Morog Polao

Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s Dhakai morog pulao follows a chicken-and-rice preparation she associates with Bangladesh and Dhaka family celebrations. This selected version uses cock meat and the offered Basmati rice alternative.

The rice cooks in the chicken’s gravy, carrying onion, ginger, garlic, two types of curd and the recipe’s spices through the grains. Fried onion, dried plum, mawa and a milk-and-saffron mixture appear in the layered finish.

A separate nine-spice garam masala is dry roasted, cooled and powdered. Sliced onions fry in oil and ghee until crisp; the remaining fat is tempered with dried chilli, bay, cinnamon and both green and black cardamom before the onion paste and other gravy ingredients are added.

The chicken cooks covered in that gravy and is removed before the soaked rice and boiling water are added. The rice cooks partway under cover, then half is lifted out so the chicken can be placed over the lower rice layer.

Fried onion, garam masala, mawa, the milk-and-saffron mixture, dried plum and lemon juice join the layers. The remaining rice covers the chicken, with more of the same finishing ingredients, green chilli and ghee above it. A weighted lid closes the pan for low-heat dum cooking, and the rice is mixed lightly before serving.