Flattened chicken breast pieces marinated in a spiced yogurt with mace and cardamom, shallow-fried and then simmered briefly in a light cream-almond sauce — the Lucknow pasanda preparation where the meat is flattened to create maximum surface for marination and the quickest, most even cooking.
Ingredients
500 g boneless chicken breast — cut into thick slices then pounded flat between plastic to 1 cm thickness
For the marinade: 3/4 cup yogurt, 1 tbsp ginger paste, 1 tbsp garlic paste, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp mace powder, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp garam masala, salt, 2 tbsp oil
1/4 cup blanched almonds — soaked and blended to paste
1/2 cup fresh cream, 1 tsp kewra water
salt, 1/2 tsp garam masala
Method
Pound the chicken flat: Place chicken slices between two sheets of plastic. Pound gently with a meat mallet or rolling pin to 1 cm even thickness. Pounding tenderises and ensures the marinade penetrates completely.
Marinate: Mix all marinade ingredients. Coat each flattened piece thoroughly. Marinate 2 hours minimum.
Shallow fry: Heat 2 tbsp oil in a flat pan on medium-high. Fry the marinated flat chicken pieces for 2 to 3 minutes per side until golden with slight char spots. The flat shape ensures fast, even cooking. Remove.
Make the sauce: Heat 2 tbsp butter. Cook onion 8 minutes until soft.
Add ginger paste: Cook 1 minute.
Add almond paste: Add the smooth almond paste. Cook stirring 3 minutes until the almond cooks and the raw nut smell disappears.
Add cream: Add cream on low heat. Stir gently.
Add the fried chicken: Add the pan-fried flat chicken pieces to the light almond-cream sauce. Spoon sauce over each piece.
Simmer 5 minutes: Cook on low heat 5 minutes — just to heat through and allow the chicken to absorb the sauce. The pasanda should not be overcooked at this stage.
Finish: Add kewra water and garam masala. Serve with roomali roti.
Note: Pasanda (from the Persian word meaning pleased or chosen — the best cuts) is a specific Mughal-Awadhi preparation where the best pieces of meat are flattened and cooked quickly — as opposed to slow-cooked whole pieces. The technique of flattening (tenderising with a mallet) was used specifically to enable faster cooking without toughening — a technique that the Nawabi kitchen applied to both lamb and chicken. The kewra water (screwpine flower essence) is the floral finishing element that is specifically Awadhi.