Chicken Mughlai paratha

Crispy, flaky, pan fried and a one dish delicious meal. This chicken mughlai paratha recipe is stuffed with egg and shredded chicken that can be easily made in 30 minutes. 

There are many types of parantha recipes that you will find within the Indian cuisine.

Some are plain, some stuffed and others mixed with other ingredients.

Bengali style Mughlai Paratha also known as ‘Moglai Porota’ in Bengali is a popular Bengali street food that has a huge fan following.

Like most street foods it may not be the healthiest of dishes but there is nothing to dislike about this crispy, flaky flat bread stuffed with spicy soft egg and mince mixture.

There is nothing complicated about this easy mughlai paratha recipe.

Simple ingredients, infact you can reuse your left over mince or rotisserie chicken to make chicken mughlai paratha.

Ingredients For Making Mughlai Parantha

You can personalise any type of stuffed parathas to suit your own taste.

A traditional mughlai paratha recipe will involve a generous helping of egg, any type of mincemeat  and oil.

For this particular recipe I have used leftover rotisserie chicken and shredded it.

Here are the ingredients you will need for the recipe:

FRESH OR PANTRY INGREDIENTS 

⇒ 2 cups Plain Flour
⇒ 4 eggs
⇒ 1 cup shredded chicken (You can also use any leftover mince or shredded  meat )
⇒ 2 tsp ginger juice or ginger paste

⇒ 2 green chillies

⇒ Salt to taste
⇒ Oil for deep frying

⇒ Oil – 4 tbsp for kneading

⇒ 1 1/2 cups water for kneading 

SPICES NEEDED

⇒ 2 tsp cumin powder

⇒ 2 teas coriander powder

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS 

⇒ a handful of coriander leaves

⇒ 1 tsp garam masala powder

SUBSTITUTE INGREDIENTS 

⇒ Substitute shredded chicken with any minced or shredded meat.

⇒ Substitute meat with boiled potatoes or finely chopped vegetables like cauliflower and carrots or Indian cottage cheese like paneer.

How to Make Chicken Mughlai Paratha

The most time consuming part for this recipe is to prepare the dough.

It becomes easier if you have leftover meat that cannot be made into another meal but by making this meat/chicken mughlai paratha you get to turn it into a complete meal.

Here are the steps to make mughlai parantha at home.

STEP 1 

MAKE THE DOUGH

Mix plain flour, salt, oil and water and make into a soft dough. Feel for 15 minutes.

STEP 2

MAKE THE FILLING

In a bowl,mix eggs, spices, salt, coriander leaves, green chillies and shredded chicken. Mix well as set aside.

STEP 3 

ROLL THE DOUGH

Start rolling the dough in to a thin round. Make sure that the dough is not rolled too thin and not too thick.

STEP 4 

SPREAD THE FILLING

Spread out the filling  mixture in the middle of the rolled out dough.

STEP 5 

FOLD THE PARATHA

Fold the paratha into an envelop form, starting with the outer side layers and then the top sides to lock the mixture in.

STEP 6 

FRY THE MUGHLAI PARATHA

Heat oil in a pan. It should not be too hot. Put the flat side of the paratha in the oil and fry on medium heat until slight brown in colour.

STEP 7 

Gently roll the paratha over to the other side and fry until golden brown on  both sides.

STEP 8 

Serve chicken paratha with ketchup and salad. In Kolkata it is served with a spicy potato curry and shredded salad.

Cooking Notes and FAQ’s

⇒ Do not make the dough to hard. It needs to be soft but non-sticky.

⇒ Do not roll the dough out into a thin layer. Making it too thin may lead to the mixture soaking the dough and to escape from the dough.

⇒ The spices added to the filling is optional. Add them if you wish to add some heat to the dish.

⇒ Fry on medium heat to ensure that the dough is properly cooked from inside.

Can I substitute egg with something else?

Unfortunately not! The essence of mughlai paratha is in the egg filling.

If you wish to skip egg completely , then it will become a regular Indian stuffed parantha which is equally delicious.

Can I substitute chicken with something else?

Yes, I have given few substitute filling options under the ingredients list above.

I tend to make parathas when I have something leftover. It saves me the trouble of making the filling from scratch and completely transforms the type of dish.

For this Mughlai paratha recipe I have used leftover rotisserie chicken that was pre-seasoned.

For the Indian spicy touch I added spices like ground coriander and cumin  along with fresh green chillies.  If your leftover dish is already spices you do not need to add any extra spices.

For substitutes you can use any leftover mince meat, or shredded pieces of meat.

Not non meat eaters, you can use finely chopped vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, boiled potatoes or Indian cottage cheese.

Be mindful of the water content when using vegetables you do not want the filling to have moisture from the water as the egg makes it slightly runny anyway. Besides water in oil may lead to an explosion in the pan.

How to  Mughlai paratha using less oil?

A traditional Mughlai parantha is almost submerged in half oil filled flat pan.

An idea to use less oil is to add 5 -6 tablespoons of oil instead of 1/2 cup and fry the parathas in low heat moving from side to side so that it gets evenly cooked.

What Is Mughlai Parantha?

Mughlai paratha came into being during the  Mughal rule in India.

Being ardent connoisseurs of good food the Mughal Nawabs have influenced many aspects of the Indian food especially the  Bengali cuisine.

Recipes of  kormas, kebabs and Biriyani have all seeped through the royal kitchens into the Indian homes.

You will find this popular Bengali street food in the street of Bangladesh as well.

Although eaten as a snack or filler meal, the heaviness of mughlai  paratha can be one of those indulgent meals when you are not counting calories. It also makes a good packed lunch time food.

It’s a kind of dish that can be had any time of the day either for breakfast, lunch or dinner and is also good for lunch boxes. Ideally served with a potato curry this is a meal which bongs all over the world (including me) forget about counting calories and simply dig in !!

Other Mughlai Recipes To Try

Here are few recipes influenced by the Mughal cuisine for you to try.

Chicken Rezala Recipe 

Fish Korma 

Bengali Fish Fry 

Mango Rasmalai