Murgh Do Pyaza

Murgh Do Pyaza is one of those spicy chicken dishes you enjoy at a nice outdoors place with mosquitoes as a side dish. Well, that’s the way I’ve enjoyed it two out of the three times I’ve had it. This one’s a tad tricky in terms of quantity of the Masala (or Gravy) you want with your chicken. Below is how I make it, feel free to increase or decrease the ingredients in proportion. You’ll need:

Chicken – 4 Pieces (I used two full legs)

Onions – 2 Medium Sized Grated, 1 Medium sized Sliced

Yogurt – 1 Cup (~250 mL)

Black Cardamom – 1

Green Cardamom – 2

Black Peppercorns – 1 Tablespoon

Cloves – 4

Cinnamon – 1 4″ stick

Dried Red Chilli – 1

Green Chilli – 2

Coriander – 1 Tablespoon

Turmeric (Haldi) – 3/4th Tablespoon

Oil – 3 Tablespoon

Salt – To Taste

1. Clean the chicken and put it on a striner to let all the water out. Make diagonal cuts on the pieces.
2. Take the curd and smoothen it using a whisk.
3. Put the oil in a fairly large pan and put in the Black Cardamom, Green Cardamom, Peppercorns, Red Chilli, and Cinnamon into the oil. Wait for a minute and let the crackling begin. Keep stirring and add the grated onions into the pan. Make sure you mix everything quite well and keep cooking on high heat till the onions turn brown.
4. Once the onions turn brown, add in the chicken and mix well. Top with the sliced onions and keep the heat high.
5. Wait for about 3 minutes and put in the whisked and smoothened curd and follow that up with the turmeric. Stir really well to ensure nothing stays uncovered by the curd. Turn the heat to somewhere between medium and low at this point and cover the pan.
6. After 5 minutes put in the green chilli, the coriander and the salt (start with 1/2 Tablespoon, trust me you don’t want to screw this up!). Mix everything again and taste. Add more salt, pepper and, if you like it really hot, some red pepper, if you think you need them. Cover the pan again and turn the heat to medium.
7. Wait 3 minutes and check whether the chicken is done. The best way to do it is by trying a bite – Never fails! 😛
8. Once it’s done, serve with Rotis, Naans or Paranthas. You might wanna decorate it with coriander and green chillis if you’re looking to impress.

You could easily replace the chicken with Paneer (Cottage Cheese) if you’re into it and it’ll still come out awesome. Just be careful about the salt level because you can easily overshoot!