Afghan Chicken
This recipe is an old favorite from the blog. Even though there are many different ways to make this chicken dish. I think this is one of the most easy and delicious way of cooking Afghan chicken. I have included more variations in the blog post along with my tried and tested tips for you reference.
About Afghan Chicken
Afghan Chicken Recipe. Super creamy and a different style of recipe for cooking chicken. This chicken dish goes great with jeera rice, roti, or naan. One of the most popular dishes in Afghani cuisine is this chicken dish. Because in Ancients days Afghanistan is a trade route between Europe and Asia, Afghan food is heavily impacted by Indian, Mongolian, and Persian influences. Afghani chicken can be made variety number of ways. The flavours of afghani chicken is creamy, which has yogurt, cream, some kind of nuts like almonds, cashews or melon seeds, dried fenugreek leaves. The marinade is mellow and subtle. Some of the most popular Afghani chicken dishes are Afghani chicken tikka, Afghani chicken curry or Afghani chicken tandoori. Some other restaurant popular dishes include Afghani chicken korma, chicken soup, chicken karahi and chicken masala. This chicken dish is so easy to make, you don’t need onions, tomatoes and other stuffs. This chicken recipe is mildly spicy and best enjoyed with some mint chutney and onion rings on the side with coriander leaves and lemon squeezed over generously.
What is Special About Afghan Chicken?
Fresh Cream in the recipe, marination brings out the deep taste of the spices. A creamy and thick gravy is made with cashews, curd, and cream. To make a tasty Chicken Afghani, marinade the chicken thoroughly. If you are using larger pieces of chicken, Don’t forget to make little deep incisions in the chicken pieces before marinating. These deep slices aid in stimulating the flavour of spices in the chicken till it is fully cooked. Add fresh cream at the end of the marinating process. Because cream contains a lot of fat, adding it to a marination slows down the process.
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Watch Afghani Chicken Video
Afghani Chicken Ingredients
Chicken - For making Afghani chicken, I like to use chicken cut into small pieces for the flavour to penetrate into the gravy. If you are using larger pieces of chicken, Don’t forget to make little deep incisions in the chicken pieces before marinating. These deep slices aid in stimulating the flavour of spices in the chicken till it is fully cooked. Cashews - Afghani dishes are usually rich and creamy which is achieved by some kind of nuts added in the marinade. Cashews, blanched almonds, melon seeds are some of the popular nuts of choice. Yogurt | Curd - the gravy doesn’t has tomatoes. Instead it uses yogurt for tangy taste and the base of the gravy. Grind yogurt with cashews which provides the thick creamy texture to the gravy and also prevents the yogurt from curdling. Spices - black pepper powder, garam masala powder, chaat masala are the spice used. Fresh Herbs - Even though it is optional, I like to use chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves in the marinate which helps with the flavour. Dry Fenugreek Leaves - also known as kasuri methi is one of the most important flavour in afghani chicken. It provides an earthy aroma. Fresh Cream - Milk and milk products are main in afghani cuisine. Cream is added for the rich and creamy texture. Onions & Chillies - When I made my first afghani chicken, I didn’t use onions and green chillies. I added in this version which provided delicious taste to the gravy. You can add or skip if you want. Ginger & Garlic - ginger and garlic is ground into a paste and added to the chicken for marinate. Ghee - like all afghani dishes, you have to use ghee or butter to make the gravy. If you want a low calorie option, you can use oil.
Afghani Chicken Marinade
Marinade is usually made with ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, mint leaves, garam masala powder, black pepper, chaat masala, cream, cashews, yogurt and kasuri methi leaves. The marinade is same for all type of Afghani dishes including chicken gravy and chicken kebab. Afghan chicken can be cooked into variety of ways. Some of the most popular ways of cooking chicken is in a tandoor. The same marination is used for making afghani chicken tikka, Afghani chicken kebab. Instead of making into gravy, skewer them and cook in tandoor or oven. For making tandoori Afghan chicken, You can use large chicken portions, usually one whole chicken cut into 10 to 12 portions will be perfect for tandoori Afghan chicken. You can check how to cook it in oven in tips section. But for making curries, I like to use smaller pieces of chicken so the creamy gravy can penetrate deep into the chicken. If you are using larger pieces of chicken, Don’t forget to make little deep incisions in the chicken pieces before marinating. These deep slices aid in stimulating the flavour of spices in the chicken till it is fully cooked. Add fresh cream at the end of the marinating process. Because cream contains a lot of fat, adding it to a marination slows down the process.
