Murgh Cholay Recipe
Murgh Cholay is an authentic Pakistani dish featuring soft chickpeas and tender chicken in a rich, aromatic masala curry. The name combines "Murgh" (chicken) and "Cholay" (chickpeas). The best recipe is simple, crowd-pleasing, and yields a delicious, protein-packed dish. The article provides detailed ingredients and a step-by-step guide, emphasizing pro-tips for optimal flavor. Murgh Cholay is served with naan or rice and is a nostalgic comfort food for many.
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.
Video
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