Mutter Murghi (Chicken with Peas)

I picked up some chicken thighs on sale a few weeks ago and just tossed them in the freezer for future use. Freezer space is at a premium right now though, so I've been trying to find recipes to use up frozen ingredients. I had originally been thinking I might do a Moroccan dish with them, but I was low on spoons which means that I reverted to the kitchen comfort zone that is Indian cooking for me.
I selected this recipe because, unlike many others in the book, it specifically calls for bone-in chicken thighs. The recipe on the facing page also uses chicken thighs, but has a peanut-based sauce, so I opted for this one because I thought it would be school safe. It wasn't until I realized that the Maharashtrian garam masala wasn't already in our spice cupboard and checked the recipe that I saw that it was full of peanuts as well. So, not school safe after all, but still very delicious!

Mutter Murghi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, minced
• 680g bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
• 2 Tbsp. schmaltz¹
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. Maharashtrian garam masala

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, cream, ginger paste, salt, turmeric, garlic, and chilies and mix well.
2. Add the chicken thighs and turn to coat.
3. Cover and chill for 1-24 hours.
4. Heat the schmaltz over medium-high heat.
5. Add the onion and stir-fry until it begins to brown (3-5 minutes).
6. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer along with the marinade and cook for 4-6 minutes.
7. Flip the chicken over and cook for another 4-6 minutes.
8. Add the water and deglaze the pan.
9. Add the peas, cilantro, and garam masala and stir to combine.
10. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, turning and stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through (15-18 minutes).
11. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter (leaving the sauce behind).
12. Increase heat to medium-high and boil the sauce for ~5 minutes.
13. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

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¹ I got my chicken thighs skin on and then just pulled the skin off before marinating. TF then fried up the skins (and chunks of fat) with a little salt and pepper to make what basically amounted to chicken craklings. This also left us with a fair amount of schmaltz. The original recipe calls for using canola oil as the fat, but I figured that the schmaltz would be even better, so I just swapped that in. If you don't feel like frying up your chicken skins (or your thighs didn't come with any) then canola oil or ghee will work just fine here. ^Back