Shahi Murgh (Royal Chicken Cooked in Yogurt)
This is a tasty, tender dish, in which the spices really permeate the chicken. It is not hot spicy, just nicely seasoned.
Shahi Murgh (Royal Chicken Cooked in Yogurt)
From Quick and Easy Indian Cooking, by Madhur Jaffrey
Serves 4
My notes: I used less chicken (2 1/4 pounds chicken breasts), and doubled the sauce. I let the spices cook in the oil for about two minutes (instead of a few seconds) before I started cooking the chicken, so that the spice flavor had a chance to permeate a little more. Instead of reducing the sauce until it just coated the chicken, I let it cook down for 5 minutes. This made for extra sauce, which all of us like. I served it with extra cilantro, almonds, and raisins, and mango chutney.
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into serving portions
1/4 cup vegetable oil
8 cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
2-inch stick cinnamon
3 bay leaves
2 1/2 tablespoons blanched, slivered almonds
2 1/2 tablespoons golden raisins
Put the yogurt into a bowl. Beat it lightly until it is smooth and creamy. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, some black pepper, the ground cumin, ground coriander, cayenne, and cilantro. Mix and set aside.
Using the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, season the chicken pieces on both sides and sprinkle on some freshly ground black pepper.
Put the oil in a wide, preferably nonstick pan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon
and bay leaves. Stir once and out in some of the chicken pieces, only as many as the pan will hold easily in a single layer. Brown on both sides and remove to a large bowl. Brown all the chicken pieces this way and transfer them to the bowl. Put the almonds and raisins into the same hot oil. Stir quickly. The almonds should turn golden and the raisins should plump up -- which will happen very fast. Now, put the chicken and its accumulated juices back into the pan. Add the seasoned yogurt. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice during this time. Remove the cover, turn the heat up a bit, and reduce the sauce until it is thick and just clings to the chicken pieces. Turn the pieces over gently as you do this.
Note: The large, whole spices - cardamom pods, whole cloves, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves - are not meant to be eaten.