How an Indian Chef Makes Chicken Curry New Delhi Style

Every household in India makes their own version of curry

and they put their own touch on it.

Curry varies from region to religion

and what it's made from and how it's eaten.

My name is Akshay Bhardwaj.

I'm the executive chef of Junoon Restaurant

and this is how my family makes New Delhi chicken curry.

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So what makes a New Delhi chicken curry

is the use of its mustard oil

as well as the incorporation of yogurt.

That differs from the southern region of India,

where you'll see curries made more with coconut milk,

mustard seed, curry leaves, as well as tamarind.

So we're gonna start with red onions here.

You don't have to be fancy with the cutting.

It's all gonna go in the pot and it's gonna cook down.

Chopping the tomatoes as well

gives more body to the curry itself.

The spices and the use of onions and tomatoes

and ginger garlic are the main factor

of what makes it North Indian.

We're using bone-in chicken thighs.

The bone has bone marrow in it

so it provides a more intense chicken flavor.

Because New Delhi is landlocked,

we tend to have more meats like chicken, lamb and goat.

Over here we have our masala dabba.

This is a staple in every Indian household.

This masala dabba in specific is my mom's.

So we'll be adding turmeric into the chicken to marinade.

It also gives a nice color to the chicken.

Turmeric is grown all across the country

and you'll find it pretty much everywhere.

Every household, every spice market will have it.

The chicken is coated.

We're gonna set it aside now

and get ready to start cooking the curry.

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我们先从灼热的鸡μstard oil.

So mustard oil is extracted from black mustard seeds.

It's definitely got a very punch aroma.

It's also got a higher smoke point than even neutral oils

like canola oil, so you can kind of start to see smoke.

So I do believe that this is hot.

Yep, we hear it.

So we're gonna get one side searing,

flip it over and then remove it.

And then in that same oil, we're gonna add in

our whole spices to start building those layers of flavor.

And here you can see the pieces with the bones on it.

They've gotten a little bit of color on it.

We just wanna see that the chickens have cooked a little bit

and it's spent some time to infuse some of that flavor

of turmeric and the chicken into the mustard oil.

Before you move on, you just wanna make sure

that there's no pieces of chicken leftover in the pot,

otherwise the pieces will burn as you continue to cook it.

It's on to putting in our whole spices in the pot,

cinnamon sticks, whole bay leaf,

black cardamom, green cardamom, black peppercorns

and last I'm adding in some cloves.

You're talking about aroma and you're talking about flavor,

that's being imparted into this oil.

We are gonna add our red onions now.

[food sizzling]

Pinch of salt, it'll take some water out of the onions.

I'm gonna add in the ginger garlic paste

as I see the onions have gotten translucent.

The ginger garlic paste is a staple in our cuisine as well.

The use of ginger and garlic,

whether it's minced or it's in paste form,

goes in curries as well as marinations for kebabs.

We are looking for some of the oil

to start leaving the onions.

We're ready to add our ground spices in.

Coriander powder, chili powder is really at your discretion

in terms of how spicy you want it.

The Kashmiri chile powder is milder in flavor

but it's brighter in color

so it's gonna give a very nice, vibrant red color.

They're just getting sauteed for a couple of minutes.

I'm gonna be adding my tomato paste and tomatoes now.

I'm just gonna put a touch of water in here

to just act as a deglazer.

If your pan is very hot,

the water will eventually evaporate.

I just wanna make sure that the pot is not too hot

so that the yogurt won't break.

We are using dahi yogurt

and what the yogurt does for the dish

is that it kind of gives it a more silky smooth finish,

as well as adding that nice tart, citric flavor.

A lot of North Indian cuisine utilizes yogurt

in the curries.

Add the chicken in now.

We are adding some water to this.

Put the lid on and let the chicken simmer.

So after letting this simmer for a couple minutes,

I'm gonna open it up and check on it, and it looks great.

Now, finish with my last few aromatics.

So we're gonna add in our kasoori methi,

which is dried fenugreek leaves.

It does add a little of citrus notes to it.

Our garam masala spice blend has about 10 different spices

in it and they're all roasted spices.

It's gonna be at its freshest by adding it at the end.

The two main spices that are used in a garam masala

in New Delhi is cumin seeds and coriander seeds.

You'll have other spices, like cinnamon, bay leaf,

nutmeg, cloves, star anise, green cardamom, black cardamom.

All those spices are within the garam masala's spice blend

and they differ from house to house.

Finish with our fresh cilantro.

Our chicken curry is done and now it's time to plate.

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So our chicken is finished and looks great.

I will be adding the chicken curry into the bowl.

Get our warm roti.

If you wanna see how roti is made,

you can also check out our thali episode.

For a crunch factor

as well as a little bit of a different flavor,

we'll put in some raw red onions.

We have green chilies to go along with it.

And this is my family's New Delhi chicken curry.

When it comes to chicken curry, we do not use utensils,

we use our hands and that's how I ate it growing up.

So I'm gonna start by ripping a piece of the roti.

Just rip a piece of chicken off.

Make sure I get a nice big handful of gravy.

Now I'm just gonna go ahead and enjoy myself.

The flavor I find to be perfect

because there's such a great balance of spice.

There's a little bit of acidity and tartness

from the tomatoes as well as the yogurt.

And then those onions and ginger and those whole spices

that we put at the beginning give just a nice aroma.

And I just, you know, look forward to taking the next bite.

What can I say?

This recipe was passed on from generation to generation.

It was something that my father learned from his parents

and then passed down.

I certainly hope one day to pass this recipe down.

Each person has their own variation and slight twist to it.

That's the beauty of cooking

is that it comes from the heart.

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