Chicken Posto

Name: Chicken Posto
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Westbengal)
Ingredients: Chicken (bone-in): 800g; Poppy seeds (posto/khus khus): 100g, soaked 2 hours in warm water; Onion: 150g, ground; Green chillies: 5, ground; Turmeric: 1 tsp; Mustard oil: 4 tbsp; Salt: 1¼ tsp; Sugar: ½ tsp; Warm water: 100ml; Soak poppy seeds thoroughly — 2 hours in warm water for best grinding; Grind to a completely smooth paste — gritty posto paste is unpleasant; Low heat throughout — high heat can make posto bitter; The final raw mustard oil drizzle is essential to this dish's character

🍗 Non-veg🌾 Gluten-free📊 Medium

Chicken cooked in a creamy poppy seed (posto) paste with green chilli and mustard oil — a unique Bengali hybrid that combines two quintessential flavours.

⏱️20 minPrep

🔥35 minCook

🕒55 minTotal

🍽️4Serves

🧺 Ingredients

👩‍🍳 How to make Chicken Posto

Drain soaked poppy seeds; grind with green chillies and a little water to a very smooth, thick paste.
Mix chicken with turmeric, salt and posto paste; rest 30 min.
Fry onion paste in hot oil to light golden — not dark; posto dishes are not strongly spiced.
Add marinated chicken; cook covered on medium-low heat 20 min.
The posto paste cooks slowly and clings to the chicken.
Uncover; add warm water and sugar; cook 5 min until gravy is thick, creamy-white and aromatic.
Drizzle raw mustard oil.

📖 Cultural notes

|---|---|---|---|---| | 430 kcal | 44g | 12g | 23g | 3g | Posto (poppy seeds) is Bengal's most distinctive spice — used in quantities that would be unusual anywhere else in India. The poppy crop was historically significant in Bengal (used by the British for opium trade), and its culinary use became deeply embedded in Bengali cooking. Chicken Posto is a modern innovation combining the classic posto technique with chicken — a dish now popular in Kolkata restaurants as an example of evolving Bengali cuisine. ---

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