Palak Chicken is a weeknight friendly hearty dish that is deeply comforting. This homestyle rustic version is well balanced with some flavour additions that make it sing!
🔍 Quick Look: Palak Chicken
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🍳 Cook Time: 45 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 50 minutes
- 👥 Servings: 4
- 🔥 Cook Method: Stovetop
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy
- Key to Success: Balancing flavours at the end
Made this today...Such a warm, comforting and easy recipe, awesome! - Zainab
Chicken is such a convenient weeknight staple isn't it? It cooks quickly and with a little variation in technique and spices you can make so many flavorful Pakistani Chicken Recipes from the Palak Chicken here to the ever popular Chicken Ginger and One Pot Chicken Pulao.
Jump to:
What is Palak Chicken?
Palak Chicken or Murgh Palak is a stew like Pakistani and Indian dish that features bone in or boneless chicken and hearty spinach for a dish that is wholesome and delicious. In most Pakistani versions the dish is prepared this way with no cream, but in Indian versions you see a fair amount of variation in preparation.
Why you should make this Murgh Palak
This recipe for homemade Pakistani palak chicken(or chicken and spinach curry) comes to me from my aunt and it is a winner because it is:-
- perfectly seasoned
- quick to make stovetop
- uses convenient boneless chicken (although you can use bone in)
- easily adaptable to the kind of spinach you havehealthy because it's nutrient rich thanks to the spinach
- nutrient rich
Saag Chicken vs Palak Chicken
Full confession: I had never ever heard of Saag Chicken.
Growing up in Pakistan when it was in season our Punjabi neighbours would send over Sarson ka Saag and Makkai ki Roti. Actual Saag is mustard greens the dish Sarson ka Saag often has a mix of dark leafy greens. Saag Chicken simply wasn't a thing in the way Palak Chicken is.
My understanding remains then that at least in Pakistani food there is no dish called Saag Chicken and to call this that would be a misnomer. I do understand that in India sometimes restaurants will call this dish that, but most people would consider that a misnomer too since Spinach or Palak is the only green here.
Let's talk Ingredients (and where they fall short!)
Palak Chicken ingredients are fairly straightforward, but like many recipes with straightforward ingredients, the quality/kind matters a great deal.
- Tomato: Since there is all of one tomato, it's got to be full flavored. If yours are looking pale like you at the end of a long winter then use 2.
- Green Chilies: However many you add is upto you, but for me one is a minimum because of how it perfumes and flavours the masala.
- SPINACH!: I used to be team frozen spinach (the desi kind) and while that's still a strong favorite I have grown to also love the mild pleasant freshness of baby spinach. Regular spinach also works well, but remember to be thorough in how you trim it and if it tastes bitter than a little yoghurt at the end will even it out.
- Kasuri methi or dried Fenugreek. While fresh is great this is my pantry friendly fave. A little goes a long way here towards creating a dish that is aromatic and has more nuanced flavour.
How to Make Palak Chicken
Palak Chicken is a chicken dish made by creating a simple chicken masala base, similar in approach to this Chicken Masala. The process is simple.
TIP: Use your food processor to chop spinach fast.
1.) Sizzle cumin seeds in your hot oil on medium high heat
2.) Saute onions and chilies until the edges of the onion start to brown and then saute in ginger and garlic.
3.) Add your spices and chicken and saute stirring frequently till the color changes.
4.) Add in your diced tomato, a little water, and simmer until the chicken is tender.
5.) Turn up the heat to dry up the masala and add kasuri methi.
6.) Mix in the spinach and crank up the heat to dry up excess moisture.
7.) Once the spinach is cooked through and the oil rises above the spinach and makes it glisten, adjust consistency and seasoning.
Recipe Changes
I used to cook this recipe a little differently. Notably:
- no green chilies in the base
- adding the spinach with the tomato
- kasuri methi at the end
I've made the adjustments I have because it improves the flavour of the chicken itself as well as the overall dish. Also spinach doesn't reallllly need a long simmer, most of the work is in drying the water out towards the end.
Palak Chicken FAQs and Troubleshooting
Yes. Since it is a masala based dish and not a dry one like this Highway Karahi it holds up well. Reheat it stove top for optimal flavour.
You can, but with the natural hearty creaminess of the spinach it isn't necessary.
Spinach and especially frozen spinach can hang on to a lot of liquid. Make sure you saute it on medium high heat until the bhunai is complete or until the oil rises above the spinach. You may add additional oil to speed it up.
Bland food is such a no no. Make sure to adjust salt, lemon, and add additional green chilies at the end to up the flavour ante to taste. A little garam masala is also always welcome.
Menu Ideas
The answers to that depends entirely on whether you plan to serve it with roti or rice.
