Murgh Chole (Chicken and Chickpea Curry)
Published Dec. 15, 2025
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- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¼ cup ghee, vegetable oil or canola oil
- 1medium red or white onion, chopped
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1teaspoon ginger paste or freshly grated ginger
- 1teaspoon garlic paste or freshly grated garlic
- 2pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1teaspoon Kashmiri or other red chile powder
- 1teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3plum tomatoes, chopped, or ⅔ cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 4 to 6Thai green chiles, finely chopped
- 1teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1(15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained
- ½ cup chicken stock or water
- 2tablespoons chopped cilantro
- Lemon wedges, for serving
- Rice or roti (optional), for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium pot, melt the ghee over high heat. Add the onion and lower the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cumin seeds, ginger and garlic.
- Step 2
Add the chicken and turn the heat up to high. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid from the pot has evaporated and the chicken starts to brown, about 12 minutes. Stir in the chile powder, garam masala and turmeric. Reduce the heat to medium, then add the tomatoes, green chiles and salt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down a bit, about 5 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the chickpeas and stock, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot. Simmer for a few minutes, until the chickpeas are warmed through and the liquid has slightly thickened into a gravy.
- Step 4
Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lemon wedges, along with rice or roti if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
For the love of god please don’t add more than 1-2 chilies and 1/2 tsp of Kashmiri chili powder.
Really satisfying, warm flavor. I was too wimpy to add 4-6 Thai chiles - 1 was plenty!
This dish is super tasty and comes together rather quickly. I added some honey to balance the tomatoes a bit, served with a dollop of yogurt instead of lemon wedges. I’ll definitely make this one again.
I felt the chick peas to be a little 'heavy' for the combination...perhaps a smaller bean would have been better....or a large grain?
Can you use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs?
Very tasty. I used three chilis and considered it a mild curry. I would add the garlic and ginger at the end of browning the chicken to stop them getting burned.
