Achari comes from the word Achar, which means pickle in India. Pickles in India are spiced, tangy, and prepared with several ingredients throughout the year using seasonal produce. Some days I use the oil and spices from garlic achar to make the curries. I had shared a short video for achari eggplant curry in my IG. But then when I have some time in hand, I made the spice mix just for the Achari Murgh. It is one of our fav chicken curry. You can definitely find these spice mixes in Indian store. But homemade is definitely better, and it is actually very easy to prepare too.
Ingredients you need for Achari Murgh
Achari Spice Powder - cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon stick and Kashmiri chili powder. Chicken - You can make this dish with boneless chicken, or make the spice powder to make Achari chicken wings too. For this recipe, I used curry cut chicken, which are small pieces with a mix of boneless and with bones. Onion, Tomato, Ginger, Garlic - The usual ingredients that are often used to make any chicken curry. Now, if you are making this for a big portion, you can use canned tomato sauce to make it easy and quick for you. Also, using tomato purée from canned tomato definitely adds a gorgeous red color to the curry. Green Chili - The heat in this dish comes from using fresh green chili. I don’t make it very spicy, so I added just two. But you can add more to adjust as per your spice level. Yogurt - I add a little yogurt at the end, which gives a creamy texture to the dish. Lemon Juice - The pickling spice paste is made with lemon juice. I sometime use the bottled lemon juice, and someday I use the zest and the juice of a fresh lemon. Mustard Oil - Most Indian pickles are prepared in mustard oil. It adds a mild heat and the pungent flavor. To keep the flavor authentic, I used mustard oil to prepare this Achari Chicken. Achari Murgh is one of those few chicken recipes where I do not marinate the chicken overnight, and it gets cooked pretty quickly. If you don’t like meat, you can give it a try with paneer or make achari gobi too, and it will taste equally delicious.
Steps to prepare
1 - Dry roast the spices for the pickling sauce for a few minutes to release the aroma. 2- Once done, grind it using a spice grinder and then add lemon juice to it to make the spice paste. Slice two green chili in half and add it to the spice paste and keep it aside to be used later. 3 - In a heavy bottom pan, add mustard oil and once it heats up, add the ginger garlic paste and sauté it for a while. 4 - Add the sliced onion, season with salt and turmeric, and cook until it’s mild golden brown. 5 - Add the sliced tomato or tomato purée and cook everything for a while. 6 - Add the chicken pieces and stir it around. Add a little salt to season everything. 7 - Add the pickle spice paste and mix everything. 8 - Cover the pan and let it simmer for 15 minutes for the chicken to cook. Depending on the quantity and the chicken pieces, it may take more or less time. 9 - In a bowl, whisk yogurt with little flour and once the chicken is cooked, add the whisked yogurt. Stir it around and taste for salt at this stage. Also add little water or more based on how much gravy you prefer. 10 - Sprinkle finely chopped cilantro leaves and enjoy the chicken curry with Naan or Jeera Rice. If you enjoy Indian spices, and especially Indian pickle, then this chicken curry will not disappoint you at all.