Cooking Afghani Chicken (Tandoor, Tikka & Kebab)
Tandoori Afghan
Use whole chicken which is cut into 10 or 12 portions for making tandoori style. Make sure you create deep slits in the chicken. Even though the recipe for the marination remains the same, the time you marinate the chicken will vary. You can skip onions, green chillies in the recipe. Allow the chicken to marinade minimum of 2 hours. Preheat oven to 250 degree C on grill mode. Place the chicken on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place it on top rack and grill for 15 minutes, flip over and cook for another 10 minutes. Make sure you baste the chicken with some extra marinade and brush it with some melted butter every 5 minutes.
Afghani Chicken Tikka & Kebab
The only added ingredient you have to add in chicken tikka or kebab is 2 tbsp toasted gram flour (besan). Use boneless chicken thighs in this recipe for maximum moist texture in the chicken. Allow the chicken to marinate for 2 hours. You can either skewer the chicken in metal skewers or bamboo skewer. This can be cooked in a tandoor, barbeque or in oven. Preheat oven to 250 degree C on grill mode. Place the chicken on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place it on top rack and grill for 8 minutes, flip over and cook for another 8 minutes. Make sure you baste the chicken with some extra marinade and brush it with some melted butter every 5 minutes. Chicken tikka or chicken kebab is ready to serve.
How to Make Afghani Chicken (Stepwise Pictures)
Grinding Cashews with Yogurt
1)Take yogurt and cashews in a blender. Grind to a smooth paste. Instead of cashews, you can use blanched almonds, melon seeds or any nuts.
Marinade Chicken
2)Take chicken in a bowl, I used small pieces of chicken. If you are using larger pieces of chicken, Don’t forget to make little deep incisions in the chicken pieces before marinating. These deep slices aid in stimulating the flavour of spices in the chicken till it is fully cooked. 3)Add in salt, don’t add too much at this point. you can always add more salt once curry is done. 4)Add in black pepper powder. I used freshly ground black pepper. 5)Add in lemon juice to taste. 6)Sprinkle with garam masala powder. I used my homemade garam masala powder. 7)Pour the ground curd and cashew mixture over the chicken. 8)Add in dried fenugreek leaves. This is one of the main flavour in this chicken dish. 9)Add in ginger garlic paste. I took equal amount of peeled ginger and peeled garlic and ground into a paste. 10)Add in finely chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. Even though this is optional, I like to use for the flavour. 11)Add in cream and mix well. 12)You can marinate this for 10 minutes. This is your afghan chicken marination.
Frying Onions in Ghee
13)Heat ghee in a kadai. I like to use ghee for this recipe, but you can use oil or butter. 14)Add in finely chopped onions and green chillies. This is optional, you can just skip these two ingredients and add the chicken directly into the ghee. But I found that onions add so much flavour to the chicken. Pro Tip: This is a mild chicken dish, so I used two green chillies. If you want spicy, you can increase the chillies in this. 15)Fry till the onions gets translucent. Cook the onions for 2 to 3 minutes.
Adding Chicken for Searing
16)Now use a slotted spoon to strain the chicken from the marinade and add into the onion mixture. I added the chicken first to sear the chicken which increases the flavour. 17)Add the chicken into the onion ghee mixture. 18)Stir fry the chicken in the ghee for 3 to 5 minutes till the chicken is slightly brown. 19)Cover and cook for another 2 minutes. Since I used small pieces of chicken, it cooked faster. if you are using larger chicken portions then it may take time. So cook the chicken until it is completely cooked.
Making Afghan Chicken Gravy
20)Once the chicken is cooked, pour the marinade into the kadai. 21)Mix well. As you pour the marinade in, the mixture will start to thicken faster because of the nuts. So keep mixing so nothing sticks to the bottom of the kadai. 22)I added a tsp of sugar into the gravy to balance the taste. This is optional, if you want to skip the sugar you want. 23)Mix well. Taste and adjust the taste as per your liking. 24)Afghan chicken is ready to serve.
Expert Tips
You can use large pieces of chicken as well. The cooking time will vary, but the recipe stays same. Instead of cashews, you can use blanched almonds, melon seeds which provides the same thickness and richness. Using onions is optional, you can skip that if you don’t want too. You can increase the amount of green chillies if you want the gravy to be spicy.
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