Creamy fenugreek chicken
Methi malai chicken literally translates to ‘fenugreek cream chicken’ which implies chicken cooked with fenugreek and cream. Usually, fresh fenugreek or methi leaves are used in this recipe. This is another popular Punjabi dish that you can find at any Indian restaurant.
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I was always reluctant to try this dish coz fresh fenugreek leaves always taste bitter. Down South, we normally cook it with lentils which completely eliminates the bitter taste.
But this winter weekend when I had both chicken and methi with me I decided to go ahead and give it a try. And I am so glad that I did 🙂 .
The flavor of the methi was just too hard to resist and made me salivate while cooking 😀 . It was so yummy that I had no leftovers.
I have used both kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) as well as the fresh ones here. My methi malai chicken is a white curry as I have not used tomato and red chilly powder.
It is one of those simple recipes where you just need to marinate and cook. I have cooked this in an earthenware pot, which made it even tastier.
There are umpteen recipes on the net. The basic ingredients more or less are the same with slight variations here and there. This is my version after going through umpteen recipes, notes, and videos.
You can serve the gravy with any flatbreads like naans, chapatis, or even with rice. My family thoroughly enjoyed this Methi malai chicken curry with chapatis.
Give this a try once, and I bet you will love it as much as we had.
Over to the recipe…
Methi malai chicken
Ingredients
For marination
- 500 g chicken
- 8-10 cloves garlic (15g )
- 1 piece ginger (15g)
- 4 green chillies
- 1 cup curd/yogurt (200g)
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp pepper powder
- ¼ tsp cumin powder
- salt as needed
Rest of the ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 piece cinnamon
- 1 cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 1 big onion
- 1 cup fresh methi leaves(20g)
- 2 tbsp cream
- water as needed
- salt as needed
Instructions
- Chop the chicken into medium-sized pieces, wash and keep aside.
- Grind the ginger, garlic, and green chillies with a bit of the curd.
- Marinate the chicken with the ground paste, the rest of the curd and everything else given under 'to marinate' for atleast 1 hour.
- Pick the methi leaves, thoroughly wash and keep them ready. Peel and chop the onions finely.
- In a pan take 2 tbsp of oil. Add the whole garam masala and then the finely chopped onions. Once it starts browning add the marinated chicken with the marination and saute for a few minutes. Add water as needed to let the chicken cook.
- Once the chicken is almost done, chop the methi leaves roughly and quickly add it to the gravy. Mix it up without breaking the chicken pieces and let cook till the leaves are done.
- Finally add the cream, simmer for a few minutes and turn off the stove.
- Serve the chicken curry with any flatbread like chapatis or naans. It goes well with rice too.
Hema’s P.S
- Marinate atleast for an hour. I marinated for around 4 hours in the refrigerator.
- Use curds that are not too sour. Add enough salt and peppers to balance the tanginess in the marination.
- Add the methi once the chicken is around 80-90% done, and cook only till the methi is done. This preserves the green color of the methi.
- Chop the methi leaves roughly, just before adding to the chicken. In this way, the methi does not get bitter.
- Add cream as much as you prefer. I have added 2 tbsp which was perfect for me. You can avoid it too if you do not want but cream brings the gravy together and gives a restaurant finish to the curry.
- Half a cup to 1 cup of water can be added to cook the chicken depending on how you want the consistency of the gravy to be.
Do look up my other chicken recipes..
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Very nice and easy