Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Jasha Maroo
A soupy, spicy minced-chicken stew with tomato, ginger, and coriander, a warming everyday Bhutanese dish.
Bhutanese · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 30 min
~435 cal · 45g protein · 14g carbs · 21g fat · 3g fiber · 6g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Jasha maroo, also called spicy chicken stew, is a staple of Bhutanese home cooking, a lighter and soupier alternative to the country's famously chili-laden ema datshi. It shares the Bhutanese love of heat and fresh ginger, but in a more everyday form.
Minced or small-cut chicken is cooked with a generous amount of onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, and green chili into a brothy, fragrant stew, brightened with plenty of fresh coriander at the end. Soupy enough to spoon over the country's staple red rice, it is warming, aromatic, and genuinely everyday, the kind of dish a Bhutanese family eats on an ordinary evening.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 1/2 lb chicken, cut small
2 onion, chopped
3 tbsp garlic and ginger, minced
3 tomatoes, chopped
4 green chilies
1 big handful fresh cilantro
3 tbsp oil
Instructions
1
Fry the onion, garlic, and ginger in the oil until soft and fragrant.
2
Add the chicken and brown, then add the tomato and chili.
3
Pour in water to make it soupy and simmer until the chicken is tender.
✎ Chef’s note
Keep it brothy rather than thick; jasha maroo is meant to be spooned soupily over rice.
4
Stir in a big handful of fresh coriander and serve over red rice.
Bhutanese home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Thimphu. Red rice is the grain at this altitude, a short husked grain that cooks softer and stickier than white and tints the whole plate. Butter tea, churned with salt instead of sugar, works as a hot drink and a broth at the same time, and dried meat hangs through the winter because nothing is growing.
🗺️
Bhutan. Nothing chilli-based in Bhutan is ancient, since the chilli itself is a post-Columbian arrival in the Himalaya. What is old is the grain: red rice grown in terraced paddies at altitude, buckwheat in the high valleys of Bumthang made into pancakes and noodles, and butter and cheese from yaks that graze above where rice will grow.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bhutan
Ema DatshiBhutan’s national dish: green chilies stewed as the vegetable, not the seasoning, in a silky cheese sauce.
Khur-leRustic buckwheat pancakes from the Bhutanese highlands, eaten with chili-cheese ezay.
KhabzeyCrisp, lightly sweet fried dough shaped into knots and butterflies, a festive Bhutanese biscuit for New Year and offerings.
Browse all Bhutan recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Bhutan meal
Suja (Butter Tea)Drink
KhabzeyDessert
Ema DatshiDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Jasha Maroo?
A soupy, spicy minced-chicken stew with tomato, ginger, and coriander, a warming everyday Bhutanese dish.
Where does Jasha Maroo come from?
Jasha Maroo is a Bhutanese dish from Thimphu, Bhutan.
Can Jasha Maroo be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Jasha Maroo recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Jasha Maroo safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Jasha Maroo take to make?
About 45 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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