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Murgh Musallam

My kitchen shelves are stocked up with all kinds of stuff neatly (not really) organized in sections.  Every once in a while I go thru my them looking for expired items to be discarded. I take out all the items, check for freshness, re-arrange all of them so I remember that I have to use them. While in this process over the last few weeks of “Clean Up Kitchen” program, I suddenly realised  a few things in my pantry were treated with low profile. So I started on a mission to use up all of them. One among the list was a small bag of almond powder that I remember buying a while back. At first I thought of making a dessert but then I wanted to cook it along with something.  With the change in weather indicating the beginning of autumn, temperatures not too cold like in winters and not too hot like in summers, I wanted to go for a mild curry that tastes well with both rice and rotis and of course that also involves almond powder as an ingredient. So off I went, browsing through my recipe files that I have been collecting since ages and looking out for ideas, when this dish caught my eye. Musallam meaning “whole” and Murgh meaning “chicken” is a rich creamy dish that is said to a jewel of the Awadhi Cuisine.  The dish has derived its name thru the process of cooking whole chicken in a creamy sauce and a combination of spices that result in a rich succulent dish that is mildly spicy and tastes amazing when paired up with plain cooked basmati rice, pulao, or as a side to go with rotis. I used boneless chicken pieces instead of whole chicken for convenience but the taste was delicious. Now to the recipe…

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless chicken – cut into chunks

3 cups chopped onions (about 2 Large Onions) – Finely chopped

2 large tomatoes

2 garlic pods – finely chopped

¼ tsp turmeric pwd

½ tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

3 tbsps cooking oil

Freshly chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

3 tbsps almond powder or 15 almonds

For the Spice Powder:

½ tsp whole black pepper corns

½ tsp cumin seeds

1″ cinnamon stick

2 cloves/lavangalu

1 elaichi/cardamom

For the Marinade:

1 ½ tsp ginger garlic paste

½ tsp green chilli paste or 4-5 crushed green chillies

¾ cup thickly beaten curd/yogurt

1 ½ coriander pwd

½ tsp red chilli pwd

½ tsp salt

Preparation:

How To: