A comforting Chicken Curry fortified with chickpeas - tasty, easy to make and full of protein!
You know you love a dish when you make it despite your husbands complaints. When I first started cooking Murgh Cholay my husband would ask me what the chickpeas were doing in his Chicken ka Salan. Being delicious, that's what.
Psst if you, like me, love easy Pakistani Chicken Recipes then I have a whole collection including fan favourites like this Chicken Pulao and Chicken Ginger!
The Not-so-Secret to Good Murgh Cholay
Getting this Chana Chicken recipe just right turned out to be trickier than anticipated. Turns out the problem I was having was that I was using similar ratios of spices for the murgh cholay that I would with a regular chicken salan and that just wasn't right.
You see the chickpeas really soak up flavour and so you need to create a strong spice base otherwise there just is not enough to go around. So don’t be shy about the chilli powder and the green chillies at the end. Just remember when we cook the green chillies a lot of the aggressive heat of the chillies cooks out anyway.
Ingredients
Or should I say all the ingredients except the chickpeas? More on those below.
Let's break the Chana Chicken ingredients down into categories shall we?
Spices: Coriander Powder, Chili Powder, Turmeric, Salt, Cumin Seeds, Garam Masala and Pepper. All pantry spices, nothing too crazy happening here!
Produce: Onion (yellow or red, just not sweet), tomatoes, cilantro/coriander, green chilies, ginger, and garlic.
Chicken: You can use boneless or bone in, works well with both!
Chickpeas: Kabuli and Desi
The two kinds of chickpeas you are most likely to see are Kabuli and Desi (South Asian).
In this Murgh Cholay and in all my Pakistani dishes my preference is to use the smaller variety of chickpeas. The ones in the ethnic aisles of the grocery store are often your best bet. They are smaller, tenderize faster, have thinner skins and absorb more flavour. In a pinch the other variety works too.
Tip: If your canned chickpeas are tough then add the tiniest pinch of baking soda
Step by Murgh Cholay
Step One: Saute them onions until the edges are golden/lightly browned. A little diced green chilli never hurt anyone.
Step Two: Add your garlic and ginger, give it a quick saute, then the tomatoes and spices, and cook on medium high heat covered to soften and meld the masala.
Step Three: Add the chicken and sauté well
Step Four: Add the chickpeas and hot water and simmer
Step Five: Finishing Touches
When the chicken is tender adjust consistency to your liking, add the end masalas, adjust seasoning and garnish with chilies and cilantro.
What to Serve with Murgh Cholay
I actually really like it just on it's own with fresh steaming basmati rice or naan. However, if you are making it for company then here are some menu ideas!
Whatttt? Made this recipe - rate it below! Click on the stars and/or leave me a comment!
Murgh Cholay or Chana Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken or 1.25-1.5 pounds chicken bone in
- 1 17-19 fl oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed through
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 onion diced
- 2 tomatoes diced
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 ½ teaspoon ginger paste
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons red chilli powder
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 3 green chillies finely sliced
Instructions
- Take a stockpot sized pot and put it on medium high heat, wait a few minutes, and then add the oil. When the oil is hot then add in the onions and the cumin seeds & cook until the onions start to turn golden brown at the edges. Highly recommend adding one of your green chilies (diced) in at this point.
- Add the garlic and ginger pastes and saute for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder, and coriander powder. Cover and keep it on medium high heat and then uncover, the tomatoes should have broken down and become jammy.
- Stir your chicken pieces in and saute until the colour changes.
- Now in goes a cup of hot water, the chickpeas, and a pinch of baking soda (for touch chickpeas), bring it to a boil, and then let it cook covered on low heat for another 25-30 minutes.
- When the chicken is tender then adjust consistency of your gravy by adding water then add the garam masala, the black pepper, the green chillies and cilantro. Cook for 2 minutes then taste and adjust seasoning.
Just discovered your blog through My Ninja Naan and so glad I came by...I've been searching for a Murgh Cholay recipe for ages. My mom never made it...in fact I never knew a dish like this even existed till I got married and my husband told me about this dish which at first sounded really weird. But then I tasted it....we would always make it using the Shaan Masala packets but I'm trying to move away from those...pinning this recipe to make later! Looks delicious!
