How to make malai chicken masala | Malai chicken masala recipe
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients (240 ml cup used)
- ½ kg tender chicken
- ½ cup of tomato puree (pureed tomatoes)
- ½ cup of thick yogurt
- 1 ½ tsp. Ginger garlic paste
- ¼ cup of fried onions (refer notes)
- 1 green chili slit
- 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves, very finely chopped
- 2 tbsp. coriander leaves chopped (half for marination, half to use for garnishing)
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ⅛ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 to 1 ½ tsps. garam masala powder or biryani masala powder
- ½ tsp kasuri methi
- ¼ cup of cream
- oil or butter as needed
Dry spices
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 to 3 green cardamoms
- ⅛ tsp shahi jeera
- 1 “cinnamon stick
- 2 to 4 cloves
- 1 strand of mace
- ½ tsp pepper corn
How to make the recipe
- Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a pan; add dry spices. sauté, add ginger garlic paste and sauté to get an aroma.
- Add chicken and fry on medium till it turns white. Usually takes around 3 to 4 mins. Set this aside to cool.
- Add 1 tsp oil to the same pan, add pureed tomatoes, sprinkle salt and fry till almost it looks dry. Takes around 4 to 5 mins. Set aside to cool along with chicken.
- Once cool, combine fried chicken, tomato puree, yogurt, fried onions, mint, coriander leaves, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, green chili, red chili powder, salt & half of chicken masala powder. Marinate the chicken, set aside for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can leave it overnight in the refrigerator for the best taste and aroma.
To prepare the malai chicken masala (Please note, the curry has to be cooked on a very low flame to get the true taste)
- Heat butter or oil, add marinated chicken. Begin to cook on a very low flame, stirring occasionally to prevent burning
- Cook covered till the chicken turns tender and fully cooked. Usually needs no water. But this depends on the chicken. Some release lot of moisture, after we begin to cook. While some do not, if needed add very little water while cooking.
- Once the chicken is almost done, add the rest of the chicken masala powder & kasuri methi. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 mins. If the curry looks runny (watery), cook without lid and evaporate the water. At the end of this step the curry must be quite thick since it will thin down after adding the cream.
- Add the cooking cream and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves
- Serve malai chicken masala hot with roti, naan, chapathi, kuska, ghee rice, pudina rice
