Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Methi Murg
Methi Murg (Fenugreek-flavoured Chicken)

Methi Murg

Fenugreek-flavoured Chicken
Non-vegetarian●●●Origin PunjabPrep 30 minutesCook 50 minutes

A fragrant, deeply savoury chicken curry flavoured with the distinctive herbal bite of fresh fenugreek leaves. Cooked down with plenty of onions and tomatoes, it produces tender meat coated in a thick, spiced masala.

Base aromatics

22 gAdded with the green chillies (step 2)
01
Ginger paste · Adrak PasteMake it: Pisi Adrak →
10 g2 teaspoons
aromatic
02
Garlic paste · Lahsun PasteMake it: Pisi Lehsun →
10 g2 teaspoons
aromatic
03
Ground turmeric · Haldi
1.5 g½ teaspoon
spice
Stir the pastes and turmeric together in a small bowl.

Chilli powder

3.9 gStirred in alongside the tomatoes (step 4)
01
Chilli powder · Lal Mirch Powder
3.9 g1½ teaspoons
spice
Keep measured and ready to add to the pan.

Everything else

01
Vegetable oil · Tel
91 g100 ml
oil/fat
02
Onion · Pyazsliced
600 g4 onions
vegetable
03
Green chilli · Hari Mirchde-seeded
30–36 g5–6 chillies
vegetable
04
Chicken · Murghcut into medium-sized pieces
1 g
poultry
05
Fenugreek shoots · Methi
100 g
herb
06
Tomato · Tamatarchopped
275 g
vegetable
07
Salt · Namak
to taste
salt

Method

  1. Warm 91.3 g vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Tip in 600 g sliced onion and fry for 5 to 7 minutes until deep golden brown.
  2. Add 30–36 g de-seeded green chilli and the base aromatics, then stir-fry for 2 minutes until fragrant.
  3. Tumble in 1 g chicken and 100 g fenugreek shoots. Fry over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid released by the meat has almost entirely cooked off.
  4. Add 275 g chopped tomato, the chilli powder, and salt to taste. Sauté for a few minutes until the tomatoes break down and the oil begins to separate and rise to the surface.
  5. Pour in a splash of water, lower the heat to medium, and simmer gently for about 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and enveloped in a reduced, clinging sauce.

Don't have something?

Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Onion
  • Shallot

    Use equal weight, finely sliced. Shallots soften and brown faster, giving a slightly sweeter and more delicate base to curries.

  • Cabbage

    Use 80% of the weight, finely shredded and browned slowly with a pinch of asafoetida. Replicates the bulk and natural sweetness in gravies without allium.

Green chilli
  • Chilli powder

    Use 10 to 15% of the weight (about 1/4 teaspoon per chilli); imparts dry pungent heat and reddens the dish without the grassy crunch.

  • Dried red chilli

    Use 1 dried pod per fresh green chilli; snap in half and temper in hot oil for a deeper, toastier heat.

Ginger paste
  • Fresh ginger

    Use equal weight; peel and grate very finely on a microplane or pound to a fine paste in a mortar.

  • Ginger

    Use equal weight; mince finely and crush with the flat of a knife before frying.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% of the weight; add directly with the dry spice powders, though it yields an earthier, less pungent profile.

Garlic paste
  • Garlic

    Use equal weight; crush or finely grate to a smooth pulp to replicate the same fresh, pungent moisture in your base gravy.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 20 to 25% of the weight; mix with a teaspoon of water before adding to oil so it does not burn, noting it lacks the fresh bite.

Ground turmeric
  • Ground ginger

    Use 50% of the weight. Mimics turmeric's warm, earthy, rhizome background, but provides none of the golden-yellow colour.

  • Saffron

    Steep a tiny pinch (0.1 g per 2 g turmeric) in 2 tbsp warm water; use to match the rich golden hue. Contributes an aristocratic, honeyed floral flavour rather than earthy bitterness.

Chicken
  • Turkey thigh

    Use 100% of the weight, cut into equivalent bone-in or boneless pieces. Simmer for an extra 5 to 10 minutes; flavour and texture are very similar.

  • Lamb

    Use 100% of the weight. Cut into bite-sized pieces and extend simmering time by 35 to 50 minutes, adding extra liquid to allow the meat to tenderise.

Fenugreek shoots
  • Fresh fenugreek leaves

    Use the same weight, chop and use stems if tender. Slightly more bitter and leafy; cook 1–2 minutes more.

  • Spinach

    Use the same weight, chop and wilt. Lacks methi bitterness; add a pinch of fenugreek seed or dried fenugreek leaf if you have it.

  • Dried fenugreek leaf

    Use 10% of the weight, rehydrate in warm water for 5 minutes. Stronger dried flavour; add near the end.

Tomato
  • Tomato purée

    Use 40% to 50% of the fresh tomato weight mixed with a splash of water. Imparts a deeper red colour, thicker sauce, and slightly sweeter cooked flavour.

  • Plain yogurt

    Use 60% of the weight, whisked smooth and added on low heat. Provides rich body and sourness, though the gravy becomes paler and creamier.

Chilli powder
  • Red chilli powder

    Use 100% of the weight. Provides direct, sharp heat and red colour in equal measure.

  • Kashmiri chilli powder

    Use 150% to 200% of the weight if matching colour, but add a pinch of black pepper or hot chilli if you need equivalent fiery heat.

  • Cayenne pepper

    Use 75% to 100% of the weight. Offers a sharp, clean heat with slightly less earthy depth and less crimson colour.

Similar dishes

Methi Murg
Chicken with Fenugreek Leaves
Methi Murg tastes slightly more tart, creamy, and warm-spiced from the yogurt and cinnamon, whereas this dish has a sharper, fruitier tang and deeper sweetness from cooked-down tomatoes and extra onions.
  • Same: Both curries cook chicken with fresh fenugreek leaves in vegetable oil using an aromatics base of onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric, and chilli powder.
  • Different: Methi Murg adds whole cinnamon stick and sours the gravy with plain yogurt and lime juice instead of tomatoes, using half the onions and nearly double the vegetable oil.
Kairi Murg
Mango Chicken
It tastes distinctly sharp and tart from the green mango rather than earthy, herbal, and tomato-savoury like this dish.
  • Same: Kairi Murg shares the same foundation of chicken cooked in vegetable oil with onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric, and chilli powder.
  • Different: Kairi Murg relies on raw mango rather than tomatoes for acidity and lacks the fresh fenugreek leaves used in this dish.
Cha Sha
Chicken
Cha Sha is lighter, milder, and brothy, lacking the tangy acidity of tomatoes and the bitter herbal punch of fenugreek present in this dish.
  • Same: Cha Sha shares a base of chicken cooked in vegetable oil with onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and chilli powder.
  • Different: Cha Sha is braised into a brothy stew and omits the tomatoes, green chillies, and fresh fenugreek leaves used to create this dish's thick masala.
Kali Mirch ka Murg
Pepper Chicken in Thick Sauce
It tastes sharply peppery and lemony rather than herbal and chilli-hot like this dish, with a tighter, less tomato-heavy gravy.
  • Same: Kali Mirch ka Murg shares with this dish a chicken curry base built on vegetable oil, onion, ginger paste, garlic paste, and salt.
  • Different: It uses whole black peppercorns and lemon juice but lacks this dish’s tomatoes, fenugreek shoots, green chilli, turmeric, and chilli powder, and it uses much less onion.