Thanks and good luck! Consider yourself fortunate that your husband likes it - mine's standard response is "why are there chickpeas in my murghi ka salan" lol
This looks fab mashAllah! I too never had it growing up, because my family is also from Karachi. I used to eat it at our local masjid potlucks, because most of the people there were Punjabi, so we ate a lot of murgh cholay and chana pulao lol 🙂 My recipe is similar, but I only use a little turmeric, red chili powder, and some garam masala. Yours looks like it would be amazing with some rice!
Thanks! chana pulao is also one of those things I only started making relatively recently! Us Karachiites seem to really be missing out on some good stuff! One of my best friends in Karachi was Punjabi so I used to get my fix at her place
wow I am falling in Love with your blog !! So Yumm recipes and so easy way to describe them ! My mom is constantly saying me these days to learn making food and I am sure I will learn much from your blog ! Love it xx
I love all ingredients, great flavors! Curry looks mouthwatering and comforting!
Thank you so much!
hi! did u use canned chickpeas that are ready to eat and dont need to be boiled? if i use those, is there a step i need to skip?
Yup I used a can 🙂 Sadly that means there are no skippable steps. I am too much of a lazy bum to soak and boil my own chickpeas heheh
ok great haha the recipe seems really easy so i dont mind not skipping a step i just wanted to make sure the step where you add water and baking soda and boil didnt turn the chickpeas to mush in case u used the regular ones.
will tell u how it turns out
thanks!
always safe to check 🙂 remember this is a teeny tiny amount of baking soda, it helps soften the chickpeas so they become better 'sponges' for flavor
turned out great!
but at the last minute i realised i didnt have baking soda 🙁 so i guess the chickpeas may not have absorbed as much flavour as they should have which meant the dish was quite spicy (great for me but poor husband cant handle heat) i also think i may have been too generous with the laal mirch. but for next time i know!
I am so glad it turned out well, feeling a wee bit bad for your husband but that's nothing a little dahi can't fix heheeh On the plus side (for him) the spice factor will mellow out overnight! Thanks for the update 🙂
I’ve been a fan of Middle Eastern cuisine for a while, and have just begun the journey to learn how to cook it for myself - this recipe was the first I’ve tried, and it came out amazing! Thanks so much! I will now scour your blog to find more yummy dishes to prepare 🙂
That is so incredibly wonderful to hear! this is definitely a family favourite and I am thrilled to hear you liked it!
Jazakillah Sara for this, I am trying your recipe today! looks delicious
Hope you enjoyed it!!!
Being a Lahori I’ve had a bazari version of it since I was a kid but somehow it was never ever cooked at home. I’m about to try it and hoping it turns out good enough for my thoroughbred Punjabi husband.
I shall keep my fingers and toes crossed and wait for his review!
Hi Sarah!
I arrived on your blog looking for a chicken chickpea curry. I have to say that cooking it I realised it was too spicy for my 9yo son so I added half a cup of coconut milk just to sweeten it a bit. The result was great (forgive me for this change 😅). Thanks a lot!
Stefano! The coconut milk addition is just BRILLIANT! Thank you for sharing and I am so glad you enjoyed it!
Made this for iftar the other night and it was such a big hit! Barely any leftovers! My son asked me to make it today again so I did!
I made it with Boneless chicken thighs that I cut into bite size pieces. It came together so easily and is so wholesome and delicious. I also added some bhoona zeera that I roasted and made into a powder. Adds to the warmth and comforting feeling of this dish. Love all your recipes!
That bhoona zeera. I want to clap a little for you because that's the perfect note and I want to add it next time I make it! I am SO SO glad you and your family enjoyed this and am beyond grateful for this review!
This was an awesome recipe! I had never heard of combining lentils, beans, and meat into a south asian dish but I am excited to explore all the possibilities now.
I am so so very glad to hear it! Thanks for leaving a review!