My Tryst With Food And Travel: Padampuri Murg Recipe / Khoya Chicken Recipe

Padampuri Murg is a Chicken delicacy from Padampur located in the princely state of Rajasthan in India. This is probably one of the creamiest chicken dishes that you might have ever tasted. The Khoya/Khoa or milk solids used to cook this dish is primarily responsible for the rich silky texture of it's gravy. Along with yogurt and pure desi Ghee (clarified butter) added generously, this dish is not at all for the faint hearted . The indigenous spice mix which is added to the curry is resplendent with fiery red chilies, black cumin (kalonji) and other spices that gives the dish a perfect balance of flavours, a unique taste and a light lingering aroma. One spoonful in your mouth and your taste buds will dance to the power house of flavours which makes this dish truly befitting to be served at any Royal fare.

Padampuri Chicken Curry is not sweet to taste as one might imagine considering that both onions and the Khoya used would make this taste sweet. The yogurt used adds the much needed acidity to the dish and the spice mix used gives the gravy a punch of fire making the curry perfectly balanced in terms of flavours. No nuts are used in the gravy, so if you are allergic to nuts, this can be yours to savour, considering most chicken dishes with a creamy texture has some type of nuts in it. In terms of cooking, this is one of the simplest dishes to cook, hardly takes any time if all the ingredients are close by at hand.

I am a huge fan of Actress Nicole Kidman and am totally starstruck by her. Why am I sharing this piece of information on a recipe of an Indian Chicken Curry ? Dear readers because she clearly chose Padampuri Chicken amongst the serpentine array of dishes served to her at the Taj Lake Palace Hotel in Rajasthan, during her shoot for an ad film for Director Shekhar Kapur (who is famed for directing the Internationally acclaimed film Elizabeth (1988) . Nicole Kidman is known to maintain a very strict diet regime of poached chicken, egg white omlettes, juices and steamed vegetables and I am delighted to know that she gave these a miss, even if it was for a single meal, to sample some authentic Rajasthani fare, laden with desi ghee and cooked on a wood fire. Such is the appeal of Indian cuisine that it can captivate even the most refined taste buds.

So let's get down to making Padampuri Murg together.

Padampuri Murg Recipe / Khoya Chicken Recipe ~

AUTHOR ~ PIYALI MUTHA

SERVES ~ 4

CUISINE ~ INDIAN, RAJASTHANI, PADAMPURI

TYPE ~ CHICKEN CURRY

TIME ~ 15 MINUTES PREPARATION + 30 MINUTES COOKING + 2 HOURS MARINATION TIME

INGREDIENTS ~

900 Gms ~ 1 Kg CHICKEN, on the bone and skinned

2 ~ 3 GARLIC PODS (finely chopped)

1 Inch Piece Ginger (finely chopped)

2 Large ONIONS (thinly sliced)

1 Tbsp DESI GHEE (Clarified Butter for cooking)

SALT To Taste

FOR THE SPICE MIX POWDER ~

6~7 DRY RED CHILIES

NOTE ~ use regular chilies and don't worry about the heat as you will need these to cut down the sweetness of the dish, bring in the spicy element and perfect balance in terms of flavour.

2 Tsp CORIANDER SEEDS

1/2 Tsp BLACK CUMIN (KALONJI)

1/2 Tsp FENNEL SEEDS (SAUNF)

FOR THE MARINATION ~

3 ~ 4 Tbsp YOGURT ( Khatta Dahi)

50 ~ 60 Gms KHOYA / MILK SOLIDS

NOTE ~ If you cannot find Khoya at the local Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi sweet shop or grocery store then take 5~6 Tbsp of Milk Powder, Add 1 Tbsp Clarified butter to it and mix well. This will give a similar taste as that of Khoya.

1/2 Tsp GINGER PASTE

1 1/2 Tsp GARLIC PASTE

1 1/2 Tbsp approximately of the above SPICE MIX POWDER

1 Tbsp GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER

1 Tsp SALT

FOR TEMPERING ~

1 Inch Piece CINNAMON STICK

6 ~7 CLOVES

LET'S COOK PADAMPURI MURG IN EASY STEPS ~

TO MAKE THE SPICE MIX POWDER ~

1) Take a frying pan and dry roast the dry whole red chillies till they change colour.

** Now add in the remaining ingredients under " FOR THE SPICE MIX POWDER " to the same frying pan and dry roast all of them till fragrant. Remove from burner and cool.

** Transfer all the dry roasted ingredients into a coffee grinder or mixer jar and grind to a coarse powder.

TO MARINATE THE CHICKEN ~

1) In a large mixing bowl, take the cleaned cut, skinned on the bone Chicken pieces.

** Add all the ingredients under the heading " FOR THE MARINATION " one by one to the chicken pieces in the mixing bowl.

** Smear all the chicken pieces and massage them nicely with the marinade.

** Leave the chicken in the marinade covered for at least two hours.

TO COOK THE CHICKEN ~

1) Take a large sauce pan and add 1 Tbsp clarified butter in it. Throw in the cloves and cinnamon stick.

** When the whole spices become aromatic, add the sliced onions, chopped ginger and garlic.

** Saute them till the onions change colour and become a light pink.

2) Add the Chicken pieces along with the marinade.

** Mix well with the ingredients in the sauce pan. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring and mixing occasionally.

** Now cover the sauce pan and let the chicken simmer for 10 minutes.

3) After 10 minutes remove the lid and again give the chicken a nice stir.

** At this point if you feel that the chicken needs a little water to be fully cooked then pour some water into the bowl in which you had marinated the chicken and use that water a little at a time to cook the chicken fully.

** Once again cover the sauce pan and Simmer the chicken until ghee starts oozing out from the inner sides of the saucepan.

** This is a Chicken curry with very thick, almost dry gravy. So simmer the chicken a little more if required.

** Your superlative luxurious Padampuri Murg is now ready to serve. Serve with paratha, flad breads, pilaf or rice as you desire.

Pictorial Step By Step Method Of Cooking Padampuri Murg ~

TO MAKE THE SPICE MIX POWDER ~

1) Take a frying pan and dry roast the dry whole red chillies till they change colour.

** Now add in the remaining ingredients under " FOR THE SPICE MIX POWDER " to the same frying pan.

** Dry roast all of them till fragrant. Remove from burner and cool.

** Transfer all the dry roasted ingredients into a coffee grinder or mixer jar.

** Grind to a coarse powder.

TO MARINATE THE CHICKEN ~

1) In a large mixing bowl, take the cleaned cut, skinned on the bone Chicken pieces.

** Add all the ingredients under the heading " FOR THE MARINATION " one by one to the chicken pieces in the mixing bowl.

** In goes the freshly ground spice mix powder.

** Next goes in Yogurt.

** Followed by Ginger Garlic Paste.

** Pour in clarified butter now.

** Finally Khoya.

** Smear all the chicken pieces and massage them nicely with the marinade. Leave the chicken in the marinade covered for at least two hours.