Mughlai Chicken--Punjabi Special Recipes

                    Mughlai Chicken

Mughlai chicken really may be a dish to entertain with. It's rich and creamy, and not too hot. It is a dish straight from the Imperial kitchens of the Moghul empire, intrinsically it's its origins in Persia and Central Asia.

Mughlai chicken and other Mughlai dishes are well known in Northern India and Pakistan. The origins of the Mughlai cuisine are Persian and Turkish, and they have strongly influenced the cuisines of Kashmir and Punjab as well as Uttar Pradesh and Pakistan. The dishes are usually very aromatic and whilst they will range from very mild to extremely popular, they're always very tasty. The Moghuls liked their food rich and that they liked to marinate their meat to tenderize it and to impart flavor. This dish utilizes a dry marinade - simply resting the meat in salt and pepper before cooking it

 Ingredients
1½lb (675gm) chicken
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
1 inch (2.5cm) root ginger
125ml yogurt
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
½ oz (14gm) blanched almonds
½ oz (14gm) raisins
Oil for frying
4 cloves
1 inch (2.5cm) stick of cinnamon broken into little pieces
Ground red chillis
Seeds from 4 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon white poppy seeds
1 teaspoon black cumin seeds
Salt
Black pepper

 preparation Ingredients

Yogurt. Some recipes use cream instead - this is often OK I prefer yogurt.
Almonds. you'll use cashews or maybe standard peanuts.
Chillis. This; isn't really meant to be an excellent hot dish so just ½ teaspoon of chili powder is OK but you'll use what you wish here.
Cumin seeds. Black cumin (shahi jeera) is best for this but you'll use ordinary cumin instead.
Oil. Use Ghee or butter for this. Other oils are ok but these are best to urge the richness.

Basic Method

Cut the chicken into good size chunks and sprinkle with salt and pepper (Make sure this is often sprinkled on all sides of the pieces). Cover and put aside.
Peel the onions and finely chop.
Peel the garlic and ginger and mash
Roast the cumin seeds and therefore the poppy seeds allow chilling then grind to a fine paste.
Roast the cloves and cinnamon, allow chilling then grind to a fine paste.
Put the yogurt during a bowl and blend within the ground cumin and chili.

Heat the oil in a pan and put in the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom seeds, then put in the chicken pieces.
At the point when the chicken is fixed expel from the skillet, leaving the oil, and put in a safe spot.
Now fry the onions, mashed garlic, and ginger, and therefore the chili until the onions are soft, then set these aside also
In some more oil if necessary fry the almonds for a moment then put within the raisins and fry for an extra minute.
Now put the chicken and onions back within the pan and stir well. Add the tomato puree and stir this in.
Now mix within the yogurt stirring all the time.
Turn down the warmth, cover and simmer until the meat is tender.

preparation Method

Chicken. The chicken has often moved any size you wish from really big chunks to plain diced chicken

Onions. Some Mughlai chicken recipes tell blend the onion also. I am unsure about this - the two different ways are acceptable.

Almonds. Again some recipes tell grind the nuts. I prefer not to but it's up to you.