punjabi chicken curry gravy recipe

Punjabi chicken is a delicious chicken curry that is a gravy recipe made using onions and tomatoes along with some yogurt.

This chicken curry tastes impressive as it has many whole spices that go into it, and the base of the gravy, along with the spices, tastes good with either roti or paratha.

Also, check out different Punjabi chicken recipes in my collection of chicken breast recipes indian style.

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• About the recipe
• Step-by-step procedure
• Video
• Recipe

About the recipe

It is so called because in Punjab, chicken is made with gravy, often called "tari wala chicken," and the meaning of 'tari' is gravy that is gravy wala chicken curry.

The gravy is usually made by combining onions, tomatoes, and curd, which forms an excellent gravy for the chicken that goes best with many rice recipes such as bagara rice , paneer pulao or veg pulao, or any special rice recipe.

Making of this tari wala chicken curry briefly?

The procedure to make it is like any other regular curry of nonveg, where the base is mainly made using tomatoes and onions.

The difference between the Punjabi or dhaba style of cooking the curry is the curry's first stage is to give it an aromatic flavor of bay leaf and dried red chilies.

Also, other ingredients added are whole spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves, and some do add cumin seeds to the tempering to give a flavorful effect.

Roasting onions and chicken, cook the curry by adding chopped tomatoes and yogurt.

Ingredients

Oil: Oil is always added to the base, but Punjabi-style cooking usually uses butter.

Adding oil, too, gives a delicious taste, and adding butter and malai, in the end, picks up all the flavors.

Whole spices: Adding whole spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, dried red chilies, and bay leaf is an essential part of making dhaba-style chicken curries.

Dry spices: These are an essential part of every Indian curry, and ginger garlic paste is the essence of every flavorful base.

Onions and tomatoes: This curry has a beautiful gravy, making it an excellent dish to be served with rice, roti, or paratha.

It can be served with many pulao or biryani recipes too. The base is created mainly by using onion tomato gravy which gives a rich gravy masala to the curry.

Yogurt: Along with the onion tomato base, adding yogurt lifts the flavors of the dhaba-style chicken and gives it more gravy and the pleasant aroma of the curd.

Malai, butter, and kasoori methi: These three are the essential part of Punjabi cooking, and these three ingredients go together and give a rich, creamy, and aromatic flavor to any gravy.

The richness in the gravy is due to the dairy products such as milk, yogurt, or cashew nut gravy being used.

Herbs: I usually prefer to add green chilies, and cilantro leaves to every gravy and mainly the hara dhaniya leaves which are highly needed in non-veg gravies.

The herbs give a pleasing smell and do not give out a boiled smell of nonveg used.

Other regional chicken recipes to be tried are chettinad chicken, pakistani biryani

How long it takes to cook the gravy?

It takes about 40 minutes for the chicken to reach its suitable base consistency, roughly 40 to 45 minutes.

The chicken curry, in the end, is given some final touches by adding kasoori methi and malai, which is the main secret to getting the delicious flavor of the curry.

Dried kasoori methi is readily available in markets, or the fresh fenugreek at home can be dried and stored in containers to use anytime.

The kasoori methi goes well with many recipes, mainly in north indian veg and non-veg curries such as masala chicken , murgh makhani, paneer butter masala etc...

Malai is often used in many northern indian curry recipes to give the curries a creamy texture and flavor.

The combination of malai and kasuri methi lifts the flavors of these gravies.

The cream and fenugreek give a creamy flavor to the curry, which goes well with any naan as well as rice recipes or even plain white rice.

Cleaning of the chicken

The chicken, before using, has to be cleaned well by removing any skin fat present all over the chicken.

Washing the chicken well using lemon and turmeric so that the chicken can get rid of any smell it has.

Always make sure to buy fresh chicken from the seller or the store, and do make sure to clean and wash well before use.

I have updated you with a recipe for this Punjabi-style chicken curry and step-by-step pics or procedures.

Check out the step-by-step procedure for the delicious dhaba style of making the chicken Punjabi curry with chicken and yogurt masala.

Step-by-step procedure

• Take a cooking pot, add oil, and heat it.

• Add whole spices such as cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, dried red chillies, and bay leaf, and saute a few seconds.

• Add the very finely chopped onions.

• Saute until it gets soft and slightly pinkish.

• Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute to get rid of the raw smell.

• Add the chicken pieces, which are cleaned and washed well.

• Roast until the color of the chicken changes.

• Add the chopped tomato, and a teaspoon of red chili powder and mix well.

• Mix and cook the tomatoes until they turn soft and mushy.

• Take a small bowl, into it add yogurt or thick yogurt.

• Add salt to taste, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder and give a mix.

• Add this yogurt mix to the curry.

• Mix everything well.

• Cook the chicken curry for a few minutes until oil starts releasing from the sides.

• In between the cooking process, add water and give a mix.

• Check for salt and add garam masala powder.

• Mix well and cook until the chicken is almost done.

• Add slit green chilies, chopped coriander leaves, kasoori methi, and cook for 5 minutes.

• Lastly, add butter and malai to the chicken curry and cook for 2-3 minutes.

• Cook for a few more minutes if a thick gravy is preferred, and it's done...

• Switch off the flame and serve Punjabi chicken hot.
• Check out the video below...

Video

Recipe