Chicken Cafreal aka Galinha Cafreal is a Portuguese influenced dish popular in the Goan 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 green spice 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
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 [email protected]. Thanks so much 🙂
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Chicken Cafreal Recipe | Goan Galinha Cafreal
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 small ball 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.
Loved to try this for my family, exotic taste for us.
I actually went to an Indian restaurant here in Iceland that served cafreal scallops and I wanted to mimick that but marinating the scallops made them to moist so it was hard to fry them poperly.
However with the chicken this was very good.
Hi Einar! Thanks for sharing your feedback. Glad you enjoyed it 😊
I’ve in Goa for many years and really love the Goan cuisine. Specially Cafreal, Caldine and Recheado. Also Bebinca is my best sweet dish. I also prepare Goan fish curry regularly in my house whenever I get time.
Hi Debjit! Glad to know you love Goan cuisine. Personally, it is one of my favorite cuisines since that’s the kind of food I grew up with 🙂
Hi Freda,
I found your recipe on google. It was delicious thank you.
My grandmother used to cook this all the time and as I cooked it, my kitchen filled with a comforting and familiar smell. she would be proud.
Best wishes,
Lisa
Goan girl living in London 💙
Hi Lisa! I’m so glad that this recipe brought back fond memories for you! I’m sure it must have been nostalgic. Thanks so much for sharing your feedback with us 😊
Hi Freda,
I really love your recipe, it’s really amazing I made it twice and it has turned out fantastic! It reminds me of my grandmother’s recipe thank you so much:)
Hi Kezia! I’m so glad to hear that, thanks so much for sharing your feedback 😊
Made this Cafereal for the first time, and I loved the dish. The flavours in the masala were delicious and the chicken was cooked to perfection. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad to hear that, Safoora! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback 😊
Thank you for this recipe. For me cooking is a good recreation and a stress buster. The preparation tips are good and the method is simple.
I’m glad you found the post useful! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Vijay 😊
Your Chicken Cafreal recipe is fab! I tried it out today and it was so delicious. Thank you, Freda!
Yay!! So glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your feedback, Lyn 🙂
Hi Freda.
This recipe is perfect. Thanks for sharing it!!
I would now like to attempt this in a curry form. Any recommendations on how much water I should use?
Thanks.
Best regards,
Kyle
Hi Kyle! So glad to know you loved it! Thanks for sharing your feedback:) You can adjust as per the consistency you’d want. Start with 1/2 cup of hot water. Avoid adding too much water, as it may dilute down the flavors or double the masala paste and use about 1 cup of water.
Hi..wanna try it out. Is the poppy seeds mandatory or can it be skipped?
Hi Anu! Poppy seeds are used to thicken the paste, doesn’t really add any flavour. You can skip it or add about 3-4 unsalted cashews.
Perfect recipe of Chicken Cafreal,Many times i bought ready masala from Goa but when i made with ur recipe ,OMG It became so delicious, my wife and my daughter enjoyed it.Thanks Freda for delicious recipes
Hi Deepak! Tell me about it, those readymade masala are so meh! Homemade paste is so fresh and aromatic, I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks for for sharing your feedback 🙂
I tried your Chicken Cafreal recipe today. It came out yum yum yum. Was gobbled quickly by my hubby and son. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hi Dina! So happy to know! Thanks for sharing your feedback:)
Love the flower carrot. Great plating!
Thank you Chris ☺️
This looks amazing Freda!
Thanks Antonia 🙂
I will be making this delicious chicken soon!! Thxx Freda it’s very different recipe always like ur presentation ..Pls do share ur potatoes veggies recipe..?
Hi dear! Hope u like it, will definitely share some in the coming months 🙂
Love this recipe 🙂
Thanks Nandini 🙂
.Love your chicken cafreal. My sister’s mother in law is from Goa and she makes a similar version 🙂
Thanks 🙂 I have no clue why this message was in spam, how weird is that?
One of my favourite..just can’t stop drooling ..Awesome pics as always
Thanks a lot 🙂
That marinade sounds amazing, Freda! I will be making this dish very soon! 🙂
Thanks a lot Linda 🙂
Anything with cilantro and chiles is game in my book! Your food styling is awesome for this too, Freda!
Thanks so much Kathryn 🙂 Nice to know you like cilantro too 😀
I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again….beautifully plated Freda, you have such an artistic flair with your presentations. Well done! I’ve never made cafreal from scratch, I’ve always asked my sister to bring me some packets whenever she visits Goa. But you’ve made it sound so easy. I do make green masala in the blender at home and use it in various dishes. The spices are somewhat similar, so will have to give the cafreal a go. Do you find that your blender blends the whole spices as well?
Hi Loretta! Thanks a lot for your kind words. Actually I got my mixer from India. I use the small chutney jar to grind these masalas, they grind really smooth and fine, especially when the quantity is not much. I didn’t like the one that I purchased from here, so got one from India 🙂
Looks delicious! can’t wait to try this !!
Thanks a bunch 🙂
Looks great Freda ..Can we make this with bite-size chicken pieces?…Will love to try this
Thanks, Lathiya! yes you can definitely use whatever you like, you can make it in a curry form too 🙂
After looking at pics, I knew I had to see what its made of. My husband keeps asking me for new chicken recipes. I feel this one is to try now. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! please do try it, I’m sure you guys will love it too 🙂
Freda,
We visited Goa in November and the market had Cafreal masalas galore. Love your freshly ground masala. Your photos look amazing! My hand reached out to get one of those scrumptious fries. If I were to succeed getting it, that chicken leg would disappear out of the photos too! Fabulous share my friend!
Thanks so much, Sandhya! Yes the markets in Goa have an abundance of all these masalas, but nothing like freshly ground home made masalas, right?