“And believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of God”.              – Sherman  Alexie

Methi chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Hyderabadi cuisine. It is made with fresh methi leaves and tender chicken. It has the distinctive flavor of the methi leaves that gives the dish its unique taste. The aroma of the dish is intoxicating  and the dish is delicious.

Its always a pleasure to cook chicken at home – specially now since the kids are grownup. A little more of spice now and then in a curry is accepted wholeheartedly and there’s no fuss at all . In other words, if the dish is tasty and spice levels are a little over the top, we still enjoy digging in. We eat a good chicken curry with rotis or with bread or with dosa/idli- the choice is vast and believe it or not, this curry taste good with anything and everything including appam.

When I first tried out this dish, I realised the chopped methi leaves were in for too long as a result of which they lost their colour and the dish was tasty but was not appealing to the eye. Somehow when I use greens, be it spinach or coriander/ mint or even methi I am so particular about retaining the green colour without adding soda. The next time I tried out out this chicken dish  I realised- it’s all about a couple of minutes – the methi is cooked, the dish looks good and  I’m happy!

Well, here’s another favourite-

Ingredients :

• Chicken-1kg
• Onions -3 sliced
• Ginger garlic paste -1 tbsp
• Green chillies chopped -2 big
• Cummin powder 2tsp
• Coriander powder-3 tsp
•  Chilli powder-2tbsp
•  Fresh Methi leaves chopped -1and a 1/2 cups chopped
• Cashewnuts  -2 tbsp ground with 3 tbsp of curd
• Tomato purée-2 tbsp
• Garam masala -1 tbsp
• Water-3/4 cup
• Salt to taste
• Ghee -1 tbsp
• Oil -2-3 tbsp

Method:

• Cut the Chicken into medium- size pieces and wash thoroughly.
• In hot oil, fry sliced onions till golden brown .
• Add ginger- garlic paste and chopped green chillies and fry well.
• Add chicken pieces, cummin, coriander and chilli powder and mix well on a low flame till well blended.
• Add tomato purée, salt and cashewnut paste and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Cover for 5 minutes and cook on high flame.
• Remove the lid, add water – cover and cook till chicken is tender.
• Once the chicken is cooked add freshly cut methi leaves and cook for another 5 minutes. Do not cover.
• Sprinkle garam masala on top and remove. Just before serving add a tablespoon of ghee- mix well and serve with roti or pulao of your choice.

Chefs tips:

• Cooking with chicken  weighing around a kg will result in soft, tender and moist chicken pieces enveloped in a thick gravy.
• Methi leaves have to be soaked in salted water and washed a couple of times.
• You can even grind the green chillies along with the ginger garlic to a smooth paste and add to the golden brown sliced onions.
• Keep the vessel open after adding the methi leaves.
• You can substitute tomato purée for 1 fresh blanched tomato.
• Blanching is nothing but immersing a fresh tomato into hot boiling water for a couple of minutes, removing the outer skin and puréeing it in your mixie. The colour may vary from the  readymade purée get in the market.
• It’s a versatile chicken curry. It’s tasty. Give it a go.
• If the garnish is methi leaves, just before serving blend the leaves  into the curry and mix well.

Till my next post,

Cheers

Rose