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murghi ka saalan
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4.79 from 37 votes

Pakistani chicken curry - Murghi ka saalan

A traditional Pakistani curry, made with an onion and yogurt base, seasoned with South Asian spices.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: pakistani, South Asian
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 266kcal
Author: Wajiha

Ingredients

  • 1 medium chicken cleaned, washed and cut up into pieces
  • 6 small red onions or 4 cups of sliced onions
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 cup yogurt at room temperature
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp coriander powder pisa wa dhaniya
  • 2 tsp red chili powder pisi wi lal mirch
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric haldi
  • 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste or 1 tsp of each
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
  • 4 green cardamom choti elaichi
  • 2 black cardamom bari elaichi
  • 8 whole black peppers sabit kaali mirch
  • 5 cloves long

Instructions

  • In a pot, add sliced onions and oil. Fry the onions at medium to high flame until they turn light golden brown. Remove the onions from the oil and allow it to cool down.
  • In a chopper, chop the golden brown onions without water until they turn into crumbs. Set aside
  • Remove all the oil from the pot and only keep about 6 tbsp of oil in the pot.
  • Add the whole spices, chicken, ginger garlic paste to the pot and saute it at medium flame for 2 to 3 mins.
  • When the water from the chicken dries up, add all the powdered spices and saute for another 3 mins.
  • Reduce the flame to low and add in yogurt and onion crumble. Stir it a bit, add about 1 cups of water, cover the pot and let it simmer for 10 to 15 mins.
  • Check to see if all the onion crumble has dissolved and an oil layer has formed on top of the curry.
  • Add 3 more cups of water, cook for another 3 mins.
  • Adjust your salt, and consistency of the curry.
  • Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with rice, or flat bread.

Notes

Use the left over oil for roasting steaks or for pastas as it has a really nice onion infused flavor to it now.
Use yogurt at room temperature to avoid curdling it in the gravy

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 266kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 1017mg | Potassium: 302mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 201IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 1mg