Shahi chicken or shahi murg

Shahi chicken/murg a mildly spiced creamy gravy with the richness of cashew & almond. This particular chicken preparation is different from the regular chicken curry and taste a bit sweet and sour. If you want a variety in your chicken dishes from the regular spicy ones then this will a be wonderful choice for you. You will see a variety of recipes for shahi murg if you search for it. I often make shahi paneer/nawabi paneer at home which we all like very much but never thought of preparing chicken this way. As its weekend and we always like to have something special and this weekend I had less time as I am a bit busy with little girl's exams. So I  thought of not cooking the same chicken butter masala or regular chicken curry and decided to cook shahi chicken with some tawa roti & pulao. I quickly took out my shahi paneer recipe from my blog and started preparing for the same.

Once I tasted the chicken I was just wondering why I didn't think of doing this before. It looked superb, tasted very nice with the aroma of whole garam masala, the rich nutty flavour & the creaminess. Do try this dish in your kitchen and if you do , share your feedback.




Ingredients:

Chicken: 1 kg
Onion: 2medium sized
Ginger: 1 medium sized
Garlic: 5-6 pods
Green chilli: 1 or 2
Cardamom: 4-5
Cinnamon: 2 sticks
Cloves: 3-4
Bay leaves: 2-3
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Curd: 2-3 tbsp
Ghee: 2 tbsp.
Milk: 1 or 2  tbsp.
Fresh cream: 1-2 tbsp. (optional)


Dry Ingredients:
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Garam Masala powder: 1 tsp
Kasoori methi: 1 tsp (I didn't use it as was not available)
Salt to taste


To soak & grind: soak for about half an hour
Almonds: 12-14
Cashew: 12
Poppy seeds: 1 tbsp.
Melon seeds: 1 tbsp
Raisins: about a handful.


Water as required.

Method:

Clean and wash the chicken. Keep aside.

Cut the onions and make a paste with ginger, garlic and one green chilli .

Now make a smooth paste with the ingredients mentioned under to soak & grind with milk and some water. Do not forget to peel off the skin of almonds after soaking it for about half an hour.

Heat ghee in a kadhai/pan. Add cumin seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and allow to splutter. Add onion ginger garlic chilli paste and fry till it turns slightly brown. Add the masalas mentioned under "Dry ingredients" except garam masala. Fry them for a minute or two.

Now add the chicken and break the remaining chilli & throw into it. Mix everything well and cover with lid in low flame.

Slow Cook the chicken for about 10-15 minutes, checking and stirring in between. Now add the curd and pour in the almond-cashew paste, add the garam masala .

 

Give it a nice mix. Cover with lid keeping the flame low to medium. Keep checking in between and add half cup of water , stir and again cover and let it cook. After some time when you see the gravy thickening put the flame off. Add the cream and stir once.

Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with coriander leaves & some almond flakes (optional). Serve hot with rice /roti.