Chicken Moglai Balti

This is the kind of curry that Mughal emperors ate, and one bite will tell you why empires were built around this food.

Chicken chunks cook in generous ghee with grated onions, fresh ginger, crushed garlic, green cardamom, and cinnamon sticks until everything is deeply fragrant and golden. Then comes the showstopper: a silky mixture of beaten eggs, ground almonds, sugar, and cream that transforms the wok into something outrageously luxurious.

Moglai Balti isn’t a quick weeknight curry. It’s a celebration dish, rich and aromatic, crowned with flaked almonds and meant to be savored slowly with warm naan.

Chef Tips

• Grate the onions instead of chopping them. They melt into the sauce and create a smoother base than diced onions ever could.
• Crack the cardamom pods slightly open before adding them. This releases the aromatic seeds inside without letting them scatter through the dish.
• Keep the heat very low when you add the egg and cream mixture. Too much heat will scramble the eggs and curdle the cream. Patience is everything here.
• Ground almonds thicken the sauce and add a subtle nuttiness. Don’t substitute almond flour, which is too fine and can make the sauce gritty.