Kadhai chicken

July 03, 2017

Kadhai chicken

Chicken kadhai is a popular north indian chicken dish which is a blend of mild spices, capsicum, onion & chicken pieces. Here we make a special masala of dry whole spices, which is first roasted and then grounded to a coarse powder. This dish is usually served with chapati, naan (indian bread) or rice. Lets learn how to make it.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 60 mins
Servings: 6-7

Ingredients needed :
1.) Chicken pieces - 1.5 kg with bone or boneless
2.) Tomatoes - 3 medium size roughly chopped
3.) Capsicum - 2 chopped into small equal pieces
4.) Onion - 600 gm finely chopped
5.) Ginger - 1/2 inch piece finely chopped
6.) Garlic - Around 12 cloves finely chopped
7.) Green chillies - 4 slit into half
8.) Coriander powder - 4 tbsp
9.) Garam masala powder - 3 tbsp
10.) Red chilli powder (paprika powder) - 2 tbsp
11.) Salt - as per taste

12.) Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

13.) Amchur powder/Dry mango powder - 1 tbsp

14.) Lemon - 1 cut into wedges

Note: To make this recipe flavorful we need to make special masala of dry spices, this will give the dish spicy aromatic flavor & delicious taste. we need-:
1.) Bay leaf (tej patta)- 2-3 small
2.) Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tbsp

4.) Cloves (laung) - 6-7
5.) Dried red chilli - 2 ( Not shown in the picture below but I have directly grind it in grinder with other spices)
6.) Black cardamom/Badi elaichi - 2
7.) Cinnamon stick (Dal chini) - 7-8 small pieces
8.) Green cardamom/choti elaichi - 3-4

9.) Black peppercorns ( Kali mirch) - 20

Preparation of kadhai chicken masala:

1.) Roast all these spices on a tawa/pan for about 5-7 mins, stirring occasionally so that spices will not burn. keep it aside & let it cool.
2.) Now roughly grind it in a mixer grinder for 5-10 sec. Do not make it a fine powder but make it a coarse powder.
3.) Your homemade masala for kadhai chicken is ready to use.

Method of Preparation :

1.) Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly with water, drain the water and keep it aside.

2.) Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger, garlic and saute it for 2 mins.

4.) Add chopped onions and saute it till it becomes golden brown in colour.

5.) Now add all the powdered spices, mix it properly and let the masala cook evenly for 15 mins or until it release some oil.

6.) Now add chopped tomatoes, green chillies and 2 tbsp of dried spices masