Murg Badami / Almond Chicken.

Murg Badami / Almond Chicken ….....… A delicious Mughlai Chicken Curry enriched with loads of almonds ….. totally yumz …… the best I have even prepared in chicken variety so far I guess .....

Murg Badami / Almond Chicken ….. Yes the name itself sounds very royal and was one of the dishes prepared in royal houses as it included rich ingredients. Murg badami / Almond chicken as in the name is chicken curry made from almond paste with addition of cream and garnished with chopped almonds. 

Unlike many Indian spicy curries that are usually bright red, orange or green in colour, this recipe is slightly off whitish in colour. More sort of the colour of our very own Kurma. 

This curry has so many variations that I was really confused with its authenticity. After going through many of them I finally came up with my own easy version of the same. I intend to make the other varieties too as I simply loved this version of the curry which was very light on garam masala yet had enough flavour of the same, medium-hot spicy, subtle and very easy to make. You may find many versions of the same curry but do try this one out and I am sure you will like it very much. 

Here is the recipe:

Clean and wash about 500 gms of chicken. I used about 5 pieces of chicken drumsticks only. Apply a pinch of haldi, salt, 2 tblsp curd and mix well. Keep this aside to marinate for say about half an hour or so.

Soak 1 heaped cup of powdered almonds in one cup of hot milk for 30 minutes. Grind to a fine paste. Do not add more water, use the milk in which it was soaked only. Keep ready aside. If you do not have powdered almonds you can soak about 25-30 almonds in hot water and peel of the skin and use or microwave it for 5 minutes and remove the skin and use the same. 

Chop 3 med. sized onions, 20 cloves of garlic, 2 inch piece of ginger chopped, 10-12 less spicy green chillies also chopped to pieces and put it in a kadai. Add in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 10 mins on low heat. Cool and grind to a very smooth paste adding ½ cup of finely chopped coriander leaves (Op).

Heat 2 tblsp of ghee and add in the ground onion masala and fry om medium to low heat till it ghee leaves from sides of the masala. Add in 1 tsp of garam masala powder, 1 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of jeera powder, ¼ tsp of cardamom powder, ½ tsp of fennel powder and further fry for a minute or two. Add this to the marinated chicken, mix well and cook all together till done. Add salt to taste. 

Finally add in the ground almond paste mix well and cook for another 5 minutes till you see bubbles on top. Lastly add in a large tablespoon of beaten cream / malai and garnish with a tablespoon of chopped almonds. 

Murg Badami is ready to be served . The curry should be of thicker consistency. Somewhat similar to butter chicken gravy. So do not add in much of water. You always add it later on. Serve hot with naan / paratha / roti / garlic bread / pulav / ghee rice or fried rice. Do prepare and enjoy this curry,