Badam Murghi (Almond Chicken)

This marinade works best with regular, relatively thin, yogurt. I only had Greek yogurt on hand, so I ended up having to add a little cream to thin it out. It was still delicious.

Badam Murghi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. plain yogurt¹
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds
• 6 slices fresh ginger (~4cm by 2cm by 3mm)
• 6-8 cloves garlic
• 2-7 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or finger chilies
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds from green pods, ground
• 1/2 tsp. whole cloves, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 (1.3-1.6kg) chicken, skinned and jointed
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 4 dried bay leaves
• 1/2 c. water
• 140g baby spinach

Directions

1. Combine yogurt, almonds, ginger, garlic, and chilies in a blender and purée.
2. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the cilantro, coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, and salt.
3. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade and mix to coat.
4. Cover and chill for 1-24 hours.
5. Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the onion and bay leaves and cook for 3-4 minutes.
7. Remove the onion mixture from the pan and set aside.
8. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil to the pan.
9. Remove the chicken from the marinade and add it to the pan, meat side down. Reserve the remaining marinade.
10. Sear the meat for 3 minutes on each side.
11. Add the marinade to the pan along with the water and the onion mixture and deglaze the pan.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and braise, basting occasionally, until chicken is cooked through (25-40 minutes depending on the size of your chicken).
13. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter.
14. Increase heat to medium-high and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes.
15. Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted (1-2 minutes).
16. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.

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¹ If you use Greek yogurt, you may need to add up to 1/4 c. of milk or cream to thin it out enough to blend. Cream will help stabilize the marinde so that it doesn't curdle when it's cooked. ^Back