Dahi Malai Murgh – Chicken in Yogurt and Cream Sauce

Dahi Malai Murgh – Chicken in Yogurt and Cream Sauce

This is a no chopping; no grinding recipe. For all those times when you need to whip up a quick yet delicious meal for your family, this recipe is the one you want to make. It’s creamy, delicious and super easy to make with absolutely no compromise on taste. What more can one ask for?

The first time I saw this recipe, it was at a food forum, at Facebook. It was posted by Mona Malik (the lady I fondly call ‘M’). The photograph looked so delicious that I wanted to dig into that chicken and the gravy then and there. I immediately told M, I was going to recreate the dish and now having kept my word to her, I take immense pleasure in sharing her recipe with all of you. Enjoy!

M, thank you, ever so much, for this lovely recipe. I can't wait to make this again, this time for mum and dad when they come down for the holiday season. I know they will love it!

Ingredients:

900 grams chicken, cut into desired pieces
1 cup fresh cream
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger, paste
2 teaspoons black pepper powder
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoons butter

Marination:

1 cup thick curd/yogurt, smoothened (ensure the yogurt is not sour)
1 teaspoon black pepper powder
Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Wash and clean the chicken. Wipe dry. Make small cuts in the chicken. 
2. Mix thick curds, black pepper powder and salt in a bowl. Add in the chicken.
   
   
    
3. Rub the marinade on the chicken pieces. Cover and let it marinate for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Bring the chicken back to room temperature before cooking.
   
   
4. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the ginger paste and garlic paste and on low flame fry till light golden brown.
   
   
5. Add in the chicken with the marinade to the pan, mix well and let it fry for 3-4 minutes. 
6. Add black pepper powder, stir and cook covered on low flame. Stir every 4 to 5 minutes so that the chicken doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. (This is done on low flame. It takes about 30-40 minutes – you will first see a lot of water and oil floating on top, eventually the water will get absorbed; only oil will be left and the color will change to a nice beige light gold.
   
   
7. Roast the dry fenugreek leaves on a griddle. When it cools, crush roasted fenugreek leaves with your fingers.
8. Add crushed fenugreek leaves along with cream. Check seasoning and adjust if needed.
9. Add the butter, mix well and continue to cook on low heat for 5-10 minutes. Take off from heat and serve with roti, naan or paratha.
   
   

Chef Notes:

1. This recipe is courtesy Mona Malik (M). You can find the original recipe here.
2. Please whisk the yogurt lightly with a fork or a whisk to smoothen it as that prevents the yogurt from splitting when put on heat.
3. You can use less or more cream depending on how rich you want the dish to be. I have adjusted the proportions of a couple of ingredients to my liking. I also chose to roast the fenugreek leaves before crushing them. 
4. At the cost of sounding repetitive, please ensure that the yogurt you use isn’t sour as that will change the taste of the dish.
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.