Pistewala Murgh

This recipe is one from Sanjeev Kapoor. There are no hassles making it which scores a big point with me.  This  dish pairs up very  well with pulao ...

Boneless Chicken  500 gms  ( I used 800 gms of chicken thighs with bones)
Onions 2 large sized
Ginger 1 inch piece, grind to a fine paste
Garlic 4-5 cloves, grind to a fine paste
Yoghurt - Half cup, whisk it.
Pistachios Half cup
Green chillies 4
Oil 4 tbsp
Coriander powder 2 tbsp
White pepper powder Half tsp
Salt to taste
Fresh cream Half cup (I skipped this)
Garam Masala powder Half tsp

Cut the boneless chicken into  one and half inch sized pieces.

Peel, quarter and boil the onions in one cup of water. I used a little less than one cup of water as I did not want to drain too much water away. The water covered the onions three fourth way through.  I let the onions boil for say a minute, mixed the onions so that the top onions sat at the bottom and put off the gas, letting the onions sit  in the hot water. Drain, cool slightly and grind to a fine paste.

Soak pistachios in a cup of hot water for ten minutes, drain and peel. Grind the pistachios with the green chillies.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the boiled onion paste and saute for three to four minutes or till oil separates. The colour of the onions should not turn brown.

Add the ginger garlic paste and stir-fry briefly.  Add coriander powder, white pepper powder ( I used black as I had run out of white) , and salt to taste. Mix well. Stir in the pistachios and green chilli paste and cook for a minute.

Add chicken pieces and saute for two minutes. Reduce heat , add one cup of water and simmer for four to five minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked. Stir in yogurt and continue to simmer for two minutes , stirring occasionally.

Stir in fresh cream, sprinkle garam masala powder and serve hot.

What I would do differently the next time is, I would saute the chicken for two three minutes in oil taking care not to turn it dark brown, take them out and then start from step one.

As I clicked a picture of the dish, I was left appreciating the importance of presentation . Here is a picture of how the dish looks like in Sanjeev Kapoor's book.