Dahi Chicken
Dahi Wala Chicken or Dahi Murgh is a spicy & tangy chicken dish in a mellow yogurt sauce flavored with fresh ground spices.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 40 min
- Yield
- 5 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1.6 lb (~750g) bone in chicken (10-12 pieces )
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 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
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste )
- 4-5 tablespoon oil (or ghee)
- 2 bay leaf
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic (minced)
- 1 cup onion (thinly sliced)
- 3/4 cup yogurt (, use whole yogurt)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (or 2 tablespoon tomato puree (optional))
- 1/4 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder or paprika (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon kasuri methi (optional )
Instructions
- 1
Pat the chicken dry using a paper towel.Once dried, rub the lemon & salt. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- 2
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.
- 3
Let the roasted spices cool down a bit. Once cooled, tip into your coffee grinder or using mortar & pestle, coarsely grind the spices.
- 4
Add half of the ground spices, turmeric, salt and nutmeg to the chicken. Thoroughly rub all over.Let while you work on the masala.
- 5
Whisk the other half of the spice powder with yogurt.Keep near.
- 6
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.
- 7
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.
- 8
Cook the onions till nicely caramelized and browned (but not dark brown).About 5-7 minutes.
- 9
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.
- 10
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.
- 11
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.
- 12
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.
- 13
Finish with cilantro and serve warm.