Murgh Cholay: an authentic and traditional Pakistani dish that has the power to take you back to your childhood. Murgh cholay doesn't just fill your tummy with delicious flavor; it reminds you of a time when you were young and carefree. It takes you back to your mother's cooking, which made your home smell amazing! Murgh cholay is a comfort food that is rich in flavor, spice, tanginess, and nutrition too!
Murgh cholay consists of soft melt-n-your-mouth chickpeas and tender, falling-off-the-bone chicken cooked over low heat with an array of aromatic spices. Name a better comfort food. We'll wait!
Why it is called Murgh Cholay?
The name 'Murgh cholay' might intimidate you and make you think it's an extremely complicated and difficult recipe to follow. But, you would be wrong. Murgh means chicken in Urdu, and cholay is the Punjabi word for chickpeas. They are also called channey in Urdu.
All these ingredients come together to make a delicious masala curry that can be served with naan or boiled Basmati rice. You can tweak the recipe according to your taste, but this is a simple, tomato-based thick masala curry made mostly with bone-in chicken.
If you are looking for some more appetizing chicken recipes, then check our Chicken Manchurian recipe, or if you want a delicious chicken snack, try our Chicken Pakora recipe for a tasty treat!
What is the best Murgh Cholay Recipe
What is not to love in a hearty, protein-packed, rich, and delicious gravy served atop fluffy rice or a soft naan? Nothing! But here are 5 more reasons you and your whole family will fall in love with Murgh Cholay
Simple and Easy to Follow: This is one of those recipes you can keep for a rainy day. The ingredients are simple and easy to find. The steps are simple and so easy to follow! The method requires little effort, and the result is mouthwatering!
Crowd Pleaser: You can make this recipe for a party easily, and everyone will ask you for the recipe! It's a great dish to make for a crowd, and you can rest assured that everyone will rave about it.
Delicious Taste: You know what's going to push you to make this recipe again and again? The delicious, mouthwatering, and absolutely amazing taste! This is a recipe that you will treasure and make many times, and you will love it each time!
Authentic Chickpea and Chicken Flavor: You may not believe it, but chickpeas or cholay are the star of this dish. They are cooked till tender, and they just crumble in your mouth, leaving a rich and creamy texture. The chicken is also cooked till tender. It breaks apart as soon as you touch it and adds a hearty flavor to the dish.
Classic Comfort Food: We don't say this for every dish, but this one is a comfort food for every Punjabi! Tucking into a steaming plate of murgh cholay with a naan or on a bed of rice will leave you happy and content.
Which Chickpeas are Best? Desi or Kabuli?
Nowadays, there are a variety of chickpeas available in the market. The different sizes of the chickpea have slightly varying flavors, too. They are usually known as Kabuli channa and Desi channa.
In most Desi recipes, or South Asian recipes, you should only use the Desi channa, which is smaller in size but big on flavor! They tend to absorb the flavor of the masala very well. But if it's not available, then you can use the other variety too.
What ingredients are required for Murgh Cholay
- Chicken, bone-in: 500 grams. Chicken with bones gives the best flavor to the masala curry. You could opt for boneless, but bone-in is best.
- Oil: Half cup. Any neutral oil, like canola, is your best choice.
- Onion: 1 medium-sized. Blend it in a blender to make an onion paste
- Ginger Garlic paste1 teaspoon: Ginger and garlic are key ingredients in any South Asian dish. They add a strong flavor and aroma.
- Zeera: ½ teaspoon. Adds depth and taste.
- Black peppercorn: ½ teaspoon. You need the whole peppercorn for this recipe. It adds a subtle heat.
- A few pieces of Cloves
- 2 pieces of Black Cardamom
- 5 pieces of Green Cardamom
- Yogurt: 2 tablespoons
- Red Chilli powder: ½ teaspoon. Adds a much needed amount of heat to the rich and creamy chickpea curry.
- Whole Coriander seeds: ½ teaspoon
- Salt: 1 teaspoon ( you can adjust as per your taste)
- Boil Chickpea paste 3 tablespoons: This recipe will use a paste of boiled chickpeas to achieve the thick consistency of the masala. You can blend the boiled chickpeas in a blender with the water in which they were boiled.
