Garlic Methi Chicken

Happy Belated “Bakri Eid” to all. We had a fine holiday today, except for the fact that our maid did not come and there were at least 20 lambs who got slaughtered around our flat as part of the ritual related to Eid today. I have a messy house and a super messy kitchen right now and to go on with the festive mood, I cooked Maharashtrian Mutton Sukka and Bengali Ghee Bhat / Mishti Pulao in the lunch. A little odd combination, but if you look at the procedure of mutton sukka, that is very much like the Mutton Kosha we Bengalis cook except for the addition of coconut, and the coconut also helps in getting a dark red colour (because we brown the  grated coconut with the masala paste before cooking) for the curry, which is in word “scrumptious”.

But today lets dig into another one of my favourite chicken dish, which is Garlic Methi Chicken. I have made the garlic chicken curry earlier, but that recipe was very traditional and I wanted to have garlic chicken again. But this time....I attempted it in a different way.

 The recipe I undertook is very simple and does not require much of an ingredients list like the previous one. Its simpler and more subtle in every way. Half way through the cooking, I wanted to tweak the recipe again. I just opened the kasoori methi jar and added some spoonfuls into the curry.

The mustard oil, garlic and kasoori methi....a medley of flavours rushing through my nostrils, and I stayed numb to the final bite, it was soooo earthy and flavourful. The next time, I cooked this dish, I added some whole garlic cloves with the minced ones and they were great too!! If you haven’t tried them till now I will definitely recommend doing so, as roasted garlic is just divine to eat in a curry.

Garlic Methi Chicken

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken on bone

1 cup thick curd – whisked

1 medium onion – chopped

1 head of garlic – minced

½ cup kasoori methi / dried fenugreek leaves

1 tsp garam masala powder

2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp methi / fenugreek seeds

6-8 whole black peppercorns

2 medium bay leaves

2 tbsp mustard oil

Method:

In a bowl take the chicken pieces and pour in the whisked yogurt, salt and some oil. Let them marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan / kadai and add the fenugreek seeds and bay leaves.

As the seeds and bay leaf starts to sizzle, add the minced garlic into them.

Sauté for 6-10 seconds and as you start to smell the pungent garlicky aroma, add the chopped onions into it.

Sprinkle some salt and cook till the onions become translucent and their edges start to become golden.

Put off the flame at this point and add the marinated chicken into them.

Add the turmeric powder, kasoori methi / dried fenugreek leaves, mix and put cover.

Cook in this way for 7-10 minutes, or until all the moisture evaporates. Do stir the chicken in between so none of the chicken sticks to the bottom of the pan.

Once all the moisture evaporates, add 2 cups of water and put cover again.

Cook for more 10-15 minutes with cover, or until the chicken is completely cooked from inside.

Uncover and simmer till the gravy reaches your desired consistency.

Taste and adjust the seasonings and put off the flame.

Serve hot with plain steamed rice or chapatti.