Pudina chicken (mint flavoured chicken curry)

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A minimally spiced chicken curry that is flavoured deliciously with a mint leaves mixture and slow cooked to give it a yummy, thick texture. A great curry to pair along with naan and parathas

If you love herby flavours in your food then you are going to love this chicken curry. My pudina chicken or mint flavoured chicken curry recipe is something that both me and the husband love. And because of it’s thick, sauce-y texture it pairs extremely well with naans and parathas. I developed this recipe a few months back, when I needed to finish up a big, fresh bunch of pudina or mint leaves in my fridge. And I am sharing it with you now after perfecting the recipe so that even you fall in love with it. My herby, spicy and delicious pudina chicken is sure to become a regular curry in your home. Not only is it lip smacking yum, but it is also quick and easy to make. Moreover, all this with minimal ingredients and spices. That’s because, it is the flavour of the mint that shines through.

Also, there is no epic marination that you will need for this chicken recipe. I, generally, keep the chicken rubbed in the marinade for about 30 minutes and that works well. Nonetheless, if you have time then you could also keep it for longer, even overnight. And talking of the marinade, it is the most basic with yoghurt, ginger and garlic pastes. Therefore, you could make this chicken curry, whenever you wish to. There is hardly any pre-prep, with regards to grocery shopping, you will need for this. This easy chicken recipe, besides being a yummy weekend recipe, is also a great weekday meal idea. With minimal prep and ingredients and the cooking time being under 30 minutes, all you will need with this is some Indian bread.

Slow cooking

I let my pudina chicken (mint flavoured chicken curry) cook in it’s own juices, over a low flame. However, from time to time I do add splashes of water to my cooking pot, to deglaze it. In all, about 1/4th cup of water, is what I have used to cook the chicken. And let me tell you, this technique of slow cooking any meat, is one of the best kept secrets of it turning out mouthwatering yum. Besides the mint, this method is hugely responsible for the otherwise minimally spiced pudina chicken tasting fabulous. Moreover, this is one of the reasons that my mint chicken has a thick, sauce texture instead of a thin, runny curry.

Now, another very important tip that I’d like to share with you here, is how to achieve this gorgeous mint green colour. You may have noticed, that as soon as you chop mint leaves, they turn dark in colour. In fact, even when you cook with them they tend to turn black. And that is not really desirable. Hence, there are these two points you need to keep in mind. One, make the mint paste for the curry, just before you are going to cook with it. Secondly, once you add this paste to the chicken, mix well and cook it no more than five minutes and then remove from flame. This is not only ensures that you get the lovely colour on your chicken, but also that the minty flavour lingers until you serve your pudina chicken curry.

Serving suggestions

Like I’ve already mentioned, you can serve your delicious mint flavoured chicken curry with any Indian bread of your choice. However, I am planning to serve it with my Bengali vegetable fried rice next time. I think even that will make for an amazing combination. I hope you you are going to give this delicious yet easy chicken curry a try sometime. And if you do, I’d love to hear from you about what you paired it with and how you liked it. You could drop in your suggestions in the comment section below. Alternatively, you could also share your food pictures with me over on Instagram. I’d love to hear from you.

Eat hearty!

Equipment

Shallow cooking pot

Ingredients

500 g chicken curry cut pieces
2½ cups onion finely sliced
1½ tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup mint leaves
¼ cup coriander leaves
2-3 fresh chilis
4 tbsp lemon juice
3-4 tbsp yoghurt
2 tbsp black pepper crushed
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Instructions

To the washed and pat dried chicken pieces, rub in the yoghurt, ginger & garlic paste, salt and 2 tbsp lemon juice. Keep this aside for 30 minutes
Heat the cooking pot with the oil and add in the cumin seeds. Once they crackle, over medium heat, throw in the onions along with a pinch of salt. Mix well and cook until the onions turn slightly brown
Then add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Mix and sear over high heat until the chicken is no longer pink. Turn the flame to a medium low, cover and cook the chicken until done
Keep and eye on the chicken and stir intermittently. If your cooking pot looks dry, add splashes of hot water, mix and continue cooking
In a blender, make a fine paste of the mint leaves, coriander leaves and chilis with 3-4 tbsp water. Once the chicken is cooked, lower the flame and pour in this mixture
Mix to coat the chicken pieces well with the herb paste. Check for salt and adjust if needed. Turn the flame off and add in the pepper powder and remaining lemon juice
Give this a gentle mix and serve your delicious pudina chicken (mint flavoured chicken curry) with choice of Indian bread. Enjoy!

Notes

Both, bone in chicken as well as boneless chicken work well in this recipe. The latter will take much less time to cook
Make the paste of mint and coriander leaves just before cooking with it, otherwise the paste will turn dark
Similarly, once you've added the mint mixture, don't cook with it for more than 5 minutes so as to retain it's beautiful green colour
Make sure that the chicken is fully cooked before adding the mint paste
If you wish to make a thinner curry, add 1/2 a cup of water in step 3 and cook
To make the curry less spicy, leave out the fresh chilis from the recipe
g - gram
tsp - teaspoon
tbsp - tablespoon
1 cup = 250 millilitres

Keyword dahi pudina chicken, dhaniya pudina chicken, green chicken curry, herby chicken curry, lemon pudina chicken, mint flavoured chicken curry, pudina chicken, pudina chicken curry

Pudina chicken (mint flavoured chicken curry) – Kitchen Mai (2024)