Last year I won a fantastic giveaway on Instagram hosted by the sassy Lapetit Chef (Swayampurna). I was over the moon when I got her recipe book My Indian Kitchen as a prize 🤩 It has so many delicious recipes right from breakfast items to snacks to non-vegetarian main course to dessert! Needless to say, I have tried many recipes & everyone at home has loved them. One of the simplest yet delectable recipes from the book is that of this Bhuna Chicken Masala. It is very close to how I make a chicken side dish at home so this was the first one that I tried out 😀 It is easy, quick, has clean flavours & somehow reminds me of my childhood days. I have made a few changes here & there to suit how we like our chicken (read spicy).
Although the three of us are non-vegetarians, I cook meat only about once in 10 days or so. Whenever we eat out, it has to be non-veg food because S is extremely fond of chicken & cold-cuts 😁. Now that she’s fairly comfortable in the kitchen, she makes her own sandwiches with salami slices or whips up a Friday night pasta dinner for the three of us (yayy)! This weekend another one of Swayam’s recipes is slated to be baked in the kitchen 😉 Looking forward to many many more! If you still haven’t checked out her Instagram feed (how’s that even possible?!), then you must!

Bhuna Chicken Masala

Course: MainCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

A dry chicken dish made with a freshly ground masala, bhuna-oed to perfection!

Ingredients

• Chicken (medium cut on the bone): 750gms

• Garlic: 6 cloves; minced

• Ginger: 2tbsp; minced

• Green chilli: 3; finely chopped

• Onions: 2 large; sliced

• Tomatoes: 3; finely chopped

• Turmeric: 1tsp

• Red chilli powder: 1tsp

• Jeera (cumin) powder: 2tsp

• Coriander powder: 2tsp

• Garam masala: 1tsp

• Fresh coriander: A handful; chopped

• Lemon juice

• Water

• Oil

• Salt to taste

Directions

• Heat oil in a kadhai. Add the ginger, garlic & chilli and sauté for a minute. Now add the sliced onions & fry them for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.
• Once the onions become golden brown, add the turmeric, red chilli, jeera, dhaniya & garam masala powders. Cook for a minute.
• Now add the chopped tomatoes, some water & salt. Cook for 15 minutes till the masala becomes thick & the oil starts surfacing on the sides.
• Add the chicken & stir well to ensure that the masala coats the chicken evenly. Cook covered till the chicken turns tender & gets incorporated with the masala paste well. This will take about 15-20 minutes. Keep stirring in between.
• Once done, finish the dish with a squeeze of lemon & freshly chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with phulkas or paranthas.
  

Notes

• You can use boneless chicken also for this recipe but I find that chicken on the bone adds more flavour to curries.
• Adjust the spice levels to suit your palate. We are spice lovers!
• Do not overcook the chicken. It becomes very rubbery & totally unappetising.