Chicken cubes steeped in a marinade of cream (malai), cream cheese or yogurt, green chili, and white pepper, grilled on skewers to a pale, barely-charred finish that stays deliberately mild and velvety. A staple of Karachi and Lahore barbecue houses, it is the cream-based counterpoint to fiery red tikka boti.
Also known as: malai boti, chicken malai boti, malai tikka, malai boti kebab, reshmi malai boti
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 700 g boneless chicken thigh, 3.5 cm cubes
- 80 ml cream (malai)
- 50 g cream cheese or hung yogurt
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 3 green chilies, ground to a paste
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 30 g butter, melted, for basting
How to make it
- 1
Beat the cream, cream cheese, ginger-garlic, chili paste, white pepper, cardamom, lemon and salt into a pale, thick coat.
- 2
Fold in the chicken and marinate 4 hours; the dairy tenderizes gently, so there is no shortcut here.
- 3
Skewer and grill over medium coals or under a broiler 10-12 minutes, turning gently — this kebab is meant to stay ivory with only freckles of gold, not a hard char.
- 4
Brush with melted butter at every turn to keep the creamy crust from drying.
- 5
Rest 3 minutes and serve with naan and a green chutney the same color as the chilies inside.
Pro tip: White pepper and green chili do the heating so the kebab stays pale — red chili or a dark char reads as a different kebab entirely.
