Hariyali chicken curry or green chicken is made with succulent bone-in chicken pieces cooked in freshly ground mint coriander yoghurt sauce with lots of green chillies. The sprinkle of kasoori methi and garam masala at the end takes the korma up a notch! Have it with rice or roti, you will love it.
Coriander and mint duo can never go wrong and according to me, they hold a pillar for Indian and Pakistani cuisine. From biryanis to korma or even my mom's humble green French toast, the magic of green sauce only makes me salivate.
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My mint leaves end up in the trash!🙄
I am sure many of you agree with me. When I find fresh mint leaves bunch at the market, I want to take all of them home. They are so aromatic, right? But I know I won't use them, so I settle for just one. And this just rests beneath my coriander leaves in a box in the fridge and remains there forever. 😂 Sometimes out of guilt, I remove them, discard the bad leaves, trim the ends, and keep them back!
My advice for myself and for those who are like me - buy mint leaves and use them the very same day - or buy them only when you plan to use them. If it goes into a box, I bet it stays there!
Following my advice, I used to make mint coriander chutney from various sources because I have yet to find the right balance for my palate. Mint chutney can wait because this hariyali chicken curry is so good, that even my green food hater F had it without any reservation!
So, what is Hariyali chicken?
What is Hariyali chicken?
Hariyali chicken can be the green tikka kebab or this green chicken curry. It features chicken marinated in a blend of fresh herbs like mint and coriander, mixed with yoghurt and spices. This Indian or Pakistani dish is known for its vibrant green colour and spicy taste.
Ingredient Notes
Let's look at the list of main ingredients you need to make this green chicken curry!
- Chicken: You can use bone-in curry cut pieces or boneless chicken thighs.
- ginger garlic paste
- Ground spices: turmeric powder, black pepper powder, cumin powder, garam masala, and kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- Whole spices: caraway seeds, green cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaves
- Fresh produce: green chillies, mint leaves, coriander leaves, red onion,
- almonds or cashews
- fried onions
- yoghurt
- ghee and oil
How to make Haryali Chicken?
The chicken hariyali recipe is easy if you have the ingredients prepped and at room temperature.
Marinate the chicken pieces and let them rest for 30 minutes or overnight.
Prepare the green paste by processing green chillies, mint leaves and coriander leaves with a few soaked cashews or almonds.
Heat ghee and oil and saute the onions until golden brown with a dash of salt
Saute the onions until golden brown.
Add the marinated chicken and the green paste along with a few tablespoons of water (preferably from cleaning the mixie jar)
Cook covered on medium to high flame until all chicken pieces turn white
Open and stir in the whisked yoghurt and bring this to a boil on a medium to high flame.
Reduce the flame to low, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked.
Open, taste test and adjust the salt and spices as per taste.
Stir in the fried onions, garam masala, cream and kasoori methi. Simmer open for 5 to 8 minutes and switch off.
You can serve this warm Hyderabadi green chicken with chapati...
...or our favourite neichoru (ghee rice)!
How do I thicken my korma?
It is possible that by the end of the cooking, your green chicken masala will be very thin because of the water from the chicken and yoghurt. To prevent this from happening we add crushed fried onions - which give the body to the gravy. But there are other options! You may add a few soaked cashews or sesame seeds while making the green paste.
You may also add heavy cream or labneh, towards the end of the cooking but these will mellow down the heat so use sparingly or increase the green chillies and spices. I don't recommend cornflour for Indian dishes but if that is your only option, I won't even say Go ahead 🤐
FAQ
Hara is a Hindi word for green, and Hariyali just means "greenery" or "green stuff"! The dish is called Hariyali as the sauce is green. The green colour sauce comes from a paste made with coriander and mint leaves.
Korma, in my knowledge, is usually a yoghurt-based sauce.
Korma comes from Mughlai cuisine in which meat or vegetables are cooked with spices in yoghurt sauce. Kurma is South Indian cuisine where meat and vegetables are cooked with spices in coconut sauce. I may be wrong and they may just be words of the same meaning with different spelling because Korma is also Qorma!
Related
Looking for other recipes using skinless chicken? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favourite dishes to serve with hariyali chicken curry:
📖 Recipe Card
Hariyali Chicken | Chicken in Mint Coriander Yoghurt Sauce
Ingredients
For Marinating
- 800 grams skinless whole chicken, cut into 10 to 12 pieces
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds, shah jeera
- 4 green cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaf
- ¼ cup fried onions, crushed
- salt to taste
For Green Paste
- 10 green chillies
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, tightly packed
- 1 cup Fresh coriander leaves
- 10 almonds or cashews, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
For the Korma
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1½ cups yoghurt, whisked
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup fried onions, crushed
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala, use my recipe
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi
- water as required
For garnish
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream, optional
- Fried onions
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Add all the marinade ingredients to a large bowl and whisk to combine.1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste½ teaspoon turmeric powder1 teaspoon black pepper powder1 teaspoon cumin powder½ teaspoon caraway seeds4 green cardamom1 inch cinnamon stick2 bay leaf¼ cup fried onionssalt to taste
- Add the chicken pieces and mix to coat each piece thoroughly. Keep aside for 30 minutes or refrigerate overnight.800 grams skinless whole chicken
Make the green paste
- Add all the green paste ingredients into a mixie and grind to a smooth paste with some water.10 green chillies1 cup fresh mint leaves1 cup Fresh coriander leaves10 almonds or cashews
Prepare the korma
- Heat ghee and oil in a curry pot on medium flame.2 tablespoons ghee1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- Saute the onions until golden brown with a dash of salt.1 large onion
- Add the marinated chicken and the green paste along with a few tablespoons of water (preferably from cleaning the mixie jar).water as required
- Cook covered on medium to high flame until all chicken pieces turn white.
- Open and stir in the whisked yoghurt and bring this to boil on a medium flame.1½ cups yoghurt
- Reduce the flame to low, and cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked.
- Open, taste test and adjust the salt and spices as per taste.Salt to taste
- Stir in the fried onions, garam masala, and kasoori methi.¼ cup fried onions¼ teaspoon garam masala1 teaspoon kasuri methi
- Simmer open for 5 to 8 minutes and switch off.
Garnish and serve
- Garnish with more fried onions and a drizzle of cream if using. Serve warm with any Indian flatbreads or rice.1 tablespoon heavy creamFried onions
Notes
Nutrition Info
Recipe inspired by Homemade by Farheen.
Chelle says
I made this last night, and it was probably the best curry I have ever made. It wasn't difficult at all, either.
Angela says
I live in the states. What kind of green chili would you recommend, or easier to find in Alabama? Also, should I make any substitutions if using different green chilis than you use? I have and carry everything else as I use them a lot. Looks delicious. Thank you.
Famidha Ashraf says
Hi Angela, If you cannot source Indian green chillies, you can use green bird's eye, gree Thai chili, or Serrano pepper. You may want to start with less numbers than what I recommend to keep the heat same or lower. Hope you find and make this curry! :-)Happy cooking!