Mughali chicken curry recipe with step by step photos and avideo. Mughlai chicken is popular NorthIndian restaurant-style chicken gravy that is rich, thick, creamy and mildlyspicy. This chicken curry is so aromatic and tastes absolutely amazing. Youcan serve it with Roti, Naan, Jeera rice or steamed rice.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time50 minutesmins
Course: Main
Cuisine: Mughlai
Servings: 4people
Calories: 413kcal
Author: Preeti
Equipment
1 Heavy bottom pan or wok
Ingredients
To marinate the chicken:
700gmchicken,cut into bite-size pieces
¾cupThick curd/yogurtdahi
2tablespoonginger-garlic paste,adrak lasan ka paste
1teaspoonKashmiri red chili powder,Kashmiri lal mirch powder
½teaspoonturmeric powder,haldi powder
1teaspooncoriander powder,dhaniya powder
½teaspooncumin powder,jeera powder
1teaspoonspicy red chili powder
Salt to taste
To fry onions (birista):
½cupoil
4medium-size onions,thinly sliced
To make the onion paste:
fried onions,(use ¾th quantity of the fried onions)
7cashews,kaju
7almonds,badam
Other ingredients:
2teaspoonclarified butter,ghee
3green chilies
½teaspoonchicken masala powderor garam masala powder
2-3drops ofKeora water(optional)
Whole spices:
1bay leaf(tej patta)
1-inchcinnamon stick(dalchini)
15black peppercorns(kali mirch)
5cloves(laung)
4green cardamoms(choti elaichi)
1 black cardamom(badi elaichi)
1petal ofmace(javitri)
Instructions
Preparations
Soak cashews and almonds in hot water for 15 minutes. Keep it aside.
Marinate the chicken with Kashmiri red chili powder, salt, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste, spicy red chili powder, and yogurt. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Keep it aside.
Making birista (fried onions) - Heat ½ cup of oil in a deep bottom pan on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add onion slices in small batches. Stir frequently and cook the onions until golden. Remove it on a plate lined with a paper napkin. You can skip this step and use store-bought birista.
Making Mughlai Chicken Curry
In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoon oil and 2 teaspoon ghee over low heat.
Add whole spices and sauté for a minute until aromatic.
Add chicken and stir to combine. Cover and cook it on low heat for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Stir it in between as required.
Divide the fried onions into two parts. ¾ part will be used to make a paste. The remaining ¼ part will be used later.
Transfer one part of the fried onions and the soaked cashew and almonds, to the mixer/grinder jar. Add little water and grind it to a fine paste. Keep it aside.
Crush the remaining fried onions and keep them aside.
After 15-20 minutes the chicken will be cooked. Oil will float on the surface of the gravy.
Add the fried onions and nuts paste, crushed onions, garam masala powder, green chilies, and keora water. Stir to combine.
Taste and add salt. Also, adjust the consistency of the gravy by adding water. Do not add too much water. This chicken dish has a thick gravy.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Remove from heat. Mughlai Chicken is ready to serve.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Stir and keep it covered aside for 10 minutes.
Serve it with Roti, Naan, or steamed rice.
Video
Notes
Soak the almonds and cashew nuts in hot water for 15 minutes. Soaking helps the almonds and cashews to become soft. After grinding, it gives the chicken gravy a smooth and creamy texture.
Marinate the chicken for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight. The longer it marinates, the better it tastes. Cover and keep the marinated chicken in the refrigerator overnight.
While making birista, thinly slice the onions as it helps to cook them fast.
While frying the onions, first heat the oil on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot then start frying the onions in batches. Keep stirring it continuously to avoid burning. When the onions start to become light brown then lower the heat and fry them stirring continuously for 2 more minutes or until golden.
Use fried onions (birista) in two parts. ¾ th of the fried onions will be used for making the paste (it will give a smooth texture to the gravy) and the remaining ¼ th will be used at the end. This will add some texture to the gravy.
Fry the marinated chicken on low heat. It will give the chicken a soft melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Do not serve this chicken curry immediately. Let it sit aside for 30 minutes to an hour. This chicken curry tastes even better the next day.