When it comes to simple everyday meals, I find it hard to succumb myself to the traditional Indian daily routine of Dal–Sabzi, translated, simply meaning a lentil and vegetable preparation. My idea of a simple Indian lunch would mainly consist of a quick Chicken Curry and a side of rice and a salad.
Often, when I talk to people on the topic of curries, the most common concern I get confronted with is the amount of time, and not to mention the effort that comes with it. I for one, beg to differ. For me, curry is nothing but a smooth blend of flavours brought together to highlight a star ingredient. True, you can spend hours toasting, pounding, and grinding spices to form the smoothest of pastes; you can spend days marinating and chopping to achieve the most delicate blend possible, and you can also lose yourself in a cloud of spices and herbs that would fill your kitchen and your home with an aroma almost so ambrosial, you would think you woke up in a foreign land. But then again, you could do what I do on days when all I have at my disposal are a few measly minutes at the brink of lunch-time with a rumbling tummy to cater to.
As I see it, curries are not something one should be afraid of. Neither are they something to look at with such cynicism or vengeance. A simple chicken curry can be easily tamed to suit one’s tastes and preferences. I like mine to be quick and robust in flavour, and I don’t stop till I find my way with it.
DAHIWALI CHICKEN CURRY (CHICKEN SIMMERED IN A CREAMY YOGURT GRAVY)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp light cooking oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3-4 green cardamom pods bruised
- 3-4 whole cloves
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1-2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4 turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt beaten till smooth
- 2 large boneless chicken breasts diced into 1-inch cubes
- a handful fresh coriander leaves chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan and add in cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves. Once they begin to sizzle, add in onions and green chillies, and fry for 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat till onions turn pink and tender. Add in ginger and garlic pastes and saute for another minute or two till fragrant.
- Add in red chilli powder, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala, and fry for a minute. Mix in chopped tomatoes and salt, and cook for a few minutes till tomatoes pulp and releases oil around the sides of the pan. Slowly stir in beaten yogurt forming a smooth gravy base.
- Add chicken pieces, water if necessary, and allow to cook covered for 10-15 minutes on medium-low heat till done. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and serve piping hot with a side of rotis or rice, and a salad.
This post was originally published in January 2007 and has been recently updated.
If you liked this recipe, then you will surely enjoy my Homestyle Chicken Curry.
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Your chicken curry looks wonderful! I love the combination of spices that you used too. Thanks for sharing this recipe at the Good Food Friday link party!
We love curry anything here, and this dish looks absolutely amazing, Thanks so much!
I made this today and thoroughly enjoyed it! I wish I had discovered this earlier though…
Pretty good job. I just stumbled across your blog and wanted to say, I love browsing your blog posts. In any case, I will subscribe to your feed, I hope you write again!
Made this today with chicken thighs because that’s what I had in the freezer. It was really good. Definitely saved to favorites.
These look fantastic and your photo is just beautiful!
Hey, your sis told me bout this site, and been trying out some of the recipes. Quite lazy when it comes to cooking, and have two left hands to make it worse. Tried your chicken curry last week, and I’m well pleased with the results! Keep those recipes coming, pretty please. Some of us poor souls across the Atlantic survive off this! 🙂
I am planning to make this recipe tomorrow for dinner. It looks so very tasty, and the recipe backs up the image!
This is an awesome blog! I visited a friend in Bangladesh a few years ago and I have been unsuccessfully trying to recreate the great food I had there ever since then. I was searching for simpler curry recipes and I had a question about this one. What do you mean by “bruised” cardamom pods? I have purchased green cardamom pods before and they were very hard little things. Do you literally mean bruised (just on the surface) or more like completely “smashed” so the insides fall out? Also, do you use green or black pods for this recipe? I don’t have enough experience to know what the different types are used for in all cases. Thanks for all your work.
Thanks FN, I’ve used the green cardamom in this recipe. By bruising, I simply mean crushing the cardamom pods slightly to break it on the outside so that it can release its flavourful aroma. I hope you try out this recipe, it’s one of my personal favourites!
Thanks for this lovely recipe..delicious!
Hi Meena! Your recipes are wonderful and easy to follow. Most times turns out well. Cannot help noticing that you nearly always use chicken breasts for your chicken recipes. In my part of the world, ie. Singapore, fresh chicken is easily available and it is easy to debone them. You can also buy boneless legs from the market! I would think all your chicken recipes would taste even better if you use fresh chicken and especially the boneless legs. What say you?
