Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Achari Murgh Tikka
Achari Murgh Tikka (Spiced Chicken Skewers with Pickling Spices, Mustard & Chilli)

Achari Murgh Tikka

Spiced Chicken Skewers with Pickling Spices, Mustard & Chilli
Non-vegetarian

Achari murgh tikka is boneless chicken thigh marinated with yoghurt, lime and pickling spices, then grilled on skewers until charred at the edges. It tastes tangy, mustardy and warmly spiced.

Chilli marinade spice

2.6 gStirred into the garlic, ginger and lime marinade (step 1)
Stir into the marinade with the lime juice.

Toasted whole-spice masala

16 gToasted dry in step 2, then added to the chicken in step 4
01
3 g1½ teaspoons
spice
02
3.2 g1½ teaspoons
spice
03
5 g1½ teaspoons
spice
04
3 g1 teaspoon
spice
05
1.9 g½ teaspoon
spice
Toast dry, cool, then crush coarsely.

Everything else

01
Chicken thigh · Murgboneless, skinless, cut into bite-size pieces
640 g
poultry
02
28 g2 tablespoons
dairy
03
12 g2 tablespoons
flour
04
14 g1 tablespoon
oil/fat
05
45 g3 tablespoons
dairy
06
to taste
salt
07
Butter · Makhanmelted, to baste
to taste
dairy
08
Lime · Nimbujuice of, to garnish
25 g½ lime
fruit
09
18 g6 cloves
aromatic
10
20 g5 cm
aromatic
11
25 g½ lime
fruit

Method

  1. Blend 18 g garlic and 10 g ginger with a little water until fine. Stir this into a bowl with 2.6 g kashmiri chilli powder and 25 g lime juice. Add 640 g chicken thigh and turn to coat. Set aside for 20 minutes.
  2. Put 3 g fennel seed, 3.2 g cumin seed, 5.2 g black mustard seed, 3 g nigella seeds and 1.9 g fenugreek seed in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast for 2 minutes, shaking the pan. Tip into a bowl to cool, then crush coarsely in a pestle and mortar.
  3. In the same pan, melt 28.2 g butter over medium heat. Add 12 g chickpea flour and stir out lumps. Cook for 2–3 minutes until nutty and lightly coloured.
  4. Add the toasted whole-spice masala and the chickpea flour mixture to the chicken. Add 13.5 g mustard oil and 45 g greek yoghurt. Season with salt and mix. Chill for 2 hours, or overnight.
  5. Heat the grill to medium-high. Line a baking tray with foil and set a wire rack on it. Thread the chicken onto soaked wooden skewers and lay them on the rack.
  6. Grill for 16–18 minutes, turning once halfway and brushing with melted butter, until the edges are lightly charred and the chicken is cooked through. Slide off the skewers, put on a platter and squeeze over 25 g lime juice.

Don't have something?

Chicken thigh
  • Boneless chicken thigh

    Use the same weight if boneless is needed; cooks 5–10 minutes faster than bone-in. Juicy and forgiving.

  • Chicken leg

    Use the same weight; bone-in and larger, so add 5–10 minutes. Similar richness.

  • Chicken breast

    Use the same weight; much leaner and drier, so reduce cooking time by 5–10 minutes and do not overcook.

Butter
  • Unsalted butter

    Use 100% of the weight. If the original recipe relies on salted table butter, add a pinch of salt to balance.

  • Ghee

    Use 80% to 85% of the weight. Ghee is pure butterfat with moisture removed; it yields a deeper, nuttier flavour and handles high heat better.

  • Vegetable oil

    Use 80% of the weight for frying or tempering. The dish loses sweet dairy richness but remains glossy and light.

Chickpea flour
  • Yellow split pea flour

    Use 100% of the weight. Many commercial gram flours are milled from split peas; performs identically in pakora batters and kadhi.

  • Cornstarch

    For crisping batters or binding cutlets: use 50% to 60% of the weight. Produces a very crisp shell but lacks the earthy, roasted nutty flavour of besan.

Mustard oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use equal weight. It handles high-heat cooking well, but lacks the signature pungent, nasal heat of mustard oil.

  • Vegetable oil

    Use equal weight. Neutral in flavour, so your curry will lack the characteristic Bengali or North Indian pungent punch.

Greek yoghurt
Lime
  • Lemon

    Use the same weight; sharper and less floral, so reduce any extra souring slightly.

  • Lemon juice

    Use about 30 g juice per lime (2 tbsp), strain pips; add at the end for fresh sourness.

  • Dried mango powder

    Use 1 g amchoor for about 15 g lime juice; add early with spices; gives dry mango sourness, not citrus aroma.

Garlic
  • Garlic paste

    Use equal weight. Fry gently in oil or ghee with the ginger; incorporates smoothly into curries without visible minced bits.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 15% to 20% of the weight (about 1 g for every 5 to 6 g fresh cloves). Whisk into sauces; gives a savoury, toasted garlic flavour without raw pungency.

  • Shallot

    Use 1.5 times the weight, very finely minced. Sauté until golden; provides savoury allium sweetness, though it lacks garlic's pungent sulphur bite.

Fresh ginger
  • Ginger paste

    Use equal weight. Sauté in hot fat until the raw allium smell disappears; slightly wetter, but provides identical warmth and pungency.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% to 25% of the weight (1 g for every 4 to 5 g fresh). Stir into the gravy; adds peppery heat and warmth, though it misses the crisp, zesty kick of raw root.

