Pan-seared stuffed chicken roll in creamy fenugreek sauce – my take on famous Indian “Methi Malai Murgh” dish. I stuffed the chicken with nutmeg flavored cottage cheese and flavored the sauce with green cardamom which worked really well together. Used milk and cornstarch instead of cream to healthify it up. Best served with Jeera Pulao or Matar Pulao.

Chicken Roulade with Methi Malai Sauce

Servings: 2

Ingredients for Chicken Roulade:

Chicken Breast: 1

Cottage Cheese(Paneer): 1/4 cup, grated

Nutmeg: 1/4 tsp, freshly grated

Salt: 1 tsp (As required)

Pepper: 1 tsp

Oil: 1 tbsp

Ingredients for Methi Malai Sauce:

Fresh Fenugreek Leaves: 2 cups

Onion: 1 Large, roughly chopped

Ginger: 1″ inch piece, roughly chopped

Garlic: 4-5 cloves

Green Chillies: 2-3 (As your preference)

Poppy seeds: 1 tbsp

Cashew Nuts: 3-4 (Optional, I did not use it)

Green Cardamom: 4-5 cloves

Dried Fenugreek Leaves(Kasuri Methi): 1 tsp

Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp

Milk: 1 cup

Cornstarch: 1/2 tsp

Honey/Sugar: 1 tsp

Salt: 1 tsp (As required)

Oil: 1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. To make Chicken Roulade, butterfly the chicken breast. Watch this video to know how to butterfly the chicken breast fillet.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqjfQP3Mp2k
2. Pound the butterflied chicken with back of the knife to make it flat with even thickness
3. Season with salt and pepper on both sides and set aside for 30 mins
4. Take fenugreek leaves in a bowl and add salt and set aside to release water.
5. In a bowl, take grated cottage cheese, salt and nutmeg powder and knead well for 3-4 mins to make it smooth. Shape it into a log.
6. Take aluminium foil and place chicken breast on it. Place the cottage cheese log on the chicken breast and roll tightly. Now roll the aluminium foil to secure the chicken roll tightly like a toffee cover.
7. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and cook the chicken with aluminium foil on medium heat for 10 minutes rolling every few minutes. Alternatively, you can poach the chicken by placing the same aluminium roll in boiling water for 1o minutes.
8. Remove the aluminium cover and by now the chicken will take the shape of roulade. Cook it again on the pan with little oil for 5-7 minutes or until lightly brown uniformly and cooked thoroughly.
9. For the sauce, boil onions, ginger, garlic, green chili, cashew, green cardamom and blend into smooth paste along with poppy seeds.
10. Take oil in non-stick pan and saute the paste for 4-5 minutes until oil separates at the edges.
11. Meanwhile, squeeze the water out of fenugreek leaves and add to onion mixture and saute for a minute.
12. Add milk, sugar, dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala and salt, and adjust the seasoning. Cover cook for 2-3 minutes until flavors develop.
13. Mix cornstarch with a little milk or water and add to the sauce and cook for two minutes until thickens and switch off the flame.
14. Arrange the stuffed chicken roulade on serving plate and pour the sauce over it and serve.