An aromatic, spicy, flavorful North Indian Chicken Curry – this Punjabi Chicken Curry should be on your dinner menu! It makes the best leftovers.
On my first Girl’s Night In in California, I made this Punjabi Chicken Curry, and everyone loved it. My Punjabi Chicken Curry is one of my favorite chicken dishes I’ve made to date. It’s spicy, flavorful, and melts in your mouth.
There are many ingredients in this recipe, but the key ingredients to use are black cardamom (moti elachi) which adds depths of flavor to this dish. You also want to finish off this dish with kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves) which brings the dish to a whole new level.
The secret to making a smooth gravy is to finely chop the onions and tomatoes, and then slowly cook down the onions and tomatoes until it forms a paste-like consistency. This is accomplished by adding small amounts of water until the onions and tomatoes kinda disappear into the gravy.
Additionally, I don’t like seeing oil float on top of my chicken curry, hence I prefer using only the necessary amount of oil. In this recipe, I used 3 tbsp of oil, but you can probably cut down to 2 tbsp if you want. Try it! It’s perfect on a cold day when you want something hot and spicy, warm and comforting.
2. Heat up a dutch enameled cast iron on medium heat. Once hot, add all the dry spices – black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, bay leaf, fennel seeds, and cumin seeds. Saute for about 1 minute.
3. Then add the onions and cook for 10 minutes on low-medium heat.
4. This is what you should have.
5. Add 1/4 cup water and cook down the onions even more.
6. Use a food processor to chop the ginger, garlic and green chilies.
7. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilies to the onions and cook for a minute.
8. Chop the tomatoes.
9. Add tomatoes to the onion mix. Season with salt.
10. Cover and cook the masala mixture for 10 minutes on low-medium heat.
11. Once done, add 1/4 cup of water to cook down the tomatoes.
12. Temper the yogurt, add a little bit at a time to avoid the mixture to curdle.
13. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low-medium heat.
14. This is what you should have.
15. Set aside your powdered spices.
16. Add the chicken to the masala. Coat the chicken well and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
17. Add the powdered spices (red chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder) to the chicken and coat well.
18. Add a cup of water to the chicken. You can add another cup for more gravy – however I prefer thicker gravy.
19. This is what you should have.
20. Cover and cook the chicken on low-medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
Garnish
21. This is what you should have.
22. Add garam masala.
23. Add dry fenugreek leaves or kasoori methi.
24. Let the chicken sit for about 20 minutes before serving, this is what you should have. You can always add more water to have more gravy.
3tbspAvocado Oilyou can reduce this to 2 tbsp as well
1black cardamommoti elachi
4green cardamom pods
1cinnamon sticksplit in half
1/4tsppeppercorns
4 cloves
1tspfennel seeds
1tspcumin seeds
1bay leaf
1large onionfinely chopped
1/4cupwarm waterfor the onions
6clovesgarlicchopped
1inchpiece gingerchopped
2green chilieschopped
2-3plum tomatoeschopped
1/4cupwarm waterfor the tomatoes
1/2cuporganic low-fat yogurtI used Whole Foods brand
1tspred chili powder
1/2tspturmeric powder
2tspcoriander powder
1tspcumin powder
1cupwarm water, for the chickenfor more gravy, add 1 more cup
1/2tspgaram masala
2tbspkasoori methiI used MDH brand
Instructions
Marinate
Cube the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Marinate with salt, kashmiri red chili powder (paprika), ginger, and garlic.
Refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight.
For Chicken Curry
Use a food processor to finely chop the onions.
Heat up a dutch enameled castiron on medium heat. Once hot, add all the dry spices - black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, bay leaf, fennel seeds, and cumin seeds. Saute for about 1 minute.
Then add the onions and cook for 10 minutes on low-medium heat.
This is what you should have.
Add 1/4 cup water and cook down the onions even more.
Use a food processor to chop the ginger, garlic and green chilies.
Add the ginger, garlic and green chilies to the onions and cook for a minute.
Chop the tomatoes.
Add to the onion mix. Season with salt.
Cover and cook the masala mixture for 10 minutes on low-medium heat.
Once done, add 1/4 cup of water to cook down the tomatoes.
Temper the yogurt, add a little bit at a time to avoid the mixture to curdle.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low-medium heat.
This is what you should have.
Set aside your powdered spices.
Add the chicken to the masala. Coat the chicken well and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add the powdered spices (red chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder) to the chicken and coat well.
Add a cup of water to the chicken. You can add another cup for more gravy - however I prefer thicker gravy.
This is what you should have.
Cover and cook the chicken on low-medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
This is what you should have.
Add garam masala.
Add dry fenugreek leaves or kasoori methi.
Let the chicken sit for about 20 minutes before serving, this is what you should have. You can always add more water to have more gravy.
I stumbled upon Nisha’s blog literally less than a week ago. And I’ve already made 2 recipes from her blog. This chicken gravy saved me from an impending “what’s for lunch” dilemma. This recipe has basic Indian pantry staples and hence can be made anytime if you have chicken. I loved the simple instructions and minimal prep of this recipe.
A foodie who is passionate about living a healthy-ish lifestyle, cooking, and traveling. You'll find a mix of everything here and lots of seasonal content. I moved from Jersey City leaving behind my family & friends to beautiful Southern California for love. I'm adjusting to the laid-back SoCal lifestyle and learning a lot about myself along the way. Come join me on a soul searching journey and I'll tell YOU "what's cooking" through my love for food, fashion, and travel.![NO CREAM PALAK PANEER - Indian cheese cooked in a spinach gravy. Palak Paneer is a classic North Indian dish and flavored with simple spices. IMO… the key ingredients are using lots of garlic, green chilies (remove seeds if needed), and adding a dollop of butter at the end.
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it amezing punjabi chicken curry looked very tasty and your recipe very diffrent thanks for sharing chicken curry recipe
Thanks. Hope you enjoy it.
Wow!!! This was so good. I’m gonna have my mom make it next. It’s a keeper.
Thanks Anjali. That’s a huge compliment if you’re having your mom make it. Appreciate it.
This looks so yummy”
Thank you!
Made this the other day for the family and they loved it. Thanks for sharing!
HI Leena. So glad to hear that. It’s definitely a family favorite.
So good! This dish had so kick flavor and hit the spot when you just want a good home cooked meal. Going to put this in our weekly rotation!!
Made this tonight!! Did not even last for me to take a pic 🙂
Super recipe, tastes authentic and homemade. Thank you for sharing ?
I stumbled upon Nisha’s blog literally less than a week ago. And I’ve already made 2 recipes from her blog. This chicken gravy saved me from an impending “what’s for lunch” dilemma. This recipe has basic Indian pantry staples and hence can be made anytime if you have chicken. I loved the simple instructions and minimal prep of this recipe.