- Boil Chickpeas 300 grams: The star of our recipe. Boil the chickpeas till they are tender and easily mashed with your fingers.
- Black pepper: ½ teaspoon, crushed
- Garam masala powder: 1 pinch
- Coriander powder: 1 pinch
Ingredients for Tarka:
What is Tarka
A tarka is a South Asian cooking technique used often for lentil recipes, where spices both ground and whole, are tempered in oil and added to the lentils or curry.
- Oil: 2 tablespoons. You could also use Ghee, or butter which will add an authentic and mouthwatering aroma and flavor to the murgh cholay.
- Red Chilli powder: ½ teaspoon. Adds an attractive color to the final dish.
The ingredients and quantities mentioned here are adequate for 3 servings. You can adjust the amounts for the number of people you are serving.
How to Make Murgh Cholay
So, here's the process followed to make this delicious meal. To make the recipe easy to follow, we divided the process into three parts.
Murgh Cholay Making Process Part 1
- Preheat the pan with half a cup of oil.
- Fry the chicken meat for a few minutes until its color changes. Once it has become golden brown, take it out of the pan.
Murgh Cholay Making Process Part 2
- For Murgh Cholay, frying the chicken was our first step.
- Next is adding the onion paste.
- Pro Tips: Here, we are using the same oil that we used to fry our chicken meat.
- Make sure that you boil your onion first, then blend it into a paste. If you want to learn how to make onion paste click here ( we will link it to how to make onion paste). Adding raw onion paste will give you a sweet taste to the dish. Therefore, it's best to boil the onion first.
- Fry the onion paste well on a low flame.
- Add ginger garlic paste and stir. The ginger garlic paste must be added here, otherwise, it will give an overpowering aroma to the dish. Frying it well with the onions will also prevent any foul smell. (Learn how to make perfect ginger garlic paste at home).
Murgh Cholay Making Process Part 3
- Add a cup of water to the gravy, followed by the boiled chickpeas, and increase the flame.
- Add the black pepper, stir it well, cover the pan, and let it cook for a few minutes so that the gravy can thicken. You can also adjust the thickness of the gravy according to your liking.
- Now add one pinch of Garam masala powder. This adds a nice aroma and depth to the dish.
- Add one pinch of coriander powder, stir well, and turn off the flame.
Murgh Cholay Making Process Part 4
Tarka
- Preheat the oil or ghee.
- Add red chilli powder.
- Tarka is ready, add it on top of the hot murgh cholay for an additional kick to the flavor.
What are the Pro Tips for Murgh Cholay
- Boiling the onions before making a paste will allow a deeper flavor, adding raw onion paste will cause a sweet flavor in your masala
- When boiling the chickpeas, make sure that they are tender. Check by crushing a chickpea between your fingers. It should be soft and easily crushed.
- Fry the ginger garlic paste very well so that there is no raw flavor or aroma of the ginger or garlic.
- Add the chickpeas right at the end, as they are already cooked.
- Authentic Murgh cholay gravy is thick, you can adjust the thickness of the gravy according to your liking by adding more water or the water leftover from boiling the chickpeas.
- Make sure you don't overcook the red chili in the Tarka, otherwise it may get burnt and leave a bitter taste.
How to Serve Murgh Cholay
Murgh cholay is such a delicious dish that you really don't need much to serve alongside it. You can serve a fresh green salad, or a kachoomar salad, made of chopped cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes. You could also serve slices of onions and green chili.
Murgh cholay is best enjoyed with a piping hot naan straight from the tandoor. Soak pieces of the naan in the channa and gravy, and enjoy! If you prefer rice, then murgh channey are equally delicious with boiled Basmati rice.
Murgh cholay Final Call
This authentic Punjabi recipe is a winner! Whether you want to make it and enjoy it with your family or serve it at a party, everyone will fall in love with your cooking. The thick and luscious gravy, with the soft chickpeas and tender chicken, combine to make a feast that everyone will enjoy.
