An easy weeknight friendly fresh and zesty chicken recipe where the blender does most of the work to create a vibrant coriander paste that defines this green chicken or Chicken Hara Masala.
We all love a good Karahi Chicken, but sometimes you want a change from the usual or maybe you are out of tomatoes and need to figure something out. Whatever the reason, this Haryali Chicken made with a blender hara masala, hits the spot. I love it with some fresh roti but it is also so good in a wrap with some crunchy onions!
3 Tips for Making Haryali Chicken
This is an incredibly easy dish to make, but here are three things that'll make sure yours is a total winner!
1.) Wash your cilantro WELL: no grit left behind!
2.) If you have fresh ginger and garlic throw that in the blender for the best flavour
3.) Always adjust the consistency BEFORE adjusting seasoning!
Haryali Chicken Ingredients and a note on Heat
The ingredients for this herby chicken are straightforward, but I want to take a minute to highlight one and the lack of one.
Chilies: Everyone's personal preference varies, for Pakistani chilies (in the picture) that tend to be milder I am happy to use ⅘, but for thai 4 is my max. As the chilies cook they tend to lose their assertiveness so if you want a milder curry you can use 2 to good effect!
Mint: Many hara masala chicken recipes use mint. While it's freshness is lovely, I don't feel like it's needed here or missed when I don't use it.
What to Serve with Hara Masala Chicken
Made this chicken? Would love to hear what you think in the comments section!
Weeknight Easy Hara Masala Chicken or Haryali Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless chicken cubed (450g) use 1.5 lb (680g) if using bone in
- 1 medium onion 75-90 g
- neutral oil for cooking
Marinade
- 1 bunch of cilantro 65-70 g
- 4 green chillies
- 1 inch ginger ¾ tbsp ginger paste
- 6-8 cloves garlic 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 4 tbsp plain yogurt approx 55g
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
Instructions
- Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth
- Pour over your chicken, you can marinate it for 30 minutes up to overnight or just combine and continue with next steps
- Put a wok or large bottomed pan (quicker to cook than in a small one) on medium heat and add in a few tbsp of oil.
- While that's heating dice your onions and add saute till the onions edges turn golden.
- Stir in your chicken, sautéing on medium high heat till it changes colour.
- Cover, simmer till tender - 25 minutes.
- Adjust consistency, check for seasoning, garnish with some fresh ginger or fresh chillies - or nothing at all - grab some roti or rice and dig in.
Notes
- This recipe has seen an update on Jan 6th 2025: I doubled the yoghurt to create more of a masala and added the green masala directly to the chicken instead of adding it to the pan after sauteing the chicken.
yum perfect timing...I have chicken and cilantro and was wondering what to make. thanks!!
It is a sign. just so you're warned Ali wasn't a fan. J, Mummy and I really liked it though 🙂
This looks amah-zing!! 😀
thank you very much 🙂
Do you think I could try paneer in this masala?
Aruna as I was cooking this I was thinking the same thing - I would probably cook the paste first and then add the paneer but you're the expert so I will take your lead if you make it 🙂
Let me give it a whirl.... That would be in November sometime. October is going to be a whirlwind of travel.
Loving every little bit of it! x
Thank you thank you!!!
What a lovely masala base!
Thanks Anjana!
I always have cilantro on hand...kinda obsessed so this chicken is perfect!!
aaah another kindred spirit! blows my mind that there are people out there who don't like cilantro!
Unfortunately there a host of people with a genetic variant that makes cilantro taste soapy. But I am not giving up on cilantro ☺️
Perfect recipe for tomorrow. Was looking for a change. Seems pretty easy to make.
I am SUCH a cilantro fan that I almost don't get that... except for the fact that I don't like how parsley tastes and everyone seems to love it! Hope you try this dish and like it!
I made it! quickest prep ever and so delicious. omar enjoyed it very much as well. oh but didnt have any plain yoghurt so you won't believe what I substituted...err honey flavored greek yoghurt! haha but it still turned out yum. so thanks!
that's awesome!!!!! who knew honey flavored greek yogurt would work!
Oh congrats! Will definitely follow you on instagram for lovely yummy pics. This looks so fresh and green 🙂
Thanks Carrie! And please do!
Such an interesting recipe you have here. I love the colors and it looks rather easy to do. It is always a treat to learn about new foods.....I am clapping!
First off, congrats! I'm so happy and proud for you 🙂
So I made this and we loved it! I love the flavor of cilantro so this was a hit at home 🙂
Yay yay yay!!!!
Congrats on being featured on Instagram! And that looks good, I'm definitely pinning it. How do you think it would taste without chillies, because my kids can't handle too much spiciness yet?
Hmmm good question, I'd throw in one maybe - deseed? The good thing is you can always taste the green paste after you blend it and adjust it
how much is a bunch of cilantro?! 🙂
hmm mine are usually pretty big - so I would say around 2 cups chopped, unwashed. Once you wash it then it'll be less. hope this turns out well!
Next time you make this(or imagine you are making this) can you measure the cilantro and tell us how much is cilantro in grams? And we have to blend the stems also, right? It would be really helpful. Thank you.
I will do that for sure! thanks for the suggestion 🙂
This was sooooooo good! Thank you!
So yummy and so easy. I heart cilantro.
SAME!!! It is the BEST and I am so glad you liked this recipe!
Hi Sarah the recipe is very delicious but mine turns out very dry… no idea what I did wrong.
Hi Henna! Thanks for sharing that - the masala is more a karhai than a salan for sure but if you're finding it's too dry then you have two options - one is to simply add a splash of water to your desired consistency and the other is to add in some whipped yoghurt at the end. Let me know if you try these fixes and if they work for you!
Hi Sarah, I’m hosting and making quite a few dishes. Do you think the green paste here can be made 2 days ahead? Thanks x
Oops! Sorry if I am late on this one but yes it will!
Hi Sarah,
I noticed that you post all your meat weights in Lbs., while all the other ingredients in grams. Would it be possible to convert the recipe from Imperial to Metric and vice versa to save the Americans vs the rest of the World from getting their calculators and weight converters out. Thanks and sorry for the bother.
No bother at all,in fact thank you very much for flagging this! I am based in Canada and have started weighing and adding grams on ingredients relatively recently and it had entirely escaped my notice that I wasn't doing it for meat weights! Appreciate you taking the time to point it out