13 replies to this topic

[RaitaLover]

Everytime I go to my local indian I order their Nizami murgh. It's gorgeous! They describe it as a medium hot curry made with chicken tikka & mince meat. It has a red colour and is fairly sweet in taste.
I was wondering if anyone knows how to make this? I've looked online but can't really find it. Will stick a photo of the curry on this thread next time I order it from the takeaway.
Ahy help or ideas would be great as I don't have a clue where to start!

Thanks
RaitaLover

[myfancypantry]

You should try asking the chef at your takeaway.  They may let you in on a few secrets as to how to make the curry.  I don't think they'll give you the recipe, but you never know!  I did this a lot when I was in India.  I'd ask if I could talk to the chef...tell them how much I loved their food...and ask if they could give me any tips.  More often than not, they'd rattle off the ingredients and even tell me what was in their spice mixtures.  

[Suresh Hinduja]

"Nizami Murgh" may be the name given to it by the restaurant. Not Generic.

I second  @myfancypantry advice.

[RaitaLover]

@myfancypantry. Thanks for the advice. Ill have a word with the staff next time I'm in. And suresh.... this is a thought I hadhad previously. Thank you both

[lady_on_recipe_hunt]

Everytime I go to my local indian I order their Nizami murgh. It's gorgeous! They describe it as a medium hot curry made with chicken tikka & mince meat. It has a red colour and is fairly sweet in taste.
I was wondering if anyone knows how to make this? I've looked online but can't really find it. Will stick a photo of the curry on this thread next time I order it from the takeaway.
Ahy help or ideas would be great as I don't have a clue where to start!

Thanks
RaitaLover

 

RaitaLover,  does it contain chicken chunks and minced chicken both? Is it creamy? I think it is butter chicken...try to post picture, it will help to crack the recipe.

[Chetan]

I too was suspecting a variant of Butter chicken or Chicken Tikka masala .

[Sekhar]

..... describe it as a medium hot curry made with chicken tikka & mince meat...

@RaitaLover
Agree with everyone above.

Curious to know how tikka and mince meat are combined/cooked in the gravy?

[Chetan]

Please do check out this thread for Butter Chicken and this one for Chicken Tikka Masala , incase it was a curry flavour check the Chicken curry thread

[RaitaLover]

Pictures as promised guys

[myfancypantry]

There is definitely red food color added (in my opinion). Just wondering though, do you think it may be getting its sweetness from coconut milk?  Can you taste that at all?  Otherwise it looks very similar to a chicken tikka masala to me...

[anil]

What town is this restaurant in ? I doubt from the photos, that the recipe is very complex. Could be Chicken cooked in creamy tomato sauce. 

[lady_on_recipe_hunt]

Raitalover, I agree with above two comments. This is simple restaurant preparation. They have used little bit tandoori color, it contains tomato puree and chunks of tomatoes. They must be adding grilled chicken to the gravy or cooking all together like we prepare at home. Tomato puree brings mild sweetness to the gravy. I don't think minced chicken meat is used in this curry. I will make similar curry and give you details.

[Gautam]

Hi RaitaLover,

 

Hope you have a ton of fun watching the antics of HB below!! PLUS, he has a really good, if complicated CTM recipe.

 

Heston Blumenthal In.Search Of Perfection -Chicken Tikka Masala

 

If you want to demystify CTM, you will find a basic tomato sauce that I have offered somewhere in GI; it is used generically in Indian dhabas and contains the basic flavor palette fo punjab, plus a big dash of Kitchen King meat masala, these days, in some home kitchens!! You too can also experiment by adding this, or stuff like National Brand Biryani masala, or Laziza brand biryani or korma masala. They are quite good, in tiny pinches, to perk up your home cooking.

