Malai Chicken Curry (Murgh Malaiwala) is a rich and creamy chicken curry with pieces cooked with heavy cream, yogurt, and spices. Serve it with naan or lachha paratha for an indulgent meal.

About Malai Chicken Curry (Murgh Malaiwala)

Malai in Hindi means the thick cream layer collected on the milk. It is basically heavy cream.

Malai Chicken Curry (Murgh Malaiwala) is a North Indian chicken curry with chicken pieces marinated in yogurt and mild spices and then cooked in a rich heavy-cream-based curry.

This Malai Chicken Curry is loaded with flavors and comes together in no time using a few simple ingredients.

Serve it with Indian bread like Naan, Laccha Paratha, or Tandori Roti for an indulgent meal.

This gluten-free curry recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.

Here are some more chicken curry recipes that you may like

• Chicken Salna
• Andhra Style Chicken Curry
• Desi Chicken Curry
• Chicken Vindaloo
• Tomato Chicken Curry
• Butter Chicken
• Kadai Chicken
• Chicken Masala Curry
• Dahi Chicken Curry
• Chicken Chettinad Curry

Ingredients

Chicken – I like to use skinless bone-in chicken pieces as the bones release a lot of flavor into the curry. If you are not a bone-in chicken person, then you can use boneless chicken cut into small pieces.

For the Marination

Chicken pieces are marinated with Greek yogurt (or thick yogurt, dahi, curd), freshly squeezed lime juice, ginger garlic paste, salt, and garam masala powder.

For The Curry

Cream & Milk – Unsweetened heavy cream and milk are the ingredients that make this curry different from other curries.

If you live in India, you can use Amul cream. You can also use milk malai in place of tetra-pack cream.

Whole Spices – You will need cloves (laung) and whole black peppercorns (kali mirch).

Spice Powders – The curry is flavored with basic spice powders such as cardamom powder (ground cardamom), Kashmiri red chili powder, white pepper powder, and garam masala powder.

Others – You will also need oil, ghee, onions, green chilies, saffron strands, dried fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi), and crispy fried onions (birista).

Make Crispy Fried Onions at home or buy them out.

How To Make Malai Chicken Curry

Marinate The Chicken

Mix

• 2 tablespoon Greek yogurt (or thick curd)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder

in a bowl.

Add 2 pounds (1 kg) of rinsed skinless bone-in chicken (cut into 1 and ½-inch pieces) to the bowl and coat well with the marinade.

Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

Make The Curry

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan over medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot, add 3-4 cloves and 5-6 whole black peppercorns and saute for 4-5 seconds.

Add 1 and ½ cups of chopped onions and cook until they turn translucent (6-8 minutes), stirring frequently.

Now add 2-3 green chilies (slit into half) and cook for 8-10 seconds.

Add the marinated chicken with the marinade and cook for 5-6 minutes, until the chicken is slightly browned and the raw smell is gone. Stir frequently while cooking.

Now add 1 cup of water and mix well.

Reduce the heat to low.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 40-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked well. Stir a few times while cooking.

Now add

• 3.5 oz (100 ml) unsweetened heavy cream
• ½ cup milk
• 15-20 saffron strands
• ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
• ½ teaspoon white pepper powder
• 2 tablespoon Kasuri methi

and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder and ½ teaspoon garam masala powder and mix well.

Add ½ cup of crushed crispy fried onions and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Check for salt and add more if needed.

Serve hot.

Serving Suggestions

Murgh Malaiwala tastes delicious with any Indian bread, be it a phulka, plain tawa paratha, naan, garlic naan, tandoori roti, missi roti, or any other bread that you prefer.

It can also be served with steamed rice, jeera rice, Indian turmeric rice, or any other lightly spiced pulao or biryani.

Storage Suggestions

Chicken Malai Curry has cream and milk as its two main ingredients. Therefore, it will last only about 2 days. Store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Reheat in a pan or microwave until hot. Add a little water and adjust the consistency if it has dried after refrigeration.

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