Chicken Haleem –  Chicken cooked with Dals and Broken Wheat

Chicken Haleem is a delicious, wholesome and nutritious dish. This thickened stew is made of chicken that is cooked to shreds along with a broken wheat, a variety dals and/or barley. This is a traditional recipe that was given to me by my friend Balquis. To speed up the process you can use a pressure cooker, although I prefer to cook the days slowly, purely for the fact that a pressure cooker full of days and wheat is scary to me! I prefer not to  have the starch sprayed all over my kitchen.

This version is so yummy – especially served with hot, buttery naans. I like them with chapatis as well. My husband liked Haleem as a dip with vegetable sticks and pita chips.

Haleem is quite often prepared during Ramadan and especially EID! It is made more often with Mutton, but Beef and Chicken are used too. Chicken is a good option in our house because we almost always have it on hand to cook.

Garnished with some fried, crispy onions, green chillies and fresh coriander plus a dash of lime if you like. This Chicken Haleem is delectable!

This recipe includes the home made Haleem Spice Powder. Feel free to use the store-bought Haleem Mix instead.

I also have a simplified recipe of Chicken Haleem With Oats, if you want to check that out.

Chicken Haleem –  Chicken cooked with Dals and Broken Wheat

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Ingredients:

• 700 gms chicken thigh or breast meat, boneless
•  1 cup wheat – whole/ cracked /broken – I used cracked wheat
• 4 Tbsp barley
• 4 Tbsp Chana dal / Yellow lentil
• 3 Tbsp Mash dal /Split  and Husked Urad  Dal
• 3 Tbsp Masoor Dal / Split Red Lentil
• 3 Tbsp Mung Dal – Split Green Lentil
• 3 large onions finely sliced (I use a mandolin slicer to slice the onions)
• 5 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 5 whole green chillies (reduce if desired)
• 3 small stick of cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
• ¾ cup oil or ghee (for frying of onions)
• 2 – 2¼ tsp salt (as er taste)

For the haleem spice mix:

• 2 tsp kashmiri chilli flakes
• 1 tsp black pepper corns
• ¾ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp shahi jeera/ black cumin
• ½ tsp mace
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cloves
• ½ tsp green cardamom

For garnish:

• fresh lime wedge
• fresh coriander
• ginger julienne
• green chilli slices
• Optional – a few saffron strands
• Optional – a dash of chat masala

Method:

• Add all the wheat, barley and dals together in a bowl. (Scroll down to see the types of dal used).
• 
• Rinse the dal mixture well and drain.
• 
• Cover with plenty of water and allow to soak for overnight. Or a minimum of 4 hours.
• 
• Discard the water. Add about 9-10 cups of fresh water and cook the dal, till good and tender. Mash the dal well.
• 
• To make the spice powder: Add all the spices for the Haleem Spice Mix to a grinder.
• 
• Grind to a powder. Set aside.
• 
• Add the oil or ghee for frying the onions to a thick bottomed pot.
• Add the FINELY sliced onions and allow to turn golden and crisp.
• 
• Quickly remove and drain on paper towels.
• 
• Remove most of the ghee or oil from the pot. (Leave 4-5 Tbsp).
• To this add the cinnamon and bay leaves. Allow to crackle.
• 
• Next, add the ginger garlic paste as well as the whole green chili and stir till it no longer smells raw. It should smell nice and fragrant, without going dark. (About 2 minutes).
• 
• At this point, return half of the fried onions to the pot. Stir well. Cook about 2 minutes.
• 
• Add the chicken now and  toss well.
• 
• Cook on high heat, till the chicken changes color to white all over. About 5 minutes.
• 
• Add the haleem spice powder. Toss well.
• 
• Also add salt. Allow the juices from the chicken to be absorbed and the flavors  to mix through.
• 
• Optional: At this point, I often turn off the heat and allow the chicken to rest. This tends to deepen the flavor which I love). Continue after 10-20 minutes if you have time.
• Add the fresh coriander and mint.
• 
• Add enough water to cover the chicken well.
• Bring to boil. Then lower heat and cook 10 – 15 minutes covered.
• 
• You should now be able to mash or shred the chicken.You can also strain the pieces from the gravy. Allow to cool and return to the gravy after shredding by hand.
• 
• Now return the cooked and mashed dal/wheat mixture.
• 
• Add just enough hot water to be able to stir the haleem easily.
• Add another 1- 1 ¼ tsp salt and simmer for 10 – 15 more minutes. Stir occasionally.
•   

Chicken Haleem –  Chicken stewed with Dals and Broken Wheat

• Ginger garlic paste is made by grinding equal portions of ginger and garlic, with a few drops of water to a smooth paste.
• Ghee lends an authentic taste to this dish. Instead of using all ghee, you can use part ghee and part oil as well.
• To make the chicken more tender, soak in a bowl of slightly salted lukewarm water while the dal is cooking. Drain from the water and add to the pot when needed.
• Here are the varieties of dals and wheat used:

Key Ingredients: Chicken, Wheat, Mixed Lentils, Barley, Spices, Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Green Chilli, Oil/Ghee, Salt, Herbs.

Let us know if you tried Chicken Haleem –  Chicken stewed with Dals and Broken Wheat. Comments from you provide motivation to keep up the driving force behind this blog, bringing you more delicious and perfected recipes regularly. Please do leave a comment. Llove to hear from you.