Murgh Mughlai - Mughlai Chicken

You should make this and then die gleefully. Its so good, M often makes breakfast when I promise him this over the weekend. And the dishes. Tell me, can there be a better way to live life? Never mind that I often end up over eating it and stare at my thighs in real despair at the same time. Just run extra that day. Its all about balance.

The Mughals have contributed to India's rich history not only in form of architectural but also greatly in food. Since Mughals were Persians, their cooks adapted from the best of both worlds, whole and ground bold  Indian spices and the rich creamy nuttiness from dry fruits reminiscent of Persian cuisine.  The cooks where instructed to use the best of ingredients, which came from different regions of the country. Colleen Taylor Sen in his book Food culture of India even states that the chicken were fed pellets flavored with rosewater and saffron and massaged with musk oil and  sandalwood every day until they were considered fragrant and fat enough  to be served to the kings.

From kormas, kebabs to curries, most of the North Indian food you find in the up scale restaurants have Mughlai influences. Even the hugely popular Indian biryani and pulao have roots into the imperial era. Restaurants often name their Mughlai recipes relating to a Mughal emperor's name like Akbari Korma, Murgh Jahangiri but I really doubt if the dish has anything directly to do with the kings.

Mughlai chicken will certainly make you feel like a king or queen. Its rich, creamy and flavored with aromatic whole spices. The recipe looks long but as I always say, once you have those spices on hand, its really not complicated. If you are looking for a grilling recipe, the marination works great for chicken kebabs. Also, you can also easily make a vegetarian version of it using paneer (Indian cottage cheese) instead, the instruction for which are given in the recipe below. 

In other things, I have added a flickr slideshow of all step by step pictures at the end of post to help you through making the recipe. Also, you haven't noticed Journey Kitchen has a facebook page which wants  love  likes from you if you enjoy the blog. Thanks!

Mughlai Chicken  - Murgh Mughlai

Serve 2-3

Click here for printable recipe 

Ingredients

For Marination*

1/2 kg chicken breasts, cut into cubes

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

1/2 tbsp ginger paste

1 green chilly, chopped finely

1 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp yogurt

1 tbsp ghee

Salt to taste

For Sauce

1/2 cup red onions, finely cubed

8 cashews, soaked in water overnight

5 almond, soaked in water overnight**

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

1/2 tbsp ginger paste

1 green chilies, chopped to paste (optional)

1 tsp coriander powder

1/8 tsp nutmeg powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 cup water/chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream***

2 tbsp ghee

Salt to taste

Whole Spices 

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick (2-3 inches)

1/2 tsp whole mace

2 whole cloves

1 tsp black cumin (or substitute with regular cumin)****

1 cardamom pod

For Garnish

Mint

Nuts

Fried onions 

Note

* For a vegetarian version paneer works really well. Just mix cubes of paneer with 1/2 tbsp of ginger paste and green chilly paste (as required) and fry them with 1 tbsp of ghee till lightly golden. And continue with the recipe in the same way.

** Soak the almonds overnight and pinch the skin off before grinding it.

***  For a lighter version, use yogurt in place of cream and just add a tbsp or two of cream at the end.

**** The regular cumin is the white cumin called jeera in hindi. Black cumin, shahi jeera/kala jeera in hindi is darker and has a sweet lemony kind of flavor. I particularly like to use black cumin in curries with nuts and cream. Substitute it with 1 tsp roasted white cumin if you don't have it.

Method

Marinate the chicken  with all the ingredients stated under marination.

Heat a frying pan and place the chicken on it. Brown the chicken pieces. You want to get a good color on the chicken and its okay if it doesn't completely cook completely as it will cook further in the sauce. Restrain from eating the chicken pieces. Its the most difficult part about this recipe. But once you eat it, you will realize this is just the marinade you wanted for your next barbecue party!

Grind the nuts with as little water as possible (less than 1/8 cup) and keep aside. Heat ghee in kadai and add all the whole spices. Once they bring to brown, add the finely chopped onions.

Let  the onions cook they become pinkish and turning light brown. Add the ginger, garlic and chilly paste.Tip in the coriander powder.

Now, add the nut paste. Once you add the nut paste, the water will start to evaporate and the mixture will come together as a lump.  Add the water (or chicken stock), garam masala, nutmeg and salt.

Let it come to a boil, and then add the cream and chicken pieces. Cook till  it  reduces to a thick sauce consistency. 

Garnish with mint, nuts and fried onions. Serve with naan.

Variations

- Add a generous pinch of saffron for a Saffron Mughlai Chicken

- Grind a handful of coriander and mint leaves with 1/2 cup of yogurt and add to the curry towards the end and cook for another 5-6 minutes  for a coriander and mint Mughlai Chicken

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