This recipe also works for vegetarian food. You can always replace the Chicken with Cottage Cheese (Paneer) or Broccoli or a mix of whatever vegetables you have at home – without changing the rest of the recipe.
Ingredients For Chicken
- Boneless Chicken 500 gms
- Mustard oil 2 tbsp (Optional)
- Freshly ground Red chilli powder 2 tbsp
- Curd 2.5 tbsp
- Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
- Coriander powder 1 tbsp
- Cumin powder 1 tsp
- Raw Mango powder 1 tsp
- Black salt 1/2 tsp
- Pinch of freshly ground pepper
- Kasuri methi 1 tsp (dried fenugreek leaves)
- Garam masala 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Clarified Butter/Oil for grilling
- Oil 1 tbsp
- Live charcoal + clarified butter (to bring out the authentic smoky flavour)
Process
- Make incisions on the chicken breast
- In a mixing bowl, add the mustard oil and red chili powder, mix until the red colour bleeds out, add the powdered spices, hung curd, ginger garlic paste, roasted besan and salt to taste. Mix well all the ingredients and marinate the chicken for ½ hour.
- Heat oil in a grill pan or any pan, cook the marinated chicken on both the sides for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked chicken in a big bowl and place a live charcoal in the centre and add few drops of ghee, cover and smoke for 3 minutes.
- Cool down and pull the chicken into shreds or keep chunks or slices as per your choice and set aside.
For Creamy Gravy
For The Initial Cooking of Gravy:
- Oil 1 tbsp
- Clarified Butter/Ghee 2-3 tbsp
- 1/2-1 tbsp total of Whole spices: nutmeg, mace, garam masala, fennel powder, cinnamon, bay leaf
- Cumin seeds (jeera) 1 tsp
- Cardamom 3-4.
- Onions 2 medium size (sliced or roughly diced)
- Garlic cloves 4-5.
- Ginger 1/2 inch
- Whole Kashmiri red chillies 4
- Tomatoes 4-5
- Kashmiri Red chilli powder 1 tsp
- Coriander powder 1 tbsp
- Cumin Powder 1/2 tbsp
- Cashew nuts 8 (pre-soaked in hot water).
- Salt to taste
- Water 200ml
2nd Round of Recooking Gravy (After Straining)
- Butter 1 tbsp + Oil 1 tsp
- Ginger 1 inch
- Green chillies 2-3 slit
- Sugar 1 tbsp (you can add more if you want a sweet taste to your creamy gravy)
- Salt to taste
- Garam masala 1 tsp
- Kasuri methi 1 tsp (dried fenugreek leaves)
- Fresh cream 3 tbsp (Substitute with 1/3 cup curd (preferably hung curd) if you do not have cream)
- Butter 1 tbsp
- Fresh coriander 1 tbsp
Process
- 1. Heat oil in a pan add whole spices and sauté for few seconds, add onions, garlic cloves, ginger, green chillies, whole Kashmiri red chillies, tomatoes, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cashew nuts and salt to taste, cook for 5-6 minutes.
- 2. Add water, cover and cook for 10 more minutes. Cool down the mixture to the room temperature and grind into a fine puree, strain the puree through a sieve and keep aside.
- 3. Heat butter and oil in a fresh wok, add ginger and green chillies and sauté it for a minute.
- 4. Strain & add the strained gravy into the pan. Now add sugar and cook for 6 minutes.
- 5. Add the smoked chicken pieces and cook for 2 minutes.
- 6. Add salt to taste, garam masala, kasuri methi and fresh cream and cook for 2 minutes. (If fresh cream is not available and the gravy is not thick enough, use cashew nut paste)
- 7. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- 8. Serve hot with a side of indian bread or rice.
