This Murgh Kali Mirch with it's hefty dose of lemon and boneless chicken is the perfect dish to whip up when you want something different and zesty! Tips in the post for tender boneless chicken!
I have had Murgh Kali Mirch or a Pakistani / Indian Pepper Chicken multiple times and at multiple places and every time I have it, it tastes entirely different. There are versions that are like creamy white handi chicken, versions that are tomato rich and karahi like, and others still that are drier, but with tons of spices.
This leads me to believe that unlike say Nihari the universe is not wedded to a singular interpretation of what this dish is like.
Did I have some fun with that? You betcha. I took some of my favorite elements from each of those incarnations to create a dish that is
- pepper forward because who wants pepperless pepper chicken
- has a little gravy because dry chicken is no bueno (IMHO)
- uses boneless chicken because it's convenient
- has segments of lemon because they are the most beautiful counterpart to pepper
- is resplendent with fresh ginger because ginger + pepper= besties
- has a little soy sauce for umami
- is dotted with green chilies (and no distracting red) for that delectable spice
The resulting dish is light, zesty, moreish and absolutely perfect with a little chapati.
How to Make Pepper Chicken (Murgh Kali Mirch)
Chalo chalo, let's do this.
Step One: Marinate chicken in marinade ingredients
Step Two: Dry roast your pepper
Step three: Add oil and saute onions till they take on some colour and then saute the ginger with it until it does the same. This part is all on medium high heat
Step Four: In goes the marinated chicken, saute it well and then drop the heat, add half a cup of water, and cook covered till tender.
Step Five: Add your lemon, green chilies, mix, and adjust seasoning then garnish with cilantro. In a simple dish like this seasoning is everything, so make sure yours is spot on!
Buying and Cooking Chicken Breast
The number one question I get in my Instagram inbox is about boneless chicken breast. Now, boneless thigh is undeniably the more flavorful and moist cut of boneless chicken, but boneless breast is often what people (including myself) turn to so here are some tips.
Tip One: When buying boneless chicken breasts try and get the smaller breast pieces, those will have a finer fibre than the larger pieces that look like they come from a turkey.
Tip Two: Chicken breast cooks quickly: a whole piece requires a mere 3 to 4 minutes on each side. However, for Pakistani and Indian food this is often bad news. In the time it takes to get the other parts of a dish going (like that infamous bhunna or sauteing of masala) the chicken is overcooked. Overcooked chicken is leathery.
I have a fix for this: simply let it cook some more. As it does so not only does the chicken become softer, but it also absorbs more flavour. This cooking is entirely hands off so as long as you are ok with more time and a benign negligence you are good. Just remember to add water if it sticks.
Other Easy Weeknight Pakistani Chicken Recipes
- White Chicken Salan
- Chicken Jalfrezi
- Korma Simplified
- Karahi Chicken
- One Pot Chicken Pulao
- Chicken Daal Gosht
What to serve with Lemon Pepper Chicken
Tried this Pepper Chicken? Hope you liked it! Would love to hear from you in the comments box below!
Easy, Lemony Weeknight Chicken Kali Mirch (Pepper Chicken)
Equipment
- 1 saute pan/ wok with a lid
Ingredients
Chicken
- ¾ lb boneless chicken cut into ¾ inch cubes
- 3 tbsp yoghurt
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp green chili paste (optional)
- 1.5-2 tsp bhunna zeera (roasted cumin) see notes
Remaining Ingredients
- ½ cup finely minced onion
- 1.5 tbsp finely minced ginger
- 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup water
- ¼ lemon - cut into segements
- 2-4 green chilies
- 3-4 tbsp chopped coriander / cilantro
Instructions
- Mix the chicken marinade ingredients and set aside while you chop your ginger and onion. I usually just let it sit for 20 minutes, but you can do more.
- Heat a pan on medium high heat and before you add the oil add your crushed pepper into it, dry roast it until it smells deeply aromatic
- Now add 3-4 tbsp of oil and your diced onion, cooking on medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until the edges take on colour.
- Add your ginger into the pan and cook until the edges of the ginger change colour (about a minute or two) - your onions will further caramelize and that's ok.
- Now stir in your marinated chicken and saute until the color changes.
- Add your half cup water to the chicken ad simmer, covered, until tender - 25 minutes or so.
- Once the chicken is cooked add in your lemon segments and green chilies and taste and adjust seasoning to taste with salt/pepper/more bhunna zeera powder
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with chapati.
Video
Notes
- ginger: I use fresh here for the bite but also the flavour which is more aromatic than a paste. If you don't feel like finely dicing ginger then grating it using a microplane grater is the next best option.
- bhunna zeera or roasted cumin powder is one of those game changing ingredients that takes 5-minutes to prep. How I make mine is linked here https://www.flourandspiceblog.com/roasted-cumin-powder-a-5-minute-fix/
- If you don't have any and don't want to make a big batch then I suggest you dry roast cumin seeds before dry roasting the pepper and crush them lightly with a mortar and pestle. In a pinch you can also dry roast cumin powder.
click here
Made it with bone-in chicken thighs and it was absolutely delicious!! This dish has the perfect punch of flavor and I love that the ingredients are simple. Reminds me of a desi version of lemon chicken. Very comforting! Thank you for posting!
What a lovely review and I love your use of bone in thigh (so much more flavour!) and your description of it!
I just made this today: quick, super simple to make and absolutely delicious.
A huge bonus for me is that this recipe uses everyday ingredients that I always have at home. Also, I was quite intrigued by the fact that despite lemon juice not being used, the taste of the lemon segments diffused into curry, giving it that lemony zing.