chicken in a black pepper sauce | murgh kaali mirch

Chicken in black pepper sauce or murgh kaali mirch has been a long time favorite. I often add some or the other green to it just because I like the vegetables so much and including them in one dish makes it easy for me.

Also, I find that greens like baby spinach, spring onion greens and coriander greens with stems really combine well with the flavors of black pepper chicken cooked the Indian way. The yogurt, the onion and the light whiff of spices makes this dish loved by all. I add value to it my own way. This time it was coriander greens and loads of it.

Murgh kaali mirch is cooked in ghee (clarified butter) but most people now a day cook it in refined vegetable oil. You can use any oil you wish but for health viewpoint I am a desi ghee believer, you can use EVOO or any other. Oil of ghee is required in minimal amount, just a tsp of cooking fat to fry the whole spices, so it's not much of a concern.

ingredients

2-4 servings, depending on how it served)

chicken cut in large pieces 600gm
thick curds 100 gm
freshly crushed black pepper 2 tbsp
ginger garlic n green chillies crushed together coarsely 2 tsp
star anise 1 no.
cinnamon 1/2 inch piece
green cardamom 2 nos. crushed
black cardamom 1 no. crushed
cloves 3 nos.
whole red chilly 1 no.
salt to taste
roughly chopped coriander leaves , a handful
desi ghee 1 tsp

procedure

Marinate the chicken with curds mixed with crushed black pepper n ginger garlic green chilly paste for 2-3 hrs in the fridge. Salt can also be added at this stage.

Heat ghee in a pan and put in all the whole crushed masalas and the red chilly. Quickly put in the marinated chicken as the masalas start spluttering, mix well and cook covered on low flame, it will get watery first and then the masalas will be soaked in and a nice brown grilled sort of color will appear, keep turning the pieces after every 2-3 minutes until cooked, it may take 12 -15 minutes.

When the mixture is dry sprinkle the coriander leaves and turn around a bit so that flavors of the masala and coriander leaves get blended. Adjust the thickness of sauce by adding a little water if required.

Serve immediately with plain wholewheat chapatis.