Murgh Achaari..pickle tickle

I have never eaten the actual Murgh Achaari or Achaari Murgh (Chicken curry with pickling spices)...have read/heard rave reviews about it…have seen it on menus but the  thought of the sour pickle masala mixed with chicken never made me try it…so when while surfing to make something different I came across the recipe and finally read it, thought I would give it a try…tweaked the recipe to suit what I thought we would like and here is the result…

Murgh Achaari (Chicken Curry with Pickling spices)

Ingredients:

• Chicken, curry cut, 500 gm
• Onions, finely chopped, 2
• Tomato, finely chopped, 2
• Ginger,paste,1 tsp
• Garlic,paste,1 tsp
• Kashmiri Red Chili powder, 1 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Coriander leaves, chopped, ¼ cup
• Mustard oil, 2 tbsp
• Water

For the marinade:

• Yogurt, 70 gm
• Turmeric powder, ½  tsp
• Salt, to taste

Achaari Spice powder :

• Cloves, 3
• Cinnamon, ½" stick
• Whole dried red chilies, 2 
• Fenugreek seeds, ¼ tsp 
• Nigella seeds, ½ tsp
• Mustard seeds, ½ tsp
• Cumin seeds, ½ tsp
• Fennel seeds, ½  tsp

Instructions:

Marinate the chicken pieces with yogurt, turmeric powder and salt for a couple of hours .

Dry roast (separately) all the ingredients mentioned under "Achaari Spice powder". Cool, mix  and grind coarsely. Keep aside.

I used mustard oil since typical North Indian achars/pickles are made using mustard oil. If you don’t have it or don’t like it, you can use regular oil.

Heat mustard oil to a smoking point in a pan and reduce the flame.

Add onions with a little salt. Fry till onions turn golden brown. 

Add ginger & garlic paste and sauté for a couple of more minutes. 

Add the Achaari spice powder and mix well.  

Add the chicken with the marinade, stir and fry till the chicken is nice light golden all over. 

Add tomatoes, chili powder and salt to taste. Mix well.

Cover and cook. Give it a stir once in a while, add a little water if required. 

Take it off heat once oil separates and then add chopped coriander.

Serve with roti or paranthas. ( Tastes even better the next day!!)