Hyderabadi chicken starter - chicken majestic is a well known dish enjoyed by many. This slightly hot, spicy and delicious dish can also be served with rice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: Andhra

Ingredients

  • 300 grams chicken (boneless strips or fillets)
  • ½ cup Buttermilk ((or yogurt/ curd))
  • 1 ½ tbsp corn flour
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 ½ tsp Ginger garlic paste
  • 1/8 tsp turmeric (or haldi)
  • ¼ to ½ tsp red chili powder
  • Oil (for deep frying or for pan frying which ever you chose to)
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 2 green chilies
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • Handful mint leaves (or pudina leaves)
  • 1 tbsp soya sauce
  • ¼ to ½ tsp red chili powder
  • ½ tsp. garam masala powder
  • 3 tbsp. yogurt ((thick curd) (do not use sour one))

Method

Preparation to make majestic chicken

  1. Wash and cut chicken to strips to around 2 ½ inches length.
  2. Soak them in buttermilk and salt for at least 20 mins if deep frying. Keep for 2 to 4 hours if you wish to pan fry or bake.
  3. Drain up the buttermilk and add ginger garlic paste, turmeric, corn flour and red chili powder. Mix well and set aside for at least 10 mins.

If Frying in oil

  1. Deep fry on a medium heat. If you fry on a low heat, the chicken will turn out hard and if you fry on very high heat, the chicken will not be cooked well from inside. So once the oil is hot, reduce it to medium, wait for a min and then add chicken pieces to oil.
  2. Fry till these are lightly golden. Remove it to a kitchen tissue.

If grilling in oven

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C for about 15 to 20 mins. Then place the chicken on a greased tray or put them on skewers.
  2. Grill them for 8 mins on each side or until done. Adjust the time as needed depending on the oven.

How to make chicken majestic

  1. Whisk the yogurt well with a fork and keep aside. Pour 1 tbsp oil to a hot pan.
  2. Add garlic, curry leaves and green chilies. Fry till the curry leaves turn crispy. Garlic also smells good by then.
  3. Next add mint leaves, red chili powder and garam masala. Saute for a minute.
  4. Take the pan down from the heat and pour the whisked yogurt. Mix well and cook on a low flame till the moisture evaporates and becomes thick. Add soya sauce and mix.
  5. Add chicken. Mix for the chicken to blend well with the cooked mixture. Off the heat.
  6. Serve chicken majestic as a starter or as a side to rasam or rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.