Palak chicken or murgh is a North Indian and Pakistani curry featuring a creamy and fragrant spinach heavy sauce or gravy that tastes divine.
It is also a wonderfully quick curry, taking just 30 minutes to go from your fridge to the table, making it a perfect midweek munch!
Murgh Palak
Chicken and spinach curries are incredibly popular in Norther Indian and Pakistani cuisine. This palak chicken recipe joins a chicken saag or saagwala as my take on this delicious combination.
This recipe is very much styled on a classic vegetarian curry called palak paneer.
It features a thick and creamy sauce made from lots and lots, and then a bit more spinach!
Cooking in just 30 minutes makes this curry a relative rocket ship to cook and it tastes superb.
The iron-rich spinach offers a really different foundation for the spices in this curry.
It is a relatively mild curry and doesn’t pack the chilli punch of a lamb madras or pork vindaloo, but that does not mean it lacks flavour.
The chicken is sauteed in cumin amchoor and chilli powder, and it is joined in the sauce by fenugreek, turmeric and garam masala.
It is simply delicious and a technique that will up your curry game!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to blend the sauce?
For me, yes, but the sauce would be perfectly edible and tasty without it. But not a texture that I would enjoy.
Can palak chicken be made in advance?
This is a rare curry that is better eaten as soon as it is cooked because the spinach will become bitter if cooled and reheated.
Do I really need to use a saucepan as big as you say?
Yes, spinach breaks down a lot when cooked but it is really bulky before cooked, so make sure you use a big pan, even for two people.
Take a look at the video below the recipe to see just how much spinach fills up the pan!
How hot is this curry?
Now that is a difficult question to ask. The heat of a dish is defined by your tolerance to capsaicin, I find this curry to be on the upper end of mild.
You can scale this back by using a mild chilli like jalapeno or ramp it up by adding more chilli peppers.
Can I use a stick blender?
Yes, although your sauce will likely not be as smooth, however, it will work.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve my palak chicken or murgh with some tandoori style naan bread, sliced red onion and a swirl of cream.
You could also serve this with chapatis and it would be awesome!
Rice is also never far from the conversation when it comes to a side to serve with curry. Plain boiled rice, pilau rice or something like this onion fried rice would be perfect.
If you are looking for something a little different, then look no further than aloo methi, these fenugreek potatoes are perfect alongside this curry.
Equipment Used
I only recommend specific brands of equipment if I think that it will make a material difference to a recipe. But, if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section.
- Stovetop.
- 24cm or 10″ frying pan.
- 24cm or 10″ saucepan with a lid.
- Sharp kitchen knife.
- Chopping board.
- A combination of weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
- Mixing bowl.
- Blender.
Palak Chicken Curry Recipe
This palak chicken or murgh is my take on a classic curry from North India and Pakistan featuring spiced chicken cooked in ghee served in a delicious spinach-rich spicy sauce.
Ingredients
- 300g (10oz) Chicken Breast
- ¼ Tsp Ground Cumin
- ¼ Tsp Ground Amchoor
- ½ Tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
- 1 Tbsp Ghee
- 350g (9-10 loosely packed cups) Baby Spinach
- 75g (½ Cup) Onion
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 30g (Thumb Sized Piece) Ginger
- 30g (1 Cup) Coriander
- 1 Medium Tomato
- 6 Curry Leaves
- 2 Green Chilli Peppers
- 1 Tbsp Dried Fenugreek
- 1 Tsp Ground Coriander
- ½ Tsp Turmeric
- ½ Tsp Garam Masala
- ¾ Tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Water
- 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into a 15-20mm (½-¾") dice.
- Season the chicken with ¼ teaspoon of salt, Kashmiri chilli pepper, ground cumin and amchoor.
- Peel the onion and cut it into a rough 15mm (½") dice.
- Peel the garlic and ginger and roughly chop them, the size is not too important, around 5-7mm (¼") is fine.
- Remove the stem from the green chilli and cut it in half lengthways.
- Heat the oil in a medium-large saucepan (24cm or 10") over a medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic and ginger along with the chillies and curry leaves and fry for 5-7 minutes or until the onions soften and start to colour, stir this occasionally.
- Cut the tomato into a 1cm (just under ½") dice.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the tomato, garam masala, ground coriander, turmeric and fenugreek and stir for 1 minute.
- Pour in the water and the remaining salt, then cook for 5 minutes.
- Whilst the sauce is getting started heat the ghee in a medium (24cm or 10") frying pan over a medium high heat.
- When the ghee is hot add the chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the spinach and coriander into the sauce and add a lid and cook until the spinach has completely wilted (2-3 minutes).
- Transfer the sauce spinach to a blender and blend to form a smooth gravy adding more water if required.
- Return the spinach gravy to the pan and have a taste adding more salt if required, then add the chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked through, this should take 3-4 minutes at most.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 530Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 144mgSodium: 1167mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 10gSugar: 8gProtein: 58g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.