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Step by step recipe of Hariyali Chicken Curry with photos. I make this chicken with coriander, mint, and walnuts on one of those busy days (sometimes, busy is the synonym of lazy), when I'm looking forward to a no chopping and no bhunofying recipe so this is a quick and easy chicken curry.
The taste is light, aromatic and creamy with all the goodness of herbal greens. Kids and hubby both love it. You can also check this hariyali curry recipe.
Hariyali Chicken is a North Indian, Punjabi Chicken made with cilantro and mint sauce. You can make Hariyali Chicken Tikka, Hariyali Chicken biryani, or similar foods with the chicken marinated in hariyali sauce.
Hariyali literally means greenery and its attributes to the green color of this dish. This chicken is very refreshing is tasty and healthy too, enriched with the goodness of greens and nut and dairy.
How to make it?
Fry chicken in oil until the color of chicken changes to golden.
Next, make a paste of green chilies, garlic, ginger, and onions with some milk until smooth.
Add the garlic-onion paste to the chicken. Also, add cumin powder.
Mix well.
Cover and cook on medium heat until chicken is tender. (10-15 minutes)
(While this step can be done before too. But I prefer doing it once chicken is in pot to save time.) Blend walnuts, coriander leaves and mints leaves in a food processor until it forms a smooth green paste.
In a bowl mix green paste, yogurt, coconut milk, salt, and cream. This is also called the green chutney. Green Hariyali chutney is ready to go in chicken.
Add the paste to the chicken cook on high flame for 5 minutes without covering.
When desired consistency is reached and you see little oil separating from sides your hariyali chicken curry is ready. Finish with all spice powder (garam masala) and black pepper.
Tip to make
- You can use any nuts like cashew, almond in the same measures but walnuts pairs very well with these herbs.
- One thing you should be careful about in making any yogurt based curry is that add yogurt after the chicken is tender, otherwise, curry can turn watery. You also use greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt to avoid this.
- Secondly do no cover the pot after adding yogurt and also cook on low flame. Otherwise, yogurt releases its water and develops and curdled texture.
- You might need to adjust the heat in this recipe. This can be done easily by adding or reducing green chilies or green chili paste.
- To make this chicken even healthy, you can also add spinach in fenugreek leaves. Add these in the small measure since we want cilantro (fresh coriander) to have more empowering flavor.
- Garnish this curry with a sliced hard-boiled egg if you are a fan of eggs. And who's not?
What to serve with Hariyali Chicken Curry?
You can serve hariyali chicken curry (also called hariyali murgh masala) with plain rice, naan, chapati, roti, or garlic bread along with fresh vegetable salad like cucumber salad.
Hungry? Try these recipes.
- Hariyali Chicken Tikka
- White chicken Korma.
- Bohar Fried Chicken
- Paneer Reshmi Handi
- Indian Butter Chicken
- Indian Ginger Chicken
Hariyali Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 500 grams skinless chicken, pieces (bone in or boneless)
INGREDIENTS FOR PASTE 1
- 5-6 nos green chillies , or 1 tablespoon Green chilli paste
- 1 inch ginger , or ½ tablespoon ginger paste
- 3 cloves garlic , or ½ tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 medium onion
- ½ tablespoon cumin, (zeera)
- 1⁄4 cup milk , for blending
INGREDIENTS FOR PASTE 2
- 1 cup fresh coriander / cilantro, , tightly packed
- ½ cup mint leaves, , tightly packed
- 6 walnuts or ¼ cup Walnut halves
- 1⁄4 cup milk for blending
- ¼ cup coconut milk powder , or 3 tablespoon coconut cream
- 1 cup yogurt , whipped
- 4 tablespoon cream, optional
- Salt to taste
INGREDIENTS FOR GARNISH
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder, (garam masala)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Roti or rice for serving.
Instructions
Prepping
Paste 1
- In a food processor add green chili , ginger, garlic, onions and milk . Blend into a fine paste. Set aside.
Paste 2
- Next blend coriander, mint, walnuts and milk into a paste. Add yogurt, coconut milk and cream to the paste. Mix well.
Cooking chicken
- In a pot fry chicken in oil for few minutes until the pink color of chicken vanishes.
- Add paste 1 to the chicken. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is tender.
- Add paste 2 to chicken. Cook for another five minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
- Garnish with garam masala and black pepper. Serve with roti or rice.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Dalip says
I have enjoyed many recipes from your website, but this was even better than the rest! And so simple to make.
Mariam Sodawater says
Hi Dalip, thanks for the comment. I understand fewer ingredients and simple recipes are always great to have in hand. We also love this chicken.
Tahera says
Salaam Mariam.
Ramadan Mubarak
What can l substitute the coconut powder/ coconut milk with due to allergy with coconut?
Thanks
Tahera
Mariam Sodawater says
Walaikum Afzal us Salam, Ramadan Mubarak to you as well. Just skip it and add extra cream if needed. This recipe needs to be updated with suggestions. Thanks for pointing out coconut allergy, I'll keep that in mind and suggest substitutes.
Anonymous says
Lovely recipe! Thank you