If you are in love with Mughlai cuisine, Chicken Chaap will definitely be on the list of your top favorites. This is one of the rich traditional Mughlai delicacies, you will hardly keep yourself off from tasting. Mughlai cuisine includes the usage of aromatic variety spices, milk, cream, dried fruits and nuts which results in the rich and savory taste. Chicken Chaap go hand in hand with Biriyani, Naan or Paratha.
The most significant part of this recipe includes the marination. The marinade sauce takes most of the ingredients needed for the recipe and longer the marination, better and richer the taste comes out of it. The marinated chicken should be slow cooked for at least 30 minutes till the rich oily gravy comes out of it. Once the marination is done, it takes no time and labor to prepare Chaap. The very simple procedure makes it accessible to your kitchen if you have all the ingredients available with you, which I guess most of you all have.
So why wait to find a good restaurant, when you can make it by yourself in no time. Follow the recipe below and experience the rich aromatic taste of the very traditional Mughlai delicacy.
For Biriyani, follow this link :
https://spicesoflives.blogspot.com/2015/02/mutton-biriyani.html
Ingredients for Chicken Chaap:
Chicken drumsticks : 9-10
Greek yogurt or hung curd : 3/4th cup
Besan (roasted) : 2-3 tbsp
Roasted Cashew paste : 2-3 tbsp
Poppy seeds paste : 2 tbsp
Onion paste : Half onion if it's big or a small whole
Ginger-garlic paste : 2 tbsp
Garam masala powder : 1 tsp
Nutmeg powder 1/2 tsp
Salt : As preferred
Red chili powder : 1 tbsp or less (as preferred)
Black pepper powder : 1 tsp
Saffron or Kesar : Just a pinch, soaked in warm milk
Kewra water : 1 tsp or less if you want
Ghee and oil: 1 tbsp each of them
Procedure:
1. Clean the chicken pieces thoroughly and pat them dry with a paper towel. Then slit the pieces with a knife and keep them aside.
2. Take a large bowl and beat the yogurt nicely as no lump should be there. Mix rest of the ingredients except oil/ghee nicely to form a smooth and rich paste.
3. Now add the drumsticks in the marinade and coat the pieces nicely and cover and rest for atleast 4-5 hours.
4. You may use a heavy bottom steel pan or a non-stick one. Add and heat ghee and oil together in a medium flame. Now add all the chicken pieces including the marinade sauce on the top. Keep the flame as low as possible, cover and let it cook slowly. Check them time to time so they don't stick at the bottom. Turn over the pieces carefully after 10-12 minutes and again cook them covered for another 10 minutes.
5. Check with a fork if the drumsticks are cooked nicely and oil starts coming from the gravy. The gravy should be rich and thick after all the water dissolves. If you feel they haven't cooked nicely and the gravy is dried up, sprinkle some warm water. After it's done nicely and aroma is coming as well, keep it covered for another 5 minutes to give it standing time. You can sprinkle some more nutmeg powder over it if you want, but that's absolutely optional.
6. Serve with Pulao, Paratha, Naan or even simple chapati.
