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Dhaba Style Chicken Curry Recipe

Tanvi Srivastava
Dhaba Chicken Curry is a rustic punjabi chicken curry served at north indian dhabas(road side eateries). Oily, Spicy and with bold flavors, it is best paired with rotis.
4.82 from 38 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4
Calories 326 kcal

Equipment

  • Meal Prep bowls & Measuring spoons
  • Chopping Board & Knife
  • Dutch Oven or Any wide large pot with lid
  • Cooking Spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 1.6 lb (~750g) skinless bone in chicken preferably dark meat portions
  • 1.5 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ⅓ cup plain hung curd /yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala

Spices

  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon hot red chili powder or cayenne, adjust to taste
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chili powder or paprika
  • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2-3 cloves
  • 1 black cardamom

For The Chicken Gravy

  • ¼ cup mustard oil or any cooking oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2-3 dried kashmiri red chili
  • 1.5 cup sliced onion (~1 large onion)
  • 1 large tomato thinly sliced
  • 2 inch ginger julienned
  • 3 garlic minced or pounded in mortar pestle
  • 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
  • 1 tablespoon ghee or butter
  • cilantro chopped, to garnish

Instructions
 

  • Using a sharp knife, make gashes in the chicken drumsticks at several places.
  • Add chicken to a large bowl and rub with fresh lemon or lime juice and salt. Let the chicken sit nearby while you work on making the masala. 
  • Add garam masala to the yogurt and whisk well. Let sit.
  • Add the spices (whole & ground) to a bowl and add hot water. Mix and let spices soak while you brown the onions.  
  • In a dutch oven (or any large pot with lid), heat up the mustard oil till a little smoky. Temper with bay leaf and dried chilies.
  • Add the onions to the oil and on medium heat brown the onions on low heat. The browned onions impart so much flavor to this curry and this step takes about 8-12 minutes. Brown the onions to a nice golden shade but not overly dark else they become bitter.
  • Add the chicken to the onions. Pour the soaked spices on top of the chicken. Add salt and mix to combine well.
  • Add the tomato, garlic and ginger. Combine everything and cover the pot with a lid.
  • Let cook on low medium heat for 18-22 minutes (or more depending on the chicken quality, cut and size) or until the chicken is 95% cooked. You will see that the chicken will shrink in size as it cooks and will start peeling off the bone. You may need to stir a few times in between. The chicken will release its water and cook in own juices.
  • Reduce the heat to low and open the lid and add beaten yogurt to the pot. Immediately stir everything for at least 2 minutes. Let the chicken cook for additional 8-10 minutes. You will see a film of oil on top as well as lot oil bubbles. This good stuff.
  • Finish with ghee or butter and chopped cilantro . Dhaba chicken curry is ready! You can add a little crushed kasuri methi as well. 

Video

Notes

  • Don't skimp on oil. Dhaba curries are rich and oily and that's the authentic taste.
  • Use good quality, fresh spices. They make a lot of difference in the taste of the curry.
  • Here, in the US, I feel that the chicken cooks so quickly in about 20-25 minutes. However if you are doubtful, you can use meat thermometer to check the temperature of thickest part of the chicken- should be 165F for fully cooked chicken.
  • To avoid yogurt from curdling - Use room temperature yogurt and as soon as you add it to the curry,continously stir for at least 2-3 minutes or till yogurt becomes part of the gravy.
  • You can add smoky taste (dhungar) to this dhaba curry by lightning a small piece of charcoal, add it to a bowl and place the bowl over the curry. Drizzle ghee on the charcoal and close the lid for 6-8 minutes.
  • Let the chicken curry rest for at least 30 minutes. I cannot stress this enough. The flavors are so much better. You can reheat and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 326kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 22gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 107mgSodium: 1015mgPotassium: 490mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 505IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 73mgIron: 2mg
Keyword best dhaba chicken curry, indian chicken curry, north indian chicken curry, chicken gravy
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