Mughlai Chicken
Transport yourself directly to North India with this amazing Mughlai Chicken Curry. Decadent, soft, creamy and perfectly spiced.
Mughlai Chicken is a dish hailing from the India's North. A supremely delicious, perfectly balanced sauce, rich and creamy with a tamed spice surrounding meltingly soft chicken. As with many Mughal dishes, this curry originated from Central Asia and Iran (Persia) and uses techniques common to those cuisines especially the use of nuts so prominently. In Iran, like in this recipe, the ground nuts help thicken sauces and give a luxurious texture, without feeling heavy. The result is a fragrant, creamy and mildly spiced curry.
Stuff you'll need
To get the best flavour, you'll need a few key ingredients. There's a full recipe below.
- Chicken - I often use bone-in, skinless chicken thighs, but boneless thighs are perfect too. Avoid breast as it'll dry out.
- Onion - I blend mine first to help create the glossy sauce.
- Spices - cardamom, Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala, and cinnamon
- Almond flour - I use fine almondmeal/almond flour to help with the creamy decadent sauce. You can also use whole almonds that you soak for an hour then blend until smooth if you prefer
Tips & Tricks
- Blending the onion first helps give a creamier texture - but, just be sure that when you sauté them that most of the steam has evaporated and they are a golden brown before moving on. Watery onions will mean a watery curry.
- Dry fry the nuts for garnish until lightly golden. For a more decadent finish, add a combination of raw almonds, cashews and pistachio and fry them in a little ghee until lightly golden. Drain and cool so that they become crunchy.
What to serve with Mughlai Chicken Curry
As this recipe is a Northern Curry, typically bread is king, so Mughlai Chicken is spectacular served with Naan, Chapati or Paratha but it's also super delicious over a bed of fluffy Basmati Rice. It freezes brilliantly so, meal-prep a few single portions with rice for a ready-to go feast.
As curries go, Mughlai Chicken is a big hit of flavour and a bigger hit with guests whenever I cook it. It's a worthy inclusion as one of my 10 Best Chicken Curry Recipes.
More delicious North Indian Curry Recipes
If you love the rich, intense flavours of Northern India and Pakistan - you won't help but fall in love with some of my other North Indian curry recipes.
How to make my Mughlai Chicken
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb (1kg) chicken thighs (bone in, skin off, left whole) or boneless (skin removed, cut into chunks)
- 2 medium onions (peeled and roughly chopped)
- 3 tbsp ghee (or vegetable/canola/peanut oil)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger (grated)
- 5 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)
- 1 tsp (level) ground cardamom
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp almond flour
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds (toasted) for garnish - optional
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro for garnish - optional
Instructions
- Using a stick blender or food processor, blend the onion into a puree.
- Heat the ghee in a large saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the onion puree and fry gently for 10 minutes until brown.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding the cardamom, Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala and cinnamon stick.
- Cook, stirring over a lower heat for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken, turn up the heat slightly and cook for 5 minutes until cooked on the outside. If it begins to stick, pour in a little water.
- Add the water and salt and stir well. Partially cover and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the almond powder and cream and bring back to a simmer. The sauce will thicken. Remove from the heat and check for seasoning, adding a little salt if it needs it.
- To serve, sprinkle over the fresh coriander and toasted almonds (To toast them, fry in a dry frying pan for 2-3 mines until browned. Leave to cool.) Serve with Indian breads or Basmati rice.
Add 1/4th tsp coriander powder, and 1tbsp turmeric powder while adding garam masala. And also in the end, just before removing from heat, add a tsp of rose water. The results will amaze you
I’m definitely trying this next time I make it. The rosewater sounds intriguing. Thank you!
I had to guess in the end people were arriving lucky for me i guessed right delish by the way people asked for the website details, off to try your burmese curry now!
Started cooking this dish then realised it needs chicken stock but it does not tell the amount of stock needed! HELP PLEASE
Sorry! 400ml of chicken stock.
My mistake. :)