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Murgh Cholay Recipe
Ingredients
- Chicken bone-in: 500 grams. Chicken with bones gives the best flavor to the masala curry. You could opt for boneless, but bone-in is best.
- Oil: Half cup. Any neutral oil like canola, is your best choice.
- Onion: 1 medium-sized. Blend it in a blender to make an onion paste
- Ginger Garlic paste1 teaspoon: Ginger and garlic are key ingredients in any South Asian dish. They add a strong flavor and aroma.
- Zeera: ½ teaspoon. Adds depth and taste.
- Black peppercorn: ½ teaspoon. You need the whole peppercorn for this recipe. It adds a subtle heat.
- A few pieces of Cloves
- 2 pieces of Black Cardamom
- 5 pieces of Green Cardamom
- Yogurt: 2 tablespoons
- Red Chilli powder: ½ teaspoon. Adds a much needed amount of heat to the rich and creamy chickpea curry.
- Whole Coriander seeds: ½ teaspoon
- Salt: 1 teaspoon you can adjust as per your taste
- Boil Chickpea paste 3 tablespoons: This recipe will use a paste of boiled chickpeas to achieve the thick consistency of the masala. You can blend the boiled chickpeas in a blender with the water in which they were boiled.
- Boil Chickpeas 300 grams: The star of our recipe. Boil the chickpeas till they are tender and easily mashed with your fingers.
- Black pepper: ½ teaspoon crushed
- Garam masala powder: 1 pinch
- Coriander powder: 1 pinch
for Tarka
- Oil: 2 tablespoons. You could also use Ghee or butter which will add an authentic and mouthwatering aroma and flavor to the murgh cholay.
- Red Chilli powder: ½ teaspoon. Adds an attractive color to the final dish.
Instructions
Murgh Cholay Making Process Part 1
- Preheat the pan with half a cup of oil.
- Fry the chicken meat for a few minutes until its color changes. Once it has become golden brown, take it out of the pan.
Murgh Cholay Making Process Part 2
- For Murgh Cholay, frying the chicken was our first step.
- Next is adding the onion paste.
- Pro Tips: Here, we are using the same oil that we used to fry our chicken meat.
- Make sure that you boil your onion first, then blend it into a paste. If you want to learn how to make onion paste click here ( we will link it to how to make onion paste). Adding raw onion paste will give you a sweet taste to the dish. Therefore, it’s best to boil the onion first.
- Fry the onion paste well on a low flame.
- Add ginger garlic paste and stir. The ginger garlic paste must be added here, otherwise, it will give an overpowering aroma to the dish. Frying it well with the onions will also prevent any foul smell.
- Now add the Zeera, half a teaspoon of black peppercorn, a few pieces of cloves, and black and green cardamom pods. (key point to note: the purpose of adding whole spices is they give a nice aroma and smell to our dish)
- Now mix all the spices well and once the onions appear golden brown, add the yogurt, and let it cook for a few minutes.
- Add the red chili powder. If you like spicy food, you can increase red chili as per your taste.
- Now add crushed whole coriander seeds. These can be added at the end as well, for an added aroma and flavor.
- Stir well after adding each spice or ingredient.
- Next, add salt and adjust to your taste.
- Add the boiled chickpea paste.
- Add the fried chicken to the pan, stir to combine, and allow it to fry with the spices.
- Set the flame to low and cover the pan. Let it cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Covering the pan at this stage will help all the aromatics to combine and it will cook to perfection.
Murgh Cholay Process Part 3
- Add a cup of water to the gravy, followed by the boiled chickpeas, and increase the flame.
- Add the black pepper, stir it well, cover the pan, and let it cook for a few minutes so that the gravy can thicken. You can also adjust the thickness of the gravy according to your liking.
- Now add one pinch of Garam masala powder. This adds a nice aroma and depth to the dish.
- Add one pinch of coriander powder, stir well, and turn off the flame.
Murgh Cholay Tarka Process
- Preheat the oil or ghee.
- Add red chilli powder.
- Tarka is ready, add it on top of the hot murgh cholay for an additional kick to the flavor.
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