Hariyali Chicken
If you are a fan of fresh herbs, this herbaceous hariyali chicken is going to become your next favorite! Also known as hariyali murgh or hara bhara chicken, this recipe is gluten free. It makes a lip smacking starter or appetizer or can be served for a full meal with sides.
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- Cast Iron Skillet or Grill Pan
Ingredients
- 4 chicken leg quarters skinned (or use 1.5 lb of boneless chicken thighs if you want to make tikka)
- Oil or ghee for cooking
Hariyali (Green) Marinade
- 1 small bunch fresh cilantro leaves only
- 18-20 fresh mint leaves
- 5-6 hot green peppers I use thai bird chillies. Or use serrano. Adjust to taste
- ½ cup plain yogurt full fat, beaten
- 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ¾ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi skip if not available
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder
- fresh grated nutmeg about ¼ teaspoon
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1.5 tablespoon cashew powder simply blitz 6-8 cashwes in a grinder
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream optional
- 1.5 teaspoon salt or to taste
To Serve
- Chaat Masala, Onion Slices, Kachumber
Instructions
- Make sure that the chicken leg quarters are dry. Use a paper towel to dry them. Using a sharp knife, make a few gashes in the chicken. If using boneless chicken, cut into bite size pieces.
- Add cilantro leaves, green chillies, mint leaves to a blender. Blitz to make a fine paste. If needed you can add a tablespoon of yogurt. Don't add water. Tip - Make the green herb paste separately and then mix with yogurt. If yogurt is blended at high speed, the marinade tends to get watery. Thats why I dont dump everything in a blender to make this marinade. We want a thickish marinade that lightly coats the chicken.
- In a large bowl, add the yogurt along with the green paste and rest of the listed ingredients. Whisk to mix very well. Tip:- Taste the marinade after mixing., It should taste quite salty. This will make sure that the chicken is well seasoned. Adjust salt if needed.
- Rub the marinade all over the chicken. Cover the bowl with a cling film and marinate. Depending on the kind of chicken you are using, marinate bone in chicken for at least 2 hours (overnight is preferable). For boneless chicken, marinate for 30 minutes (4-8 hours is preferable).
- Before starting to cook, bring the chicken to room temperature. I take it out about an hour prior to cooking.
- Heat up a heavy cast iron skillet or grill pan to high. Brush some oil or ghee. Lift up the marinated chicken from the marinade and let the extra marinade fall back into the bowl. We dont want a ton of marinade on the chicken else it will get watery.
- Carefully, place the chicken leg quarters. Let char for 5-6 minutes. Flip using tongs and repeat for the other side. Tip :- Dont reduce the heat to low while cooking the chicken else the yogurt will start releasing its water
- Cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 15-16 minutes or so covered and make sure that the chicken is fully cooked. You will have to flip a few times in between to make sure that the chicken isn't overly charred. Tip - When cooking bone in chicken on stove, covering the pot or pan makes sure that the chicken is fully cooked inside and stays juicy. Else the chicken will be charred from outside and remain raw inside.
- Towards the end, you can add some thick cut onions to the pan and finish with the chicken. Read the blog post FAQs on how to bake or use a grill for making these .
- Rest the chicken for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with some chaat masala and then serve warm with lemon wedges.
Notes
The nutrition indicated in this recipe is an estimation only.
How To Serve Hariyali Chicken
- Hariyali chicken is a great starter with a creamy dip like tzatziki or garlicky yogurt.
- I personally love it with raita (spiced yogurt) and some naan or tandoori roti.
- You can serve it with rice pulao or biryani.
- Serve it with fries to kids, mine absolutely love it!
- It can be served with roasted potatoes or all sorts of vegetables. Or salad greens.
- If you are making bite size tikka, shred the chicken and make wraps by stuffing it in parathas along with some sliced onion and kachumber (cucumber & tomatoes) and drizzle of garlic yogurt.
- You can grind a few scallions along with herbs to lend the marinade an onion taste.
- If you are able to find green garlic you can use it in the green paste too.
- If you dont want to use cashews, add some roasted besan (gram flour) to thicken the marinade.
- You can use the same marinade with paneer or salmon or any kind of protein you like.
- Make sure that the marinade is thick to begin with.
- I have learnt after many attempts that using just the leaves (not the stems) of fresh herbs makes a better tasting green paste.
- Make sure that the marinated chicken is at room temperature before you start cooking. I usually take it out 1 to 1.5 hours and let sit on kitchen counter.
- Dont skimp on oil or ghee while cooking else the chicken turns out dryish.
- For added creaminess, add a tablespoon of heavy cream to the marinade.
Nutrition
Calories: 384kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 26gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 150mgSodium: 1003mgPotassium: 444mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 531IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 77mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!