Must Make Recipe: Chicken Hariyali!

Recipe: Chicken Hariyali Recipe »

This Chicken Hariyali recipe is one of the most delicious Indian foods you will EVER eat. If you love Chicken Tikka or Tandoori Chicken then you'll love this "green chicken" that gets its some of its signature colour and flavour from the green chillies and fresh herbs in the marinade. It's also very easy, all you do is blend up yogurt, herbs and spices and then grill the chicken. Learn how to make the most delicious Indian Chicken Haryali with this recipe.

About This Chicken Hariyali Recipe

Chicken Hariyali comes from Punjab in Northern India. Ever since my first bite of this chicken I knew that I had to figure out how to make it. My chicken hariyali recipe is different from a lot online and is based on the wonderful street food at this year's Ramadan night markets in Lakemba that they cooked on the tandoor oven. My version is cooked on the grill and so simple and all you need to do is marinate the chicken for 2-3 hours or overnight in a marinade and then grill. That's it! If you love tandoori chicken then I think you'll love this!

What is Hariyali Chicken made of? It is made up of chicken, green chillies, lots of coriander and mint and spices. And while there's lots of herbs it doesn't taste strongly like coriander and mint if that makes any sense. The sauce is blended up together to create a real flavour bomb. It's a bit tangy and fresh and it's very luscious. It's quite a light chicken dish too as there is no butter or cream in it.

Tips For Success

1 - I recommend using skinless chicken thighs rather than white meat. Chicken thighs are best for grilling as chicken breast can dry out easily.

2 - I cut the thigh fillets in half and then thread 2 of these pieces per metal skewer so you end up with one thigh per skewer. 600g/1.3lbs of skinless chicken thighs is usually 4 thighs so you should end up with 4 skewers. I usually eat 1 skewer for dinner while Mr NQN loves 2, sometimes even 3!

3 - One of the signature ingredients is Amchur or dried mango powder which gives it a sour, tart flavour. You can buy this at Indian grocery stores. If you can't access it I usually just serve the chicken with a wedge of lemon on the plate.

4 - With the herbs, only use the leaves of the mint. With coriander, you can use the leaves and stems. I usually pick the herbs and then wash them well (coriander really holds dirt), dry them and then put in the blender with the remaining marinade ingredients.

5 - I use Greek natural yogurt but any natural, non sweetened yogurt works well.

6 - If you like your chicken spicy use small green chillies (the smaller, the hotter the chilli generally). Otherwise use large green chillies that are milder.

7 - If you cook a lot of Indian recipes, buy crushed ginger and garlic in jars. These are a big time saver and what most Indian cooks use (rather than crushing or grating fresh ginger and garlic). You can also find a crushed ginger garlic combo in a jar at Indian grocery stores.

8 - If you have time, let the chicken marinate overnight. Otherwise 2-3 hours will do. Overnight gives the best results.

9 - You do not need a tandoor or special oven or grill for this. I cooked it on the grill in my stove.

10 - To give it that signature green (Hariyali means "greenness"), we also add some food colouring. This is optional but this is how it is made at the street markets and it does make it look quite visually appealing. You can of course omit the colouring and it will still taste fantastic.

11 - Taking the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking allows it to come to temperature (30 minutes if it is very hot weather) and cook more evenly so that the centre isn't raw.

12 - I thread the chicken fillet halves onto metal skewers (they're easier than bamboo as you don't need to soak them). If using bamboo skewers, soak them for an hour in water.

What to Serve With Chicken Hariyali

I serve it on some naan with some sliced onions and a lemon wedge. It also makes the best tasting chicken leftovers. I love doubling or tripling this recipe and placing the chicken in wraps with salad. Try adding some tram sauce to the wrap too. If you're having an Indian feast, try this with my Beef Vindaloo recipe with some dahl and pilaf and raita on the side. Okay, enough talking, let's make this!

Chicken Hariyali Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 2hour - overnight marinating time

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients Needed

• 3 green chillies (small if you like it spicy, large for less spicy)
• 40g/1.4ozs fresh coriander leaves and stalks, roughly chopped, around 1 bunch
• 20g/0.7ozs fresh mint leaves (no stalks), around 1/2 a bunch
• 80g/2.8ozs natural yogurt (not sweetened)
• 1 tablespoon/15ml/0.5floz lemon juice
• 40g/1.4ozs crushed garlic
• 30g/1oz crushed ginger
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons amchur powder (replace with a wedge of lemon when serving)
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 tablespoons/30ml/1floz oil
• Green food colouring (optional)
• 750g/1.6lbs skinless chicken thighs
• Extra oil for drizzling

Step-By-Step Cooking Instructions

Preparing the Marinade

Step 1 - Blend the chillies, coriander leaves and stalks, mint leaves, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, salt, amchur powder, pepper, garam masala, oil and food colouring together in a food processor or blender. Thermomix directions: place all ingredients in TM bowl and set to 15 seconds, speed #5.

Marinating and Cooking the Chicken

Step 2 -Cut the thighs in half along the centre where the fillet is the thinnest. Marinate the chicken thighs for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Step 3 -Take the chicken out 30 minutes before you want to cook it to allow it to come to temperature. Heat the grill onto high and line with foil. Thread chicken onto skewers (I pierce it at three places) and place on the foil and drizzle with oil. Grill on high for 9 minutes, then turn over and grill on the other side for 6 minutes on medium high. Then turn heat down to medium high and cook for another 13-15 minutes until the chicken is done (check on a thick part of the fillet).

Personal Note

Before Monica left I wanted to give her a present and a batch of this chicken haryali because she loves it so much. The only problem was that the weather was so abominably rainy that I couldn't drop the chicken off to her once it was made and I was coming down with a cold.

I did manage to give her a present though a couple of days before though. She loves soft toys and especially likes toys with dangly legs (aka "jelly cats") so I bought her a French fry jelly cat. I was tossing up between that and a sandwich because we both had shared many sandwiches over the years but I was worried that the white sandwich would get dirty.

As she left she said, "Let's pretend that we'll see each other in a few days time, other I'll get too emotional" and I agreed because it felt a bit surreal. And then a couple of days later she flew out of Sydney to Italy via Japan with her new jelly cat toy. And when she lands I'll send her this recipe so she can make this at her new home.

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Chicken Hariyali or heard of it?