Kashmiri chilli powder
  • Dried kashmiri chilli

    Grind deseeded dried pods to an equal weight of powder; gives identical vivid red colour and gentle warmth.

  • Red chilli powder

    Use 25% of the weight mixed with sweet paprika for colour; straight red chilli powder is substantially hotter and will make the dish fiery.

  • Chilli powder

    Use one-third of the weight; the sauce will be less intensely red and notably sharper in heat.

Fennel seed
  • Aniseed

    Use 75% of the weight. Fry in hot oil or ghee; has a sharper, more pronounced liquorice flavour, so use a lighter hand.

  • Ground fennel seed

    Use 60% of the weight. Stir into the sauce with ground masalas; provides identical sweet aniseed flavour without whole seed crunch.

  • Star anise

    Use one point (single carpel) per 1 g of fennel seeds. Simmer in gravies and remove before serving; gives a deeper, woodier liquorice aroma.

Cumin seed
  • Ground cumin

    Use 70% of the weight; add with ground spices or sauce bases rather than hot oil tempering, where it scorches quickly and turns bitter.

  • Black cumin seeds

    Use equal weight for oil tempering. Delivers an earthy profile with an additional musky, smoky, and slightly bitter edge.

  • Fennel seed

    Use 60% of the weight for tempering; offers comparable warm aroma, but leans sweet and liquorice-like rather than savoury and earthy.

Black mustard seed
  • Mustard seeds

    Use equal weight. Pop in hot fat until they crackle and turn greyish; yields an almost identical nutty, pungent finish.

  • Yellow mustard seeds

    Use equal weight. Fry over medium heat; delivers a milder, sweeter pop and turns bitter quickly if the oil is excessively hot.

Nigella seeds
  • Black cumin seeds

    Use equal weight. Imparts an earthy, slightly bitter note in temperings, though it lacks nigella's oniony sharpness.

  • Black sesame seeds

    Use equal weight. Gives a similar speckled appearance and light crunch on breads, but provides a nutty rather than herbaceous, onion-like flavour.

Fenugreek seed
  • Mustard seed

    Use 50% of the weight, crush or grind. Sharper heat and less maple-bitter; fry briefly in oil before adding.

  • Caraway seeds

    Use the same weight, crush lightly. Similar bitter-seed note but more aniseed; reduce other sweet spices slightly.

  • Ajwain seeds

    Use 25–30% of the weight, crush. Much stronger thyme-like flavour; do not overdo.

Similar dishes

Tandoori Chicken Tikka
Tandoori Chicken Tikka tastes tangy, savoury and warmly spiced with chaat masala and saffron, while this dish tastes tangy and mustardy with whole pickling spices.
  • Same: Tandoori Chicken Tikka shares chicken thigh, Greek yoghurt, lime, garlic, ginger, Kashmiri chilli powder, chickpea flour and a grilled charred finish with this dish.
  • Different: Tandoori Chicken Tikka uses more yoghurt and less chickpea flour, adds chaat masala, garam masala, ground coriander, cinnamon, saffron, dried fenugreek leaf and sugar, and lacks this dish's mustard oil, black mustard seed, nigella seed, fennel seed, cumin seed and fenugreek seed.
Chettinad Chicken
Spiced Boneless Chicken with Black Pepper, Ginger and Curry Leaves
Chettinad Chicken is peppery and curry-leaf scented with a tomato-lime finish, while this dish is tangy, mustardy and charred from the grill.
  • Same: Chettinad Chicken shares boneless chicken thigh, lime, Kashmiri chilli powder, black mustard seed and fennel seed with this dish.
  • Different: Chettinad Chicken uses vegetable oil, onion, tomato, curry leaves, urad dal, cinnamon and water and is cooked in a pan, while this dish uses butter, mustard oil, yoghurt and chickpea flour and is grilled on skewers.
Aslam Butter Chicken
Spiced Butter Chicken with Garlic, Chilli & Chaat Masala
It tastes richer and creamier than this dish, with smoke, vinegar tang and a chaat-masala finish, while this dish is more mustardy, lime-tangy and dry-charred.
  • Same: It shares with this dish boneless chicken thigh, a yoghurt marinade, garlic, cumin and Kashmiri chilli powder, and both are cooked with butter and charred.
  • Different: It uses malt vinegar instead of lime as the souring agent, adds coal smoke, whole garam masala, chaat masala, black salt, soured cream and single cream, and lacks this dish’s mustard oil, black mustard seed, nigella, fennel, fenugreek seed, chickpea flour and skewer-grill finish.
Anardana Murgh
Pomegranate & Chilli Spiced Chicken
Anardana Murgh tastes savoury and lightly sour with gentle warmth, while this dish tastes tangy, mustardy and warmly spiced.
  • Same: Anardana Murgh shares chicken thigh, garlic, ginger, Kashmiri chilli powder and salt with this dish, and both use a souring agent and warm spices.
  • Different: Unlike this dish, Anardana Murgh has no yoghurt, lime, butter, mustard oil, chickpea flour or whole pickling seeds; it uses pomegranate powder, onion and vegetable oil and is cooked with onions and stock, not grilled on skewers.