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Dhaba-Wali Chicken Curry

Pooja
All of us have been to a Dhaba, well for friends who are hearing it for the first time, these are common homely shack ambience along the highways and roadside in North India for lip-smacking food and tasty aromatic chai and lassi.
These are saviour during road trips and heavens for the truck drivers who drive for hours and days to each their destination. Besides sitting crossed legs, you can also rest on the chaarpaaris, traditional village style cot to lie down. Dhaba uses the traditional methods and equipment for cooking like chulhas, clay oven, charcoal, wood, aluminium utensils and the list goes on, just adds so much more flavour and taste to the recipe.
The joy of eating out in a natural surrounding, which is refreshing to senses, is a win win experience at dhaba. The dhaba menu is never ending and has a lot of curries to choose from, so here I am sharing my Dhaba- Wali Chicken Curry,from the memory of Delhi to Ludhiana road trip at a family friend’s reception ceremony.
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Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 1 hr 10 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 3

Ingredients
  

Marinate the Chicken

  • 800 gm Chicken skinned, peeled and cut to moderate sizes
  • 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste freshly ground
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 tbsp kashmiri red chilli powder
  • salt to taste

Making the Chicken Curry

  • 6-7 tbsp mustard oil or as needed
  • 3 medium size fresh onions as purée
  • 1 medium size fresh onion finely chopped
  • 4 medium size fresh tomatoes as purée
  • 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste freshly ground
  • 1 tbsp red chili powder
  • 1-1/2 tbsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 5-6 black peppercorns
  • 3-4 cloves
  • 3-4 green cardamoms
  • 1-2 black cardamom
  • 1.5- 2 inch cinnamon stick or piece
  • 3-4 dried red chilies
  • 1 tbsp kasuri methi lightly roasted & crushed between the palms
  • salt to taste
  • water as needed
  • coriander leaves finely chopped, small handful

For the Smoky Flavor (Optional)

  • A wood coal ember
  • 1 tbsp oil

For Garnish(optional)

  • Slivers of fresh ginger
  • Few strings of fresh coriander leaves

Instructions
 

  • First we need to marinate the chicken. Combine the chicken, freshly ground ginger-garlic paste, salt, red chili powder, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl.
  • Mix well and cover the bowl with a cling wrap and keep aside for at least 20-30minutes, longer the marination more taste and flavour get infused in the meat.
  • In the meanwhile, let's prepare the chicken curry gravy. Heat the mustard oil in heavy bottom pan.Turn the heat off once the mustard oil begins to smoke.
  • Let the oil cool down around the normal cooking temperature, add in the whole spices; cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, black cardamoms, dried red chilies, black peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaves. Saute for a few seconds.
  • Next add in the onions chopped and purée, saute until it turns golden, followed by this add in freshly ground ginger-garlic paste,cook until the raw smell disappears.
  • Now pour in the tomato purée and continue to cook it, until the oil begins to ooze out from the content.
  • When the oil separates, add the powdered spices; turmeric, red chili, roasted cumin, and coriander. Give it mix.
  • Add in the marinated chicken and mix well. Saute for 3-5 minutes so that the chicken turns white in color.
  • Add 2 -3 cups of water or as much as you need depending on how like the consistency of chicken curry gravy.
  • Cover and let the chicken simmer in for the next 15-20 minutes or until it's done. Keep checking and stirring 5-7 minutes or as needed.
  • After 15-20minutes, when the chicken is nearly cooked, remove the lid and cook open for another 5minutes.
  • When the chicken gets cooked through, add the kasoori methi, coriander leaves, and garam masala. Give it a stir and turn the heat off.
  • This is an optional step for smoking flavour;
    In a tempering pan or a small clay pan, place a small bowl containing the red hot wood coal ember.
    Pour some oil over it and cover with a lid. Let it be like that for 4-5 minutes.
    Remove the bowl from the clay pan or tempering pan and discard the coal ember.
  • Garnish with fresh sliced ginger and coriander leaves.
  • Dhaba-Wali Chicken Curry is ready. Serve it hot with rice or tandoori roti

Notes

I have used chicken with bones, one can use boneless pieces as well.
I have used mustard oil for cooking to get the authentic taste and flavour. If its unavailable, one can use any vegetable oil.
I have used around 2-3 cups of water, you can adjust the gravy consistency as per your taste and liking, usually a thick consistency goes well with Indian bread and a bit flowy gravy with rice.
One cup measures 250ml