Chicken Cafreal
The green Goan chicken: marinated overnight in a paste of coriander, green chilli, garlic, ginger and palm vinegar, then pan-fried until charred at the edges. A Portuguese-African inheritance with strong green-herb flavour.
Overview
A vivid green masala is ground from coriander leaves, mint, green chilli, garlic, ginger, cumin, peppercorns and clove with palm vinegar. Chicken pieces are slashed and marinated for at least 4 hours (ideally overnight). The pieces are pan-fried in the marinade-paste over high heat until the herb crust dries out and chars at the edges, with a small splash of water added halfway through to keep the chicken juicy. Served with a wedge of lime and a salad of onion and tomato.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1.2 kg chicken (whole legs or thighs and drumsticks, bone-in and skin-on)
- Salt for the chicken
Cafreal paste
- 80 g fresh coriander (stems included)
- 30 g fresh mint leaves
- 4-6 green chillies (deseed if you want it milder)
- 8 garlic cloves
- 30 g fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 4 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick (small, broken)
- 3 tablespoons palm vinegar (or cider vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon palm jaggery (or soft brown sugar)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
Cooking
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 100 ml water
To serve
- 1 lime (cut into wedges)
- 1 onion (thinly sliced into rings)
- 1 tomato (sliced)
- Goan pao (or any soft bread roll)
Method
Stage 1 - Slash the chicken
- Pat the chicken pieces dry.
- Cut deep slashes into the flesh, 2-3 per piece, down to the bone (this lets the marinade reach the inside).
- Salt the chicken lightly.
Stage 2 - Make the cafreal paste
- Dry-toast the cumin, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon in a pan for 30 seconds.
- Place the coriander, mint, green chillies, garlic, ginger, toasted spices, palm vinegar, jaggery, salt and turmeric in a blender.
- Blend to a smooth paste; add 2 tablespoons of water if needed to keep the blade turning.
Stage 3 - Marinate
- Rub the cafreal paste into the chicken pieces, working it into the slashes.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
Stage 4 - Bring to room temperature
- Lift the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
Stage 5 - Pan-fry
- Heat the coconut oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the chicken pieces skin-side down, scraping the marinade in too.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes a side until the skin chars and the paste dries onto the meat.
- Add 100 ml of water to the pan.
- Cover and lower the heat to medium-low.
- Cook for 15-18 minutes, turning twice, until the chicken is cooked through (a thigh should read 75°C in the thickest part).
- Lift the lid and increase the heat for the last 3-4 minutes to dry out any remaining liquid and re-char the surface.
Stage 6 - Rest and serve
- Rest the chicken for 5 minutes.
- Serve with the lime wedges, sliced onion and tomato, and warm pao for mopping up the green paste.
Notes
- Overnight marinade is the dish: A 4-hour marinade is the minimum; 12-24 hours gives the herb flavour real depth.
- Pan-frying, not deep-frying: The defining technique. The paste chars onto the chicken in patches; deep-fried cafreal is a different dish entirely.
- Bone-in, skin-on: Boneless thighs work but give a thinner result. The bone keeps the meat juicy; the skin chars to crackling.
Storage
- Best the day it's cooked.
- Refrigerate up to 3 days; reheat in a covered pan with a splash of water.
- Doesn't freeze well (the herb paste fades).
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