The origin of this iconic chicken curry can be traced back to the imperial era in India, crafted by Indian cooks. As the saying goes, while the royal, lordly British masters spent their grand leisure in forest bungalows hunting and grunting, their Indian cooks often cooked wild chickens with readily available ingredients and spices. 

As you may guess, there would be no fixed recipe in such a setting. It was more like ‘cook with whatever you’ve got’. More than two hundred years later, as the curry recipe had been handed down to us, it would surely have picked up a few extra spices or condiments on its way down. But we have no way to trace what all have been added or how and when did that happen. 

One more piece of solid information: forest bungalows are often called ‘Dak Bungalows’ in Bengali. And that’s how the chicken curry got such a grand name. 

Let’s Jump onto the ingredients and methods to prepare the dish, shall we?

Chicken Dak Bungalow Curry: Ingredients

• Chicken leg pieces- 8
• Tomato- 2
• Onion-  2
• Garlic bulbs-  5
• Ginger-  30 grams
• Curd-  50 grams
• Turmeric- 1 tbsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder- 2 tbsp
• Cumin Powder- 1 tbsp
• Coriander Powder- 2 tbsp
• Garam Masala Powder- 1 tbsp
• Salt and Sugar- to taste
• Whole spices:

              – Cinnamon
              – Big and small cardamom
              – Nutmeg
              – Black pepper
              – Cumin seeds
              – Dried chilli

• Mustard Oil-   50 grams
• Potato-           4 (each cut in halves)
• Boiled Egg-    2

Chicken Dak Bungalow Curry: Cooking Procedure

• Marinate the chicken legs with curd, salt, 3 tbsp of mustard oil and all the ground spices for 30 minutes
• Slice and chop the onions thinly and fry them
• Bring on the trusted mixer-grinder and grind fried onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes together into a fine paste
• Let the mustard oil heat up and then lightly fry the potatoes and boiled eggs in the oil. 
• After frying the eggs and potatoes, remove them to a plate. Now add the whole spices to the same oil for tempering. Don’t fry the whole spices for long. Otherwise, they may turn black and start giving off smoke. If you let that happen, your Chicken Dak Bangalow Curry will taste bitter and the British will not like it. 
• Add the onion-ginger-garlic-tomato paste from the mixer to the oil. Fry it for two minutes on low flame. 
• Add marinated chicken legs to the gravy being fried, and two minutes later the potato cubes too
• Fry till the gravy discharges natural oil stored in the ingredients
• Add a cup of hot water or the wash from the mixer. Cook for five minutes
• When the gravy thickens to your liking, add the fried eggs. Stir the curry on low flame for about 30 seconds and then turn off the flame

You have just made the proud British prouder– your Chicken Dak Bungalow curry is ready. The thick gravy rich in the natural aroma of spices and vegetables is best enjoyed with long-grain white rice.