Authentic Methi Murgh (Methi Chicken Recipe)
Chicken in a fragrant sauce made with fresh fenugreek leaves, yogurt and spices. Serve with rice or rotis for a delicious meal.
Ingredients
- 500 g boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in 2 inch pieces
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 to 1.25 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- ¼ cup (45g) whole plain yogurt make sure its not sour or watery
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi crushed between palms
- 3 tablespoon mustard oil
- 1 large (125g) onions thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon ginger paste
- 2 thai bird green chilies (very hot, these contribute to main heat in this recipe), adjust quantity to taste
- 1 (100g tomato crush in a food processor
- 2 cups (70-80g) fresh methi leaves (tightly packed) depending on the intensity of your methi (bitterness), measured after separating from stems
- 1- 2 tablespoon heavy cream optional
Whole Spices
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 black cardamom
Ground Spices
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¾ teaspoon red chili powder adjust to taste, I use degi mirch
- 1.5 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala can go up to ½ teaspoon depending on warmth of your garam masala
Instructions
- Add chicken to a bowl. Sprinkle the black pepper powder and salt. Mix well to coat the chicken. Let stand while you start making the masala.
- In a small bowl, beat together the yogurt, garam masala powder and kasuri methi. Keep near.
- Add oil to a heavy wide kadai or pan. Warm up the oil till its slightly smoky. Add cardamom & bay leaf and sauté for 10 seconds.
- Add green chillies. Sauté for 5-10 seconds.
- Add the onions next. Brown them till deep golden in color on medium heat. Takes about 6-7 minutes.
- Once the onions are browned, add ginger paste and garlic paste. Pour 2-3 tablespoon water into the kadai, there will be spluttering.
- Immediately add the chicken. Stir to coat the chicken with onions and fry for 3-4 minutes un till you see that the chicken is no more pink.
- Sprinkle the ground spices - coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and cumin powder.
- Coat the chicken with spices and bhuno(fry) the chicken with spices on low medium heat for next 3-4 minutes.
- Next add the crushed tomatoes. As you mix you will see that the sauce is getting watery. Fry the tomatoes and chicken while stirring intermittently for 3-5 minutes on medium heat till you start seeing tiny oil bubbles. If you are using bone in chicken, cover and let the chicken cook until 95 % doneness for about 15 minutes in its own and juices from tomatoes. Check once midway to make sure that the masala is not drying up.
- When the chicken is about 95 percent done, reduce the heat to low and add the beaten yogurt. Immediately start mixing continuously for at least 2-3 minutes after you add yogurt to avoid curdling.
- Bump up the heat to medium and let the chicken cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the yogurt cooks out. You will notice tiny oil bubbles will re appear and you will see a thick gravy.
- Add the chopped methi leaves. Mix well and cook everything till the methi has completely wilted and turns dark green. About 3-5 minutes.
- Finish methi murgh with heavy cream. Mix, simmer for a minute and turn off the stove. Let rest for at least 10 -20 minutes if possible. Reheat and serve warm.
Notes
- Let the methi leaves air dry before chopping them. Adding wet methi leaves will make the curry watery.
- Methi Leaves :-Always taste a few different stalks of your methi bunch. Sometimes the leaves are too bitter especially if its desi methi and you cannot use them to make the curry. Second thing to keep in mind is that never use the stems of methi, they are usually more bitter and fibrous so they will spoil the texture of your dish.
- I make this dish with boneless chicken thighs but you can use bone in chicken. Just adjust the time of cooking as noted in the recipe. Dont use chicken breast, it will dry out given the bhunai involved in this recipe.
- Yogurt :- Taste the yogurt before you use it. It should not be too sour else the curry becomes too tangy. Use thick plain homemade yogurt or greek yogurt.
- Mustard Oil:- In my opinion, the taste of this punjabi style dish is best when cooked in mustard oil, however you can use any neutral cooking oil instead.
- Heat :- I don't add lot of heat in this recipe. Just a mild kick is all you need to let the flavor of methi shine.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!