Palak Chicken

Palak Chicken (Chicken and Spinach Curry) is a delicious Pakistani recipe that’s easy to make and so so delicious. Serve it with some jeera rice and kachumber salad. It’s also a healthy source of protein and veggies combined.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Pakistani/Indian

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings

Calories 328kcal

Author Wajeeha Nadeem

Equipment

Chopper
Pot

Ingredients

1/3 cup oil or ghee
2 small onions chopped finely
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 kg chicken bone-in pieces cut into 12 or 14 pieces by the butcher
1 teaspoon kashmiri lal mirch powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder haldi
1/2 teaspoon dhania powder coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon zeera powder cumin powder
3-4 black peppercorns sabut kali mirch
2 whole cloves sabut lavang
Salt to taste
2 medium tomatoes pureed
450 grams Frozen spinach
Water as needed
1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves

Instructions

Heat oil in a large pot and add the chopped onion. Fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.
Now add in the chicken pieces and ginger garlic paste. Cook for a 4-5 minutes until the chicken changes color.
Add in the spices, and cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium high flame until you can see the oil coming to surface. You may add a splash of water to prevent the spices from burning.
Now add the pureed tomatoes and cook for a 1-2 minutes on high flame, while stirring constantly.
Lower the heat, add a little bit of water and cover the pot with a lid. Cook until the tomato puree is cooked, about 15 minutes, the chicken is almost cooked through, and the oil has separated from the curry.
Add the spinach and about 1/2 cup of water (you can adjust the quantity of water as needed). Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium heat until the spinach is cooked and the chicken is fully cooked too.
Crush dried fenugreek leaves with your hands, and sprinkle on top of the palak chicken. Add butter. Mix well, and take off heat.
Serve with steamed rice or naan.

Video

Notes

Oil: You can decrease the amount of oil to about 1/4 cup if you want to make this recipe even healthier.
Onion: I chop the onion finely in a chopper, but you can do it by hand as well.
Chicken: I highly recommend using bone-in chicken as it yields the most flavor. However, you can use boneless chicken too. Breast is fine, but can dry out quickly, so the best option is boneless chicken thighs.
Whole spices: Whole black peppercorns and cloves add a delicious subtle flavor to the recipe. However, you can skip these if you don't have them. The recipe will still be delicious.
Tomatoes: I like to puree the tomatoes in my chopper because I find it the easiest. You can use chop the tomatoes by hand or even use canned crushed tomatoes.
Spinach:

Frozen chopped spinach: It's the most convenient and quickest to use. I let it thaw completely while cooking the curry, and then add it.
Fresh spinach: Blanch it first, drain excess water, and then blend it. Then use as written in the recipe.
Frozen Spinach Whole Leaves: Sometimes you can get frozen spinach whole leaves in the freezer section. To use these, thaw the spinach completely first, then blend it, and then use it in the recipe.

Nutrition