Goalondo Steamer Curry

: A Simple Chicken Curry Recipe From Boatmen

Goalondo steamer curry traces back to a very specific place and a very specific inconvenience. Goalondo Ghat, a small river port in what's now Rajbari District, Bangladesh, sat on the banks of the Padma River at the end of the old colonial-era train line running from Calcutta into East Bengal. Travellers making that journey would reach Goalondo by rail and then have no choice but to board an overnight steamer onward to Narayanganj, since the tracks went no further. The boatmen running that steamer route cooked a simple chicken curry recipe for their own meals during the crossing. This simple chicken curry recipe is defined almost entirely by what it leaves out. There's no garam masala, no coriander powder, and nothing sour, since the original cooks on the steamer simply didn't have them to spare. Mustard oil is the one ingredient the recipe won't compromise on; it's what gives the curry its distinctive base flavour. The chilli also used is quite specific: whole dry red chillies are coarsely pounded rather than used as powder, for the texture and more heat. Over the decades, what was essentially a boatman's packed lunch became a dish famous enough to be called the Goalondo steamer curry. What truly makes this a simple chicken curry recipe in practice is the complete absence of added water. Chicken is marinated with the ground aromatics of onion, garlic, ginger, dry chillies, green chillies, and turmeric, ideally overnight, then sautéed on high heat for five minutes before the flame is lowered and the pot is left to cook the chicken in nothing but the juices the marinade and the meat itself release.