So hello guys today we are going to make Afghani chicken. Which is a typical recipe that is served in restaurants. When we order afghani chicken in hotels. Without going to a hotel we make this afghani chicken at home. So until then going hotel, we enjoy this lips-smacking recipe which we are going to love it. The taste of the recipe is absolutely good. So let us start with the recipe for Afghani chicken.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups curd
2 large size onions
1 Kg chicken ( thigh or drumsticks)
1 cup of green chopped cardamon
3-4 green chilies
5-6 garlic cloves
1-inch ginger
1 tbsp of salt
8-9 tbsp of ghee
2-3 tbsp of oil
1 tsp of turmeric powder
one tbsp coriander powder
one tbsp of cumin seeds powder
two green cardamon
two black cardamon
2 bay leaves
1-inch cinnamon sticks
2 green cardamon
1 powdered black pepper
1 tsp of garam masala powder
PREPARATION:
The best part of the recipe is that you are simply supposed to mix the prepared marination into some curd and the dish is almost done. You are supposed to marinate the chicken in it. Cook the gravy with the same marination and you can either cook it together or cook it separately it totally depends on you. That is why we feel that this recipe is close to the authentic recipe because the afghani chicken recipe is plain sailing. Afghan people do not complicate the recipe so in this recipe, we are going to follow their rule. To begin the recipe. The best part of Afghani cuisine is that it is not too saucy it has more meat pieces.
Chicken prep;
So to cook afghani chicken we will need the chicken. In this recipe, we are supposed to use chicken leg pieces. Now we are going to supposed to score the chicken leg pieces or deep cut the pieces. we are going supposed to do scoring in two ways first cut the fleshy part then cut the tender belt on the other side. This step is because the chicken tendons have a tendency to shrink while the meat is being cooked. This hampers the shape of your meat. If you want to prevent this then cut the tendon before you start cooking and also cut the chicken corset. Once you are done scoring the chicken then time to marinate the chicken.
Masala prep;
Now let us move to the second which is to marinate the chicken. Prepare the marination paste. We will need a bowl and put 1 cup of coriander leaves, half tsp of salt 3 to 4 fresh green chilies, 1-inch ginger, 5 to 6 garlic cloves, and 2 large size white or pink onions peel and chopped it ruffly, and add 2 to 3 tbsp of oil. Take a hand blender and blend all the ingredients if it needs water then add 1 or 2 tbsp of water and make a fine paste for marination.
Marinated Chicken;
Take a large size of the bowl add 2 cups of curd and make sure your curd is nicely beaten. Add the prepared paste to it. Time to add spices into the prepared mixture add one tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder, one tbsp of cumin seeds powder, and 1 tsp of garam masala powder it is optional if you like it then add it otherwise skip it or if you don add garam masala then add two green cardamon, black cardamon, and powder black pepper lastly add half tsp of dry fenugreek leaves powder. Mixed it well and over marination mixture is done for this dish.
Dived it into 2 halves one part will be used to marinate the chicken and the second part will be used to prepare the sauce or gravy. First, marinate the chicken for at least half an hour or 1 hour. If you do not want to marinate the chicken for 1 hour then at least marinate for half an hour. Because it is important to infuse flavor into the chicken. Since the chicken quality is such that it releases a lot of water so the salt present in the marinate will soak up the water that is released by the chicken. It will make the chicken more juicy and tender. That is why it is important to let the chicken marinate for a while especially when we use packaged or defrosted chicken.
PREPARE GRAVY;
To make gravy we need a nonstick pan and add the remaining marination mixture into the pan. Pure 2 to 3 tbsp of butter or oil. Add some whole spices into it two bay leaves, 1-inch cinnamon sticks, and 2 green cardamon, and stir it for 2 minutes now pure the prepared masala into the pan. Once you add masala to the pan it will start spluttering so be careful of that. Cook it for 2 to 3 minutes then add water to it. Because if we add water now then the gravy will need more time to get cooked thoroughly. Ensure that the mixture is cooked thoroughly before adding water to it.
Cover the lid for a minute. When the gravy has started getting viscous then open the lid occasionally and gently stir the gravy and close the lid again. So basically close the lid of the pan till the gravy is viscous. Once the gravy is viscous enough then we can stir it without closing the lid. Add water to it once you are done cooking it thoroughly. Let us get back to our chicken.
Roasted Chicken;
Bring a separate pan to cook or roast the chicken. Basically, I am getting doubts about who eats chicken in Afghanistan because they usually eat red meat. so add 2 tbsp of oil into the pan and add the marinated chicken. It makes the chicken taste so rich. This technique of roasting the chicken before adding it to the gravy could be an Afghani technique. Cook both sides of the chicken once your chicken color has changed and is half cooked. Then add the gravy. If the flame is high then the color of the chicken is beautiful. We the other half present the chicken we will cook into the gravy. We can pour 2 cups of water once the masala is completely cooked.
All you have to do is patiently wait for the gravy and chicken to get cooked well. Cook it for 10 to 15 minutes and cover the lid. After 15 minutes remove the lid and check your chicken is cooked fully. The gravy is lightened think or of perfect consistency then your Afghani chicken is ready.
Serve on the serving plate and garnish with green chopped coriander and lemon slice.
