Recipe - Chicken Mughlai

Cooked by chefs in Mughal dynasty king's kitchen in central Asia / Indian subcontinent. A dish fit enough for a king !!! I have served this to many of my friends who visited my house for a happy hour party. Everyone liked it. Though I personally prefer vegetarian dishes, I make exceptions for few non-vegetarian dishes and this is one of them. I have made few minor changes to the recipe to fit the fast pace of modern life without compromising on the taste. Note that, though the preparation starts 24 hrs before actually serving it, the actual time required for preparation and cooking is around 45 - 60 mins.

Ingredients:

1. 1.5 Lb chicken thigh fillets cut into medium size, or breasts or a mix of both. I prefer thighs as far as the chicken is concerned. 
2. 1 Lb yogurt. Non-fat, if you are diet conscious
3. 1/2 or 1 full medium size onion chopped.
4. 2 spoon ginger & garlic paste
5. 9-10 thin slices of bell pepper/capsicum
6. 1/2 tbsp red chili/paprika, 1 tbsp if you can tolerate!!
7. 2 spoon - chicken masala (powder or paste mixture of cumin, black pepper, cardamom, fennel, bay leaves, fenugreek leaves, coriander, cloves, turmeric). Instead, You can also buy ready-made chicken masala powder available in Indian grocery stores.
8. Olive or vegetable oil
9. Kosher salt. yes, it has to be kosher, trust me.
10. 1 large tomato, finely chopped
11. Lemon juice(optional)
12. Sugar(optional)

Step 1 - Marinate: 

Before going to bed, mix all the ingredients from 1 to 7 in a glass bowl very well. You should not see even one drop of yogurt white. 
Here's the photo of how it looks when I make it. Put the bowl in the refrigerator, the whole night. 

Step 2 - Cooking: 

In the morning, take a deep pan, deep enough to leave 1.5-inch empty space on the top. Put enough oil to wet the surface. Once the oil is heated, started putting chicken one at a time to the pan. Put all the yogurt mixture. Add chopped tomato. Close the vessel and boil in a medium to high flame for 30 mins. Add one cup of water, if it looks very thick and starts to stick to the pan. Occasionally stir the mixture. Add one tablespoon of kosher salt at the end. Boil for another 5 mins. 
Taste it, if it is too spicy for you, add 1 or 2 spoons of lemon juice and/or sugar. If it is winter, do yourself a favor, and skip doing it !!!

Step 3 - Rest it and serve: 

Once the pan cools down, put it in the refrigerator, the whole day. This is very important for spices to infuse into the cooked chicken for the best taste. The above ingredients easily serve 4 - 5 people. Serve it with Indian roti or naan (Indian flatbread) in the dinner. You can buy ready-made Indian flatbreads also if required.

Try it out, and let me know how it came or your suggested changes in the comments.