If you tried this Murgh Palak or Palak Chicken recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it turned out in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Murgh Palak - Palak Chicken
Ingredients
- ¾-1 lb boneless chicken cut into big cubes about 50% more for bone in
- ½ a large red onion
- 1-2 diced green chilies
- 1 tomato
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 heaped teaspoon garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger or ginger paste
- ¾-1 teaspoon salt start w ¾
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾-1 teaspoon cayenne / red chilli powder
- ¾ teaspoon coriander powder
- 400 g fresh spinach (can use less, see notes)
- Heaped tbsp of Kasuri Methi dried fenugreek - optional
- 4 tbsp oil (may need more)
Finishing touches
- lemon juice, garam masala
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion and tomato
- The easiest way to dice spinach is to run it through a food processor. The second easiest is to use kitchen shears and snip away.
- Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pot and add the diced onion, fry on medium high heat till the edges start to take on a golden brown.
- Optional: Add a diced green chilli (or two) for extra flavour.
- Add the ginger and garlic and stir fry for a minute
- Add the chicken and spices, saute on medium high heat until all the sides of the chicken pieces have changed colour.
- Mix in the diced tomato, and ½-1 cup of hot water (more for stainless steel, less for non stick) and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
- Crank up the heat to dry up the excess water and add your kasuri methi and saute for a minute.
- Now add your spinach - spinach is a naturally watery green so at this stage your goal is to cook the moisture out of the spinach and have the oil rise above your dish. This takes about 10-12 minutes on medium heat.
- Adjust seasoning - a squeeze of lemon juice is lovely here, but you can also add some garam masala, and/or extra chilies.
Video
Murgh Palak or Palak Chicken from Sarah Mir on Vimeo.
SH says
I love spinach and chicken! This is a delicate recipe and delicious! If I want to substitute the tomatoes with yogurt to make it “creamy”, can I do that? And half of an onion would be approx how many grams after trimming?
As a general rule, should I stick with 350 g onions and 210 or so grams tomatoes (pre trimmed) in chicken salan recipes? Can you please mention the grams of onions and tomatoes post trimmed for the homestyle chicken recipe? I’m sorry to be driving you bananas with these questions but I sincerely appreciate you answering our questions! You’re an AMAZING cook!
Sarah Mir says
Hi there! Excellent reminder to add more notes on the recipe! Okay let's address the questions
1.) Yes, but get a little more color on the onions because then that will give you more depth. Tomatoes tend to deepen flavour but yoghurt lightens it.
2.) Onions are typically 120-140g on an average, don't worry about the trimmed amounts so much unless you've got onions that are not in the best shape. Roughly speaking half an onion diced gives you about half a cup volume wise if that's easier to eyeball. Plum tomatoes which are my tomato of choice are typically 130-150g each!
Hope these help!
Sayeeda says
I have made this so many times. It's easy, healthy and delicious!
Sarah Mir says
I am SO SO happy to hear that Sayeeda!!!!
Mina says
Excellent recipe! I actually used a combination of spinach and beet greens and it came out very earthy and flavorful. I added 3-4 cloves to the recipe as well because I remember them in the palak murghi I ate as a child.
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
I love your addition of beet greens!!!!! I’ve never had it but I’m sure it tastes amazing - thanks for your comment 💕
Vishnu says
The curry came nice but there was slight bitterness. How to avoid bitterness?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Vishnu! I usually use baby spinach and don't have that issue, but one way to avoid it is to cook the spinach a little less and that'll take the bitter after taste out!
Zainab says
Made this today..Such a warm, comforting and easy recipe, awesome!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Thank you Zainab! I am so glad you enjoyed it!!!!
RAABEAA says
Hi Sarah!
I love all ur recipes! The murgh Chana and aaloo cHolay have become staples in our house!!! I wanted to ask if
You’ve ever done a recipe for palak gosht?
I would love to try it if you do!
Raabeaa 😁
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Raabeaa! I am SO glad to hear that and I have not shared a Palak Gosht yet but I will soon!
Mahrukh says
Hey
Just wanted you to know that ever since I’ve moved to US from Pakistan your recipes have provided me a source of comfort whenever I miss ghar wala khanna! So thank you!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Ohmigod thank you so much for sharing that with me!!! Absolutely made my day!
Sumi says
Do you finely chop the fresh spinach before adding to the chicken?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hey! So with the desi frozen spinach I never ever do anything. If I buy bags of baby spinach it depends on my mood, but with large leaf spinach I will do a rough chop. It is entirely upto you - I know people who puree their spinach because that's their preference. My family doesn't usually so I tend not to 🙂
Zakhia says
Hi , how many tablespoons of oil do you put in ?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi! It totally depends on what pot I am using. If yours is non-stick you're ok with 3tbsp or so but if it isn't then you'd need more! Happy Cooking!