Dahi Chicken Recipe
Dahi Wala Chicken or Dahi Murgh is a spicy & tangy chicken dish in a mellow yogurt sauce flavored with fresh ground spices.
Ingredients
For The Chicken
- 1.6 lb (~750g) bone in chicken 10-12 pieces
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Dry Spices
- 2 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 12-15 black pepper corn
- 4 cloves
- 4 whole dry red chillies adjust to taste
- 2 black cardamom seeds only
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
For The Sauce
- 4-5 tablespoon oil or ghee
- 2 bay leaf
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic minced
- 1 cup onion thinly sliced
- ¾ cup yogurt , use whole yogurt
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste or 2 tablespoon tomato puree (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder or paprika optional
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi optional
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry using a paper towel.Once dried, rub the lemon & salt. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, on low heat, dry roast all the whole spices [except turmeric,nutmeg & salt] till you smell the aroma. About 3 minutes.
- Let the roasted spices cool down a bit. Once cooled, tip into your coffee grinder or using mortar & pestle, coarsely grind the spices.
- Add half of the ground spices, turmeric, salt and nutmeg to the chicken. Thoroughly rub all over.Let while you work on the masala.
- Whisk the other half of the spice powder with yogurt.Keep near.
- In your cooking pot, heat up oil. Once oil is slightly smoky, layer the chicken in batches in oil. Here, the idea is just to sear and seal the chicken [not cook it]. You can do it in a non stick pan as well. I just use the same pot. Let sear on both sides. Once seared, remove from oil in a plate.
- Add bay leaf and cinnamon to the remaining oil in the pot. Saute for 10 seconds and then add the ginger and garlic. Saute for another 10 seconds and then add the onions.
- Cook the onions till nicely caramelized and browned (but not dark brown).About 5-7 minutes.
- Add the yogurt and combine well with onions. Cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly to avoid curdling. You will slowly see yogurt releasing water. TIP: Whenever adding yogurt to hot pot, ensure that the stove is on the lowest mark.
- Keep cooking for another 2-3 minutes and once you see that the masala is oily, add the chicken along with juices. Bump up the heat to medium and mix the chicken well till its coated in the onion yogurt masala.
- Cover the pot and let cook for 20-25 minutes or till chicken is done. Dont add water. As the chicken will cook,it will release its own juices which are enough along with moisture of yogurt to cook it.You will need to stir 2-3 times in between to make sure that the chicken is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the chicken is cooked, add the tomato paste, kashmiri red chilli and kasuri methi. Mix together and saute on high heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Finish with cilantro and serve warm.
Notes
- You can make this recipe with boneless chicken. Use boneless skinless chicken thighs. I would recommend rubbing the chicken with ground spices and letting it sit for 3-4 hours for extra flavor.
- Make sure that the chicken is dry when you rub the spices. Sear chicken on medium heat to avoid spices from sticking or burning.
- Make sure that the yogurt is not too watery or too sour. You can use hung curd as well.
- I love the sweetish acidity that tomato paste adds. You can absolutely skip it. I find it better than adding sugar.
- Make it Spicy - Mix in some chopped thai bird green chilies right before serving.
- Deluxe - When you are serving for parties, you can also finish it with 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream.
- Kid friendly - This dish has quite a kick of black pepper, reduce the black pepper quantity if you are making for kids.
- Make it Vegetarian - You can use this recipe for a vegetarian version with paneer or gobhi(cauliflower).Simply mix the ground spices with yogurt and make the sauce following the recipe. Add fried paneer or shallow fried gobhi to the cooked masala. Its delicious!!
- You can also use this spice rub on chicken and vegetables, grill and serve as it is - so so good!
Nutrition
Calories: 488kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 27gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 147mgSodium: 861mgPotassium: 621mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 612IUVitamin C: 57mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!