Murgh musallam is Persian for ‘the whole chicken’, and that is the drama of it — not pieces in a curry but an entire bird, gashed to the bone, marinated in yoghurt, ginger and saffron, stuffed with boiled eggs and spiced keema, then slow-cooked until a spoon parts the meat. Its pedigree runs the length of the corridor: it descends from the musamman recorded in the Ain-i-Akbari, the chronicle of Akbar’s court, and Ibn Battuta noted a version as a favourite of Muhammad bin Tughlaq in Delhi before it was refined in the royal kitchens of Awadh. The gravy is the old shahi kind — browned onion with almond, cashew and poppy seed ground in for body, saffron for colour and scent, and no tomato, which reached India long after this dish did. Finished with fried onion, slivered almonds and a sheet of edible silver (varak), it is a banquet centrepiece, served with sheermal or naan. This version follows Cooking with Thas, whose egg-stuffed murgh musallam keeps the nut-and-saffron gravy — an English-language record of a Mughlai showpiece.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 whole chicken (about 1.4kg, skin on, gashed)
- 3 hard-boiled eggs (for stuffing)
- 200 g minced mutton or chicken (for the stuffing)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste (for the marinade)
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt (for the marinade)
- 3 large onions (finely sliced)
- 6 tbsp ghee
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 2 tbsp cashew paste
- 2 tbsp ground almonds
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds (khus khus, ground)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp salt (for the gravy, plus more to taste)
- a pinch of saffron (soaked in 3 tbsp warm milk)
- slivered almonds and varak (edible silver leaf, to garnish)
- fried onions and mint (to garnish)
METHOD
- Rub the gashed chicken with lemon juice and a little salt, then coat with the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli and salt, working it into the cuts and cavity; marinate overnight.
- Sauté the minced meat with a little ginger-garlic paste and garam masala until just cooked, then stuff the cavity with the keema and the boiled eggs, and tie the legs.
- Heat the ghee and oil in a wide heavy pot and sear the whole bird on all sides until golden, then lift out.
- Fry the sliced onions in the same fat until deep golden, blend half to a paste, and return with the cashew paste, ground almonds, poppy seeds, coriander, turmeric, garam masala and salt; cook until the oil separates.
- Return the chicken, spoon the gravy over, add the saffron milk and about 300ml water, cover, and cook on the lowest heat (or in a 160°C oven), basting now and then, for 60–75 minutes until the bird is tender and cooked through.
- Rest the chicken 10 minutes, then set it on a platter.
- Spoon the nut gravy around and over it.
- Garnish with fried onion, slivered almonds, mint and a sheet of varak, and serve with sheermal or naan.
