Mughlai Chicken is a North Indian restaurant-style meal with a creamy, dark brown onion gravy that will have you licking the plate! Serve with parathas, biryani, or jeera rice, and feel free to sub paneer if you're a vegetarian.
Ingredients for Mughlai Chicken
There are exactly 15 components in this recipe, including salt. And while it may appear to be a large number, the majority of them are simply spices. Not the kinds you'd have to go grocery shopping for, but the ones you probably already have on hand. Ghee, onions (plenty of onions), cashew nuts, garlic, ginger, green chillies, and chicken are the only other ingredients.
- Chicken: The chicken is curry cut, which is a term used frequently in India when purchasing poultry. You can use any skinless but bone-in piece of chicken you buy outdoors. Buy bone-in chicken breast and chop it into 1-1.5 inch chunks if you're using it.
- Onions: You can either chop or slice the onions. Browning them takes a little patience and time, perhaps 12-15 minutes, but it's definitely worth it. Just make sure they're cooked on low heat.
- Ghee: For this dish, ghee is required. If you don't have any, the butter will suffice. The flavours are far superior to those obtained by using oil.
- Bayleaf, cinnamon, cloves, and green cardamom are all whole spices.
- Cashews should be soaked for 10-15 minutes in boiling water before mixing.
- Serrano pepper can be used instead of green chilli. Use one or two. Because this isn't supposed to be a hot dish, the chilli is included for flavour rather than heat.
- Ground spices such as coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder, and garam masala are common. (If you want to make your own garam masala, I have a recipe for you.)
How to Make Mughlai Chicken
- Base Gravy: The base gravy is made with soaked cashews, caramelised onions, ginger, garlic, and green chillies. All of this is mixed together with a little water to make a smooth paste.
- Marinate the chicken in turmeric powder for 10-15 minutes while I prepare the rest of the meal and boil the onions, but you can easily skip this step.
- Fry Whole Spices: To release the aroma and flavour of the whole spices, lightly saute them in ghee.
- Boil Gravy: While the onions are browning and caramelising, continue to cook the gravy in ghee with the whole spices until it reduces and a small amount of ghee floats to the top. The ginger and garlic will still taste raw if this is not done.
- Cook Chicken: Once the gravy is ready, add the chicken and garam masala, and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is soft and fully cooked.
- Finish with a dollop of cream: A dab of cream on top shortly before serving truly elevates this dish!
Tip for nailing Mughlai chicken
- Soak your cashew nuts in boiling water before you begin. Using hot water softens the cashews more quickly, resulting in a smooth, creamy curry free of obstinate cashew chunks when ground with the rest of the ingredients.
- To make this recipe, chop your onions as finely as possible. I recommend using a food processor to get a good fine chop without putting in a lot of effort. This allows them to brown and break down more quickly.
- This dish calls for bone-in chicken. Bone-in chicken is more tasty and juicy, and it has a lower risk of being overcooked.
- When you let this mughlai chicken recipe to sit for a few hours or even overnight, it tastes even better, which is ideal for when you want to prepare ahead of time for a party!
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