Kalya de Poulet (Chicken Kalya) is a traditional Mauritian recipe for a classic dish of chicken marinated and then cooked in a yoghurt-based sauce flavoured with saffron and spices. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Mauritian version of: Chicken Kalya (Kalya de Poulet).
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The typical version of this dish is garnished with hard-boiled eggs, but I have seen versions with salad potatoes (which look like eggs) and a mix of eggs and potatoes.
Ingredients:
1 x 1kg chicken, cut into serving pieces
250ml yoghurt
2 cinnamon sticks (abut 3cm long)
3 split cardamoms
4 cloves
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 green chillies, slit
pinch of turmeric
1 tsp mixed grated ginger and garlic
5 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
salt and black pepper, to taste
2 onions, finely sliced
120ml mixed oil and ghee
pinch of saffron
6 hard-boiled eggs to garnish
Method:
Add the chicken to a pot and mix-in all the ingredients apart from the onions, ghee and oil mixture and saffron. Mix together and allow to marinate for an hour.
Meanwhile fry the onions in the ghee/oil mix until browned and crisp. Remove and set aside then pour the remaining oil into the pot with the chicken. Soak the saffron in 60ml hot water and allow to infuse before pouring onto the chicken.
Mix well, cover and cook over a low heat for about 40 minutes, or until the chicken is done. Add the fried onion, cook for a further 3 minutes.
Garnish with hard-boiled eggs and serve with rice.