flavour and colour.

   

8. Taste for seasoning, making adjustments with salt, sugar or lemon juice.

9. Once the chicken is cooked and well-sauced, it’s ready to serve. Serve this the Goan way with potato wedges, rice or white bread. A beer won’t harm anybody either. Enjoy!