 

If you do find a sale on over-ripe plum, cherry or grape tomatoes, do purchase them, along with a can of puree or chunks or whatever is cheap. In some neutral oil and butter, heated, throw in a couple of black cardamoms, some whole cumin seeds, some cassia bark if you have that, a clove or two, a bay leaf or cassia leaf, and some diced onions and a bit of chopped ginger root. Stir a bit and add some mild green pepper, if you wish, and add the tomatoes, fresh, and canned, cook them a fair bit. Do not overcook so that it becomes a soup. Whir them with a hand blender, strain, but do not throw away residue. Recook this with some red lentils [masoor dal], either strain or not, add some sauteed shallots, or leeks, some parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and you have a fantastic healthy soup with some croutons. So never discard anything, unlike what recipe writers say!

 

You have your fresh tomato sauce.

 

A bit of cashew and/or almond butter, that you can make by whirring some roasted + raw nuts with butter or ghee in your food processor, the smaller the better. Or buy from the health food store. Remember for later, that when you add any nut butter to any watery sauce, it sinks to the bottom and catches, so be careful about stirring, mixing, and watching the heat. Also, use a good heavy pan, like Scanpan.

 

Some double cream, some butter.

 

A bit of thai coconut milk. Please get the new paper cartons of Chaokoh or Arroy-D, the no-preservative kind. A tiny pack is fine.

 

A bit of garam masala: grind together green cardamom, cassia bark, and a few cloves, and a touch of black cardamom, if you have this, or not. This basic garam masala will take you a long ways.  Also grind together some cumin seed and coriander seed.

 

Fenugreek leaves , kasuri methi, are available in dry packs.

 

Instead of food color, a good Hungarian sweet or warm paprika might serve you well.

 

I have simplified some of Heston's steps, that will still give acceptable and even delicious results on a first try. Cooking a recipe more than once is the key, so that you can work out niggles to your OWN satisfaction, and increase or decrease spicing and seasoning to your own taste.

 

There are more complicated recipes that I can post if you like.

[Gautam]

Here is a recipe originally created by Shireen Anwar, a great chef in Pakistan, who runs the show named Masala Mornings. I have tweaked it a little bit adding nigella and other stuff, leaving out red chili etc. to  suit my tastes and you can play around as well. The basics are pretty simple and you can follow Heston's ideas about grilling chicken to give you the tandoori flavor, and use his Garam masala recipe, as well.  We like to use bone-in chicken in India, as we prefer the texture of the dark meat cooked on the bone, especially over coals. YMMV.

 

 

1 kg chicken, bone in, scored, rubbed with 2 tb lime or lemon juice, 1tb salt, 1teaspoon each ginger and garlic paste, fresh; leave for a while. Then add whipped full fat greek yoghurt 1/2 cup, 2 tb heavy cream [optional], 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 tb crushed kasuri/fenugreek leaves, red chili or paprika to your taste. Mix well, Leave for 12-24 hours.

 

Grill chicken over coals or in oven until dark areas appear. Need not be fully cooked, because will be thoroughly cooked later. Overcooking now will make flesh dry and stringy.

 

Make sauce: melt 4 oz./120 g butter with 1 tb oil in a heavy pan with a close-fitting cover. When fairly warm, add 1 cup tomato puree, 1-2 teaspoons sugar, and salt, and chili powder to your taste, and 1/2 teaspoon or less of garam masala, depending on how strong it is. You can add more later! Heat should be up by now and you will be gently frying all of this tomato puree until it loses its rawness, adding 1 teaspoon of ginger + garlic paste and 1 tb any good quality tandoori masala [packaged], fry it a bit. Then add 1 teaspoon cashew nut paste, 1/2 cup whole milk, 4 tb double cream, and cook a bit. Last add the chicken, some whole green chillies with their stalks intact [just for flavor], seal tightly and bring to brisk simmer until steam develops and then reduce to very low. This is called dum, and works well when there is a heat diffuser. Allow flavors to meld.

 

This is a very simple, basic chicken butter masala. You can tweak it any way you like. Add cooked mince at the time you add the chicken, or add coconut milk, to create the typical curry house "more-ish" taste, or add jullienne ginger, chopped clantro, chopped green chillies, or wahtever strikes your fancy. This is much easier to make than Heston's and you will NOT be disappointed!!