Ingredients:

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   8                    chicken breasts*
                        unsalted butter to sear the chicken
                        ***FOR THE MARINADE***
  60      grams         yogurt cheese
   2      tablespoons   cream -- (30 ml)
  20      grams         ginger paste -- strained
  10      grams         garlic paste -- strained
                        Salt to taste
                        ***FOR THE GRAVY***
   5      tablespoons   desi ghee -- (clarified butter)
  18                    black peppercorns
   8                    cardamoms
   6                    cloves
   5      cm            cinnamon
   2                    bay leaves
   2 1/2  grams         shahjeera
 200      gram          onion paste -- boiled
  20      grams         ginger paste -- strained
  10      grams         garlic paste -- strained
 150      gram          curd
  10      grams         green chile paste
   2      tablespoons   almond paste -- fried (30 g)
  30      grams         mawa
   1      1 liter       clear chicken stock
                        Salt to taste
     3/4  teaspoon      cardamom powder -- (4 g)
     1/2  teaspoon      rose petal powder
   2      teaspoons     lemon juice -- (10 ml)
                        ***FOR THE GARNISHING***
  12                    pistachios -- blanched, peeled
                        -- and sliced
   2      sheets        silver varakh

Preparation:

* put breasts between plastic wrap and slightly flatten with a kitchen mallet To prepare the marinade: Whisk yogurt cheese in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk again until well blended. Evenly rub the chicken breasts with the marinade and keep aside for 30 minutes. For the searing: Melt butter in a frying pan and add the marinated chicken breasts. Sear over high heat for four minutes, turning once. Remove to an absorbent paper to drain excess fat and keep aside. Whisk the curd in a bowl, add the green chile paste and whisk again until well blended. Either crumble the mawa or pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove lumps. Heat desi ghee in a pan. Add peppercorns, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and shahjeera. Stir over medium heat until the cardamoms begin to change color. Add the boiled onion paste and stir-fry until the ghee floats to top. Add ginger paste and garlic paste and stir-fry until specks of ghee begin to appear on the surface. Add the curd mixture and stir-fry until specks of ghee begin to appear on the surface. Add almond paste and mawa, and stir-fry until ghee floats on top. Add stock and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by a quarter. Remove and pass the gravy through a fine-mesh soup strainer into a separate pan. Return the gravy to heat. Add the seared chicken and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked and the sauce is quite thick. Add cardamom powder and rose petal powder. Stir well. Sprinkle lemon juice, stir and remove from heat. Adjust the seasoning To serve: Arrange two breast pieces on each of the four individual plates. Pour the sauce over and garnish with pistachio slivers. Cover with silver varakh and serve with baakarkhaani.