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+ servings

Achari Chicken

An easy, tangy, pickle flavoured chicken curry made using a special achar spice mix you can make at home yourself!
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 5 servings
4.78 from 9 votes
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Ingredients

Chicken marination

  • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds kalonji
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds saunf
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds zeera
  • 1.5 teaspoon black mustard seeds rai
  • 1.7 lb (¾ kg) chicken, bone in 1.7lb/800g is the approximate size of a medium-sized chicken
  • ½ cup (120 g) full fat yogurt
  • 2 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 6 green chillies Thai bird eye or finger chilli - the slim variety of chillies, ground into a paste (about 1 tsp)
  • 8 garlic cloves ground into a paste/2 teaspoon garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon ginger paste
  • 1.5 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 0.5 teaspoon turmeric

For the sauce

  • ½ cup (125 ml) oil
  • 2 medium onions diced finely
  • 2 tablespoon tomato concentrate OR two medium tomatoes finely diced
  • 8 bullet chillies
  • juice from half a lemon
  • 3 teaspoon chaat masala
  • fresh coriander for garnishing

Instructions

  • Grind the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder until fine.
  • Prepare the marination: mix together all the marination ingredients and set aside for at least 4 hours and a maximum of 24 hours.
  • When ready to start cooking, add the oil into a deep pan or pot. Once heated, add in the diced onions and sauté them over a medium to high heat until the onions turn brown.
  • Add in the marinated chicken. Sauté this until the chicken no longer remains pink and any water released from the yogurt concentrates. It'll look pretty dry when this step is completed. Keep stirring over a medium to high heat to ensure it doesn't burn.
  • Add the tomato concentrate/tomatoes. If using tomato concentrate, also add ½ cup/125mls water too. Cover and simmer everything over a low heat for 25 minutes.
  • As the chicken is cooking, prepare the green chillies. Mix the lemon juice and chaat masala, then set aside. Use a knife to create a slit down the centre of the chilli, then apply pressure to the top and bottom to open up the slit. Insert 2-3 teaspoon of the lemon and chaat masala mixture into the chillies, then set aside.
  • Once the cook time for the chicken is up, uncover and add in the chillies. Allow the chillies to cook alongside everything for 5 minutes.

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