PUNJABI CHICKEN MASALA GRAVY (IN ENGLISH) EASY CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE

 

Delicious Chicken Curry Recipe

On today’s menu is a chicken curry that you will be making over and over again! Hey everyone, Nomoshkar and welcome to Curries with Bumbi. I always prefer using chicken with bones whenever it comes to curries but today I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs because that’s what was left in my freezer.

So, I will be marinating the chicken with:

Mix well and marinate it for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight if you remember to do it.

Ingredients for the Gravy

For the gravy, you will need:

For this recipe, you do not need any blender work. Everything needs to be chopped finely. Though I am using this manual food chopper, it doesn’t mean you need one of these. Just do your best in chopping as finely as possible.

Cooking Instructions

Okay guys, chopping and cutting all done. Now let’s start cooking.

Heat a pan on medium-high heat with two tablespoons of oil. I have used mustard oil but you can use any oil according to your preference. And then ghee. You must be thinking how much oil and how much ghee is she using? Well guys, it’s a Punjabi chicken recipe so ghee is a must, must, must! I love recipes with ghee.

We need these whole spices:

Remember guys, heat the oil first and then lower the heat to low before adding any whole spices to prevent them from burning. Next, add the chopped ginger and garlic. Stir for a minute on medium heat and then add the chopped onion. A sprinkle of salt and stir till the onions are well fried.

Now Bumbi, how do I know the onions are well fried? You must be thinking. To answer that, let’s zoom into the pan. See how that oil is dancing all around the sides? When you see that, you will know the onions are well fried.

Next is tomato time! Stir for about two to three minutes. Now it’s time for the spices to come one after the other. First one to enter is turmeric powder, the sunshine of Indian cuisine. Stir for two minutes. Then comes Kashmiri red chili powder. As I said earlier, it is used more for its gorgeous red color but it is very mild in terms of heat level. But as I always say, if you want no heat, then just add paprika.

Now time for the chicken to go in along with all that marinade till the last drop. Mix well and then again a tablespoon of ghee. If you do not have ghee, then you can even use butter. Along with ghee, the next spice powder to enter is ground coriander. Stir from time to time on high heat. Now guys, you want all that water coming out from the chicken to dry up. If you are using chicken with bones, you will see more water than boneless chicken, but you need all that water to dry up and that is how your curry will be tasting delicious. The water will evaporate and the oil will come to the surface, and then you’ll know you’ve done a great job.

As you can see, all the water has dried up now, so more flavoring coming up. Kasuri methi, that is dried fenugreek leaves, which you should always crush before adding to release all that flavor, and garam masala powder. Now that everything is mixed in, goes a cup and a half of hot water. I also like adding two whole green chilies, but this is totally optional. Adding the chili whole like this doesn’t make the curry too hot, but the beautiful flavor of the chilies gets infused in the gravy.

Cover on very low heat for 15 minutes. In between, just remember to give a stir and cover again. 15 minutes done, lid off, and look at that beauty!

Discard the bay leaf and cinnamon stick and the cardamoms if they catch your eyes because some people dislike it when they happen to bite onto a whole spice. Then I added a generous amount of coriander leaves. Serve this with roti or naan or rice. And if you have patience, then please make this the day before you plan to serve because the flavors get better and better as it sits in the refrigerator.