Make this Achari Chicken for your next dinner and you’ll be blown away by how delicious it is! It’s super simple and easy to whip up, plus it has just the right amount of curry and spices. The best part? You can have it ready in just 30 minutes!

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About The Recipe

This chicken curry may seem similar to other chicken curries, but as you can tell from the name, it features a unique Achari Spice Mix.
You might be wondering, “What exactly is that?” It’s essentially a blend of few seeds and spices that aren’t commonly used in everyday recipes, but they’re definitely essential for making Achar.

Don’t worry, I’ll provide you with a list of the ingredients, so you’ll be all set to try it out. Once you make Achari Chicken once, I’m sure you’ll want to make it again!

Ingredients For Easy Achari Chicken

Chicken
Yogurt (thick and creamy, but not sweet)
Onion
Tomatoes
Achari spice mix
Salt
Green chilies
Fresh cilantro
Ginger-garlic paste

Notes on Ingredients

Yogurt: Use thick and creamy yogurt, avoiding any that’s sweet.
Ginger-Garlic Paste: This is essential for flavoring meat dishes and helps eliminate any unwanted smells, whether it’s chicken or beef. Personally, I like to use double the amount of garlic in my recipes! You can use store-bought paste or simply grind fresh garlic and ginger together, or even chop them finely. But I recommend using the paste for convenience.
Achari Spice Mix: a key ingredient of this recipe!
Don’t forget the salt! It’s a must-have for flavor.
You’ll also want some red chili powder for heat.
And of course, green chilies and plenty of cilantro for garnish to tie everything together.

What Is Achari Spice Mix?

This spice blend is the star of this recipe! These seeds are what make up the spices for the mix. Simply follow the quantities listed in the recipe card and grind them in a coffee grinder until they are coarsely ground. Here are the essential seeds you’ll need:

Fenugreek Seeds (meethi-dana)
Mustard Seeds (rai/ sarsoon)
Carom seeds (zeera)
Coriander seeds (sukha dhania)
Fennel seeds (saunf)
Nigella Seeds (kalonji)
Cumin Seeds (zeera)

How To Make Achari Chicken (Step-By-Step Photo Guide)

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions. Fry them until they become translucent. Then, add the ginger-garlic paste and cook until it turns nice and golden brown. Be careful not to over-fry, as it can taste bitter. If you notice the onions starting to brown too much, add a little water to prevent them from burning. Next, add the chicken pieces and fry them until they change color.

Step 2: Now it’s time to add the chopped tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and sprinkle in salt and turmeric powder. The remaining spices will be mixed into the yogurt later to create a paste for the cooking process. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for another 7-9 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the chicken is about 70% cooked. Afterward, remove the lid.

Step 3: In a bowl, whisk the yogurt and add the Achari Spice Mix, along with red chili powder. Once combined, pour this mixture over the chicken after removing the lid. Let it cook until the oil starts to separate from the mixture.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and green chilies. Serve with your favorite side dishes!

Tips To Achieve Perfect Texture

Use thick, creamy yogurt that’s not sweet. Whisk it well with the spices to form a smooth paste.
This recipe requires a bit of gravy, so for better texture, feel free to add more tomatoes. The more tomatoes you include, the better the texture will be.
Your chicken pieces shouldn’t be cut too big. Use medium-sized pieces, like a Karahi cut. If they’re too large, the meat can become tough, and you’ll have less curry.
Roast and cool the seeds that you’ll be using for the Achari spice mix: cumin, carom, and coriander seeds. If you don’t have time, you can skip this step, but here’s a tip from me, when you do roast them, they release their aroma, which makes a great difference in flavor.

Can I Use Boneless Chicken In This Recipe?

Boneless chicken can definitely be used in this recipe. Just make sure to cut it into uniform cubes, not too big and not too small. The great thing about boneless chicken is that it cooks faster, which means you’ll have your delicious boneless Achari handi ready in no time!

Some Hassle-Free Substitutes

I’m a big advocate of using fresh ingredients, especially when making Karahi or Curries. However, if you don’t have fresh ginger and garlic on hand, you can simply grab some pre-made ginger-garlic paste from the store. It saves you time and still provides great flavor.
If fresh tomatoes aren’t available or you want to save prep time, you can use canned tomatoes. They work just as well!
If you don’t have yogurt, you can use sour cream. But remember even few tweaks can alter the taste. If you follow the exact recipe, you’ll be raving about the flavor I’m talking about!

