Dhaba Style Chicken Curry Recipe: An utterly delicious, comforting chicken curry made with onion, tomato, and a few spices. This tastes exactly the ones you get in dhabas.
What is Dhaba
Dhaba represents. the highway side Indian restaurants, found near petrol stations to cater to travelers, tourists, and truck drivers. They usually serve regional foods made using fresh, natural ingredients at an affordable price and are open for 24 hours a day.
Earlier highway dhabas were run by Punjabi Sikhs. Hence dhabas are often called Punjabi dhabas.
Dhaba style food is cooked in such a way that it would be stored for long without spoiling.
My family is a great fan of dhabas. No road trip of ours would be complete without stopping at one. Eating lip-smacking meals sitting on a charpai(a wooden rest bed made with ropes) in an open-air ambiance is magical. No luxury restaurants can ever match that. However, some have upgraded in the last decades but the flavor of the food remained intact.
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About this Punjabi Dhaba Style Chicken Curry
This is a simple chicken curry. No yogurt, cashews, coconut, or cream requires to make this. All you need is some chicken and the rest of the ingredients are probably there in your kitchen already.
In this recipe, searing and slow cooking are important to get the authenticity and deliciousness of dhaba chicken curry. The chicken needs to sear over high heat first, then slowly cooked in a mildly spicy onion-tomato based gravy. Searing the chicken seals the juice within, which enhances the taste and also helps to sustain longer.
Preparation (Step by Step)
- Take the chicken pieces in a bowl, add lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, chili powder, and salt.
- Mix well and set aside for a few minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot enough add chickenand sear them over high flame for 6-7 minutes.
- Once done remove from the pan and set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaves, green chili, and chopped onion.
- Saute the onion over medium-low flame for 8-10 minutes or until the onion turns slightly golden brown in color.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes or until the raw smell of ginger-garlic goes.
- Add red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and saute for a few seconds.
- Add a splash of water and saute for a few more seconds.
- Add tomato paste, followed by salt. Saute to mix, cover, and cook until tomatoes are cooked.
- Add seared chicken. Saute over medium-high flame for 10 minutes.
- Add warm water. Stir to mix. Cover and cook over simmer flame until the chicken is cooked
- Once cooked, add garam masala powder, Kasuri methi, sliced green chilies, chopped coriander leaves. Stir to mix and turn off the flame.
- Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes to infuse all the flavor.
- Dhaba style chicken curry is ready to serve. Serve hot with piping hot rice or roti.
Serving Suggestions
The best way to serve this dhaba chicken curry is with steaming hot rice or roti.
You can even serve it with pulao, paratha, or naan.
To enjoy a complete dhaba meal, pair this chicken curry with simple arhar dal, kachumber salad, and plain rice or basmati rice.
Recipe Notes
- Use fresh ingredients.
- Use bone-in chicken. As the juices from the bone seep into the curry and enhance the taste.
- Adjust heat as per your need.
Some more delicious chicken recipes
If you try this recipe, please leave a feedback and rating. You can also tag me @spoonofflavor on Instagram.
Dhaba Style Chicken Curry Recipe
INGREDIENTS ( 1 CUP = 240 ML )
For marinate
- 750 grams bone-in chicken or 1.65 lbs
- 1 tsp lemon juice fresh
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder non-spicy
- 1 tsp salt
For searing chicken
- 2 tbsp oil
For curry
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sliced green chili
- 3 medium-sized onion finely chopped
- 1.5 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder non-spicy
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 2 medium-sized tomatoes paste
- Salt as required
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 slit green chilies
- ½ tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp Kasuri methi dried fenugreek/methi leaves
- 3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
Marination
- Take the chicken pieces in a bowl, add salt, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, and chili powder.
- Mix well and set aside for a few minutes.
Searing the Chicken
- Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot enough add chickens and sear them over high flame for 6-7 minutes.
- Once done remove from the pan and set aside.
Preparing the Curry
- Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaves, green chili, and chopped onion.
- Saute the onion over medium-low flame for 8-10 minutes or until the onion turns slightly golden brown in color.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes or until the raw smell of ginger-garlic goes.
- Add red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and saute for a few seconds.
- Add a splash of water and saute for a few more seconds.
- Add tomato paste, followed by salt. Saute to mix, cover, and cook until tomatoes are cooked.
- Add seared chicken. Saute over medium-high flame for 10 minutes.
- Add warm water. Stir to mix. Cover and cook over simmer flame until the chicken is cooked
- Once cooked, add garam masala powder, Kasuri methi, sliced green chilies, chopped coriander leaves. Stir to mix and turn off the flame.
- Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes to infuse all the flavor.
- Dhaba style chicken curry is ready to serve. Serve hot with piping hot rice or roti.
Notes
- Use fresh ingredients.
- Use bone-in leg pieces chicken. As the juices from the bone seep into the curry and enhance the taste.
- Adjust heat as per your need.
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