Chicken Navrattan Kurma Recipe

This chicken dish is very heavy and very very rich, in the sense that this will a "NoNo" for the calorie conscious. It is very mild and not spicy has a thick creamy gravy. Once in a blue moon if you ever feel like having this royal dish, go ahead, you will not be disappointd.

Ingredients needed for the Navarattan Kurma Recipe
8-10  small pieces of  chicken
3/4th cup curds
1/2 cup Ghee
3 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
a pinch of mace
1 cup onion finely sliced
1 tsp ginger
2 green chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp cream
1/2 tsp mace and green cardamom powder

Clean and cut Chicken into medium sized pieces. Add Salt to the curds amd whisk nicely. Marinate the chicken pieces in the curd mixture for half an hour.
Slice onions finely, deseed and chop green chillies. Chop ginger fine. Keep aside.

The Shahi Paste:
2 tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 tbsp almonds
2 tbsp cashew nuts
1 tbsp Melon seeds

Soak poppy seeds for half an hour. Blanch almonds and grind the shahi paste ingredients to a smooth paste.

How to prepare the Garnish:
8 pistachios,
5 almonds
5 walnuts
5 pine nuts
1 tsp raisins
1 tsp melon seeds
1 tsp Watermelon seeds
1 tsp sunflower seeds
Blanch pista and almonds, remove skin. Soak in lukewarm water for 15 minutes with all the other seeds, raisins and nuts.

How to prepare te Gravy and the Kurma:
Heat Ghee in a Handi, add whole garam masala. When they splutter add sliced onions, saute till golden.
Add ginger and green chillies stir for a minute.
Add turmeric and red chilli powder mixed with a little water to make a paste. Saute for a minute or two. Be careful not to burn the chilli powder, for the colour and the flavour will change if you burn them.
Add the marinated chicken along with the remaining marinade, add a little more water, cover and cook. Once it comes to boil, simmer and cook till the chicken gets tender.
Add shahi paste, bring to a boil and then simmer till the fat starts floating on top. Add cream and stir well.
Sprinkle mace and green cardamom powder and half the garnish. Mix well.
Adjust seasoning if required. Just before serving add the remaining garnish mix and serve.

Points To Note:
You can serve this as a side dish with Chicken  /  Mutton Biryani or some Pulao Recipes and Plain Rice .

Other chicken Recipes
Chicken Vindaloo