You are so lucky! I would love to use boneless legs MC, if only they were available this side of the Earth! But alas, chicken breasts are what’s most popular here, so they land up in many of my recipes. I do, however, use boneless thighs as well and they taste great, so feel free to use whatever works for you. Thanks for connecting!
Hi Meena.. just wanted to give you an update.. the chicken was a big hit at my office holiday pot luck!! Thank you so much!! 🙂
Happy Holidays.. Happy New Year! 🙂
Great recipe, my Hyderbadi husband loved it! Just as good as MAMMA!
Thanks!
Hey Meena.. I’m making this for our office’s holiday pot luck lunch! Might try it in a small quantity once before that too. Will let you know how it goes! 🙂
a wonderful curry -I’ve bookmarked it to make after thanksgiving.
i already have all the ingredients!
xoxo,jaden
i would like to know when u mention 2 large chicken breasts ,how many grams of chicken it would be? Your recipes are really good!
I’ve now made this several times, and I have to say it’s absolutely wonderful; very, very tasty! Thank you for the recipe!
Looks awesome, will try soon. Adding link in my blogroll.
I made this today and it came out really well. Thank you for your clear, easy-to-follow directions! I have two pretty dumb questions, though.
1. When you say green chilis, is it okay to use jalapenos? They’re the only green chilli pepper I can buy fresh, is why I’m asking. (The nearest Indian market is a two-hour drive away.)
2. The big lumpy spices (cinnamon stick, peppercorns, cardamom pods, bay leaves) — Am I supposed to fish those out before serving or anything? Cardamom pods, for one, are kind of a surprise if you aren’t expecting their wallop of floral goodness.
Hi Teep, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. To answer your questions, yes, definitely you can substitute chillies for jalapenos. Just be careful with the quantities you throw in! And secondly, I usually serve the curry with all the whole spices still in, but I always warn my guests to keep a watch for them. You can sure fish them out if you wish, it might be a daunting task, but certainly much easier on guests! Hope that helps! 🙂
I am planning to make this recipe tomorrow for dinner. It looks so very tasty, and the recipe backs up the image!
meena the chicken as well as the chilli paneer turnwd out greta. infact i cooked the dahiwalla chicken again n my mom loved it. thanks a toon for the great recipe girl! 🙂 will let u know whne i put up the pics in my blog.
I love curry. I’m familiar with curries. but traditionally, we don’t use yogurt, but santan (coconut milk). I’ve made Indian curries several times. and I love it to scoop them with crispy poppadoms. lovely dish.
yes, thx Meena, I made some karahi chicken with spices similar to this one, got adventurous with kerala seeds hehe, and I did dip the gravy with some rotis yayy !! Thx 🙂
Your site is fantastic, and the pictures are beautiful. Drool-worthy. I am certainly going to try your chilli paneer recipe. If only I could get a taste of yours!
Made the chicken last night and it came out excellent. Thank You 🙂
Chicken in yogurt? It’s one of my favourite dishes and I haven’t made it in forever. Thanks for the inspiration! Yum. It truly looks amazing.
oh god, I could just drink the gravy like a soupppp, although some roti would be nice, great recipe, thanks for sharing 🙂
Oh my lord, that looks sooo amazing!!!
that looks so very good. would be great with kadak naan and an onion salad, i think!
hey, meena…im here for the second time n loved reading through ur posts! apart from writing so well I also liked ur photographs 🙂 I’m having an old childhood friend over for lunch tmrw n I found the perfect dishes to prepare here! will be cooking this chicken curry n the chilli paneer! will let u know how the lunch goes 🙂
This looks like the curry dish I get at Indian restaurants. Fantastic. It goes so well with the rice. 🙂
Great and evergreen recipe Meena! My husband also makes it almost the same way and we love it with Butter Naan or rice. The picture is colourful and beautifully taken, as usual 🙂
The chicken looks so good. And I have to tell you. you have a flair for writing. I enjoy reading your blog. I completely agree with you about quick no fuss ‘curries’. Unless it’s a dum biryani I will not spend more than 30 minutes on 1 dish.
Wow! Great site! The chicken curry looks amazing! And your pepper chicken, OMG, I am going to try that out as soon as I get time! I had no idea there are all these great blogs around till I started blogging myself… I am never spending money on a cookbook again 🙂