Dhaba-Style Chicken Curry Recipe

How many times have you been to a desi Punjabi Dhaba and craved a full plate piping hot chicken curry? I am sure many of you are experiencing your mouth watering just the way I am even thinking about it! Sitting on the wooden cot on a cozy winter night with your family and taking a bite of spicy yet tender chicken curry with butter naan is always one matchless moment. 

Sure you can go out for a nice Dhaba dinner but that is a rare occasion. To be precise, this happens mostly when you are on a trip. How about having the same food on your table? As the winter season is upon us, having a Punjabi dhaba-style chicken curry would be the best thing for your weekend family dinner. 

Yes, there are many recipes available but this one is something that gives you the real home-like flavors. It's an easy, quick, and extremely flavorful curry recipe.

Read on, head to the kitchen, and get to cooking this delicious meal. 

Level - Intermediate

Total time - 45 minutes

Serving - 4 people

Ingredients to have 

• 750 gm chicken 
• 3 tomatoes
• 4 medium onion
• 1-inch ginger
• 10 garlic cloves
• 5 green chili (or as per taste)
• 2 tablespoon yogurt
• 4 tablespoon oil (here I am using mustard oil)

• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 3 cardamom 
• 1 tsp jeera
• 2 tablespoon Coriander powder 
• 2 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tablespoon chicken masala
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
• Salt to taste

Preparation 

There is no special preparation for this one however, still, some stuff needs to be done before the actual steps. 

• Let's begin with finely chopping onion to fine small cuts. 

• Next up, peel your garlic and ginger and add them to the pasta maker. Along with ginger and garlic, add green chilies too. This is how you can prepare your garlic, ginger, and chili paste. 
• Roughly chop tomatoes and grind them finely into the puree. No boiling, de-seeding, or peeling, just raw tomatoes ground into a fine puree.

That's all, this is all the preparation you need for the curry recipe. Next up we have to marinate the chicken beforehand. 

Marination

While cooking any type of meat, it may sound unnecessary to marinate anything. However, the truth is, this whole marination makes the final thing more flavorful. This is the same method we are using here in this recipe. Follow the steps. 

• In a big bowl, which is easy to mix in, take your chicken. Make sure it has fine curry cuts and is washed properly. 
• To the chicken, add yogurt, salt, and ginger, garlic, and green chili paste. 
• Mix it well using your hands and leave it for about 30 minimum. If you have time to cook, it is best to marinate for about 3 hours or maybe overnight for the best flavor to pop out. 

This is the marination we will be using in the cooking. 

Curry procedure

• Take a thick bottom pan. Here I am using an iron Kadai. Allow it to heat up. 

• Add the oil and let it cook until the raw smell is out. 
• Now add all the dry spices - cardamom, bay leaves, jeera, and cloves. Allow them to pop for like a second or two. 
• Right away, add finely chopped onion and mix it well. You need to turn the onions into a nice golden brown color. This will take about 5-10 minutes. Mix in between for even cooking. 

• Now, as the onions are done, add freshly made tomato puree. Mix it well and allow it to cook. You need to cook it to the point when the tomato juice evaporates and the oil is about to float above your masala. 

• This is the point where you would add your powder spices. Chicken masala, Coriander powder, turmeric, black pepper powder, and red chili powder. Mix it well nicely until the oil separates from the masala gently. This masala will cook at a medium flame.
• Don't forget to mix in different intervals otherwise the masala will take no time to burn and there is no coming back from that point. 

• I am sure you will also cook your masala nicely. Hence, it's time to add your marinated chicken to the Kadai. This mixing might seem a bit critical but is not. 
• Mix it gently from all the sides until the masala is coating every bit of chicken pieces. 
• Now, cover up with a lid and let it cook for about 10 minutes on medium flame. 
• Open up the lid and you will notice that chicken will leave its moisture in the Kadai. This is totally fine because this will allow the chicken to cook in its own juices. 
• Mix it well after every 5 minutes till the point when chicken is almost there to cook completely. 
• Now, on a different gas, take a pan and add about 2 glasses of water. Turn on the gas and let it boil completely. This water is for the gravy, so make as much as you want. 
• As the chicken is about to get softer, add the boiled water to it and cook for another 5 minutes. This is to let the water soak all the flavors in for a nice and tender chicken curry. 

• Here comes the final step, turn off the gas and add on the top a bunch of chopped fresh Coriander for added flavor. 
• There you go. Your Dhaba-style Punjabi chicken curry is all ready to serve hot from the Kadai. 

You can serve this chicken with Afghani bread that tastes amazing or simply with Tawa roti. Butter naan, rice, and garlic naan taste amazing with this curry. Moreover, this one is the best to serve if you are expecting some guests at your home. 

Tips for cooking:

• Marination is an important step please DO NOT skip this one. Yes, you may not have enough time but make sure you let it rest in the mix of spices for at least half an hour. 
• Talking about marination, you can also add powdered spices along with curd, ginger, garlic, and chili paste. This will let all the spices go deep in the cuts for better flavors. 
• Don't overcook chicken because it will not stay tender but get chewier which is not good to eat at all. 
• Here I have used Everest chicken masala & you can use the same. However, if you want to make a masala of your own, you can also do that as well. We will come up with that recipe later. That spice mix is easy to make and there will be no hard spices in your curry.
• When it comes to pieces, curry cuts are the best ones for it. Don't keep it too small or too big. Have more leg and thigh pieces for the best taste and easy eating. 

Why chicken?

Being the most commonly consumed poultry, chicken is one low-cost high source of protein. Anyone can easily incorporate this with any type of cooking be it grilling, boiling, frying, baking, or barbecuing. 

However, what other reasons are there for you to eat chicken? The list is neverending. But, down here are some points to make you see all the goodness. 

• Chicken is comparatively low in calories and high in protein. This is the reason why most dieticians would tell you to incorporate more of these little bird flesh in your diet than any red meat. 
• It keeps you full for longer and also helps you in building up muscles. So, if you are someone spending hours in the gym for that super-hot lean body, have more chicken. 
• Fried chicken or fast-food chicken is undoubtedly not so healthy which is why you must have something made at home. This is where chicken recipes come in like this one. 

Conclusion

Chicken is one good thing that has all the important nutrients that you need. Also, when you cook something at home, the authentic taste you develop is matchless. That has a lot to do with your type of cooking things. 

Sure, Dhabas are known for their fresh food items and fresh tadka in every dish they serve but you can have that too in your kitchen. This chicken curry recipe is just the one you need to leave a chef-like impression on your guest’s mind. 

So, what are you waiting for? Cook something delicious for your homies with the best of home flavors.