Chef Rhea Aaron helms Bengaluru’s Klaa Kitchen, a much-loved, home-style spot in Indiranagar, that dishes up classic Goan favourites like sorpotel, xacuti, and chorizo, but elevated by Rhea’s skill and culinary instinct. For residents of the Garden City, Klaa Kitchen is a go-to spot when cravings for quintessential flavours from the sunshine state kick in.
It comes as no surprise that Rhea comes from a family of prolific cooks, with Rhea being the third generation. Her restaurant is a celebration of the hearty, bold Goan flavours she grew up eating, and inspiration from family recipes are scattered throughout the menu at Klaa Kitchen. From Mary’s beef fry-a dish, inspired by the beef fry her mother would always cook, to the juicy, flavourful chicken cafreal that is an ode to her grandmother.
“Every Sunday, my family would gather at my grandmother’s house to tear into her famous chicken cafreal,” says Rhea. Her grandmother would begin this Sunday ritual early in the morning by pounding fresh paste of coriander, green chillies, garlic, and spices with her mortar and pestle because “it tastes better when you do it by hand”.
“By the time we arrived, her house was taken over by that aroma and we could already hear the marinated chicken thighs sizzling in her large, cast-iron skillet,” says Rhea. The Sunday lunch table would be set with fluffy white rice, a tangy side salad, fluffy, warm pao—all accompaniments to the glistening, green centerpiece.
Years later, Rhea’s Christmas traditions are centred around her grandmother’s Christmas recipe for chicken cafreal, which she was kind enough to share.
CHICKEN CAFREAL (serves 4)
Ingredients for cafreal marinade:
I kg chicken (whole or cut into medium pieces)
2 cups coriander leaves
2 green chilies (adjust to taste)
1-inch piece ginger
6-8 garlic cloves
2tsp cumin seeds
2tsp coriander seeds
1inch cinnamon stick
4-5 cloves
4-6 peppercorns
1tsp turmeric powder
2tbsp vinegar (or juice of 1 lemon)
1tsp sugar (optional, for balancing flavours)
Salt to taste