What If I Don’t Have The Ingredients To Make Achari Spice Mix?

You can easily use store-bought Achari spice mixes, which is super convenient! Look for a pre-made spice mix at your local store. Shan Achari Masala is one of the best options out there. It’ll save you time and effort.
If anyone knows of a better one, please share!

What To Serve With This

As this recipe is a classic one that doesn’t require any fancy sides so if you want a proper meal, pair it with some paratha or chapati (flatbread), with a side of mint chutney and fresh kachumber salad. This will make it a great meal!

Some Similar Chicken Recipes You’ll Enjoy

Chicken Karahi | Karahi Murgh
Desi Chicken Curry | Chicken Salan
Ginger Chicken Karahi
Chicken Jalfrezi (Quick And Scrumptious)
Dahi Chicken Karahi

Adapting The Recipe For Mutton

If you want to make Achar Gosht, you can definitely use mutton instead of chicken for this recipe. Just keep in mind a few things:

Mutton generally takes longer to cook than chicken, so you’ll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
After roasting the tomatoes, add 1 cup of water and cover the lid. Let this simmer for 20-25 minutes on the stovetop. If you prefer quicker cooking, you can use a pressure cooker. In that case, add 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook for about 10 minutes, as mutton takes longer to get tender.
Rest, follow the same steps in the recipe card!

Achari Chicken (Authentic Recipe)

Recipe by Mahnoor

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: MainCuisine: Pakistani, Indian

Servings: 3

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

315

kcal

Total time

minutes

Whip up this Achari Chicken for dinner, and you’ll be amazed at how tasty it is! It’s super easy to make, and a perfect combo of curry and spices, and best of all, you can have it ready in just 30 minutes!

Ingredients

1/2 kg skinless chicken (cut into medium-sized pieces, typically known as Karahi cut)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
3 -4 large juicy tomatoes (roughly chopped)
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 cup oil (any vegetable oil)
1/2 cup full-fat yogurt (whisked)
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp red chili powder (or crushed button chilies/Kashmiri red chili)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
1/2 tsp carom seeds (ajwain, roasted)
1 tsp cumin seeds (zeera, roasted)
1 tsp coriander seeds (sukha dhania, roasted)
1 tsp mustard seeds (rai or sarsoon)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (meethi dana)
A handful of fresh cilantro (roughly chopped)
2 -4 green chilies (whole or slit)

Directions

Take a pan or Karahi (wok) and pour in some oil (about ½ cup). Set the heat to medium. You’ll know the oil is ready when it shimmers a bit.
Add the finely chopped onions to the hot oil. Stir them around and cook until they become soft and clear. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on them as you don’t want them to burn because burnt onions can mess up the taste. If they start to brown too quickly, just add a small splash of water to cool them down and keep them from burning.
Once onions are nicely softened, add the ginger-garlic paste. Stir it in and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes until it turns a lovely golden color. Again, keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too dark, or it could become bitter.
Now add your chicken pieces to the pan. Stir them around to coat them in all that onion and ginger-garlic goodness. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until it changes color and looks cooked on the outside. this should take about 5-6 minutes.
Toss in the roughly chopped tomatoes and sprinkle a teaspoon of salt and turmeric powder over it. Give it a good stir, then cover the pan with a lid. Let it cook for 7-9 minutes so the tomatoes soften up and the chicken cooks through.
While that’s cooking, take a bowl and mix together the whisked yogurt, your spice mix and red chili powder. This will add a lot of flavor, so make sure it’s well combined.
After the chicken and tomatoes have cooked, pour the yogurt mixture over them in the pan. Stir it all together to make sure everything is coated. Keep cooking it together for another 5-7 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when you see the oil starting to separate from the mixture, it’ll look a bit shiny. Once done, take off the heat and sprinkle a generous amount of fresh chopped cilantro and whole or slit green chilies on top for that extra flavor. Serve it hot with naan and enjoy this delicious hearty Chicken Achar Karahi!

Notes

Use thick, unsweet yogurt whisked with spices to make a smooth paste.
Add more tomatoes for better gravy texture.
Cut chicken into medium pieces to avoid toughness and ensure more curry.
Roast and cool cumin, carom, and coriander seeds for better flavor, though it’s optional.

Achari Chicken – In Just 30 min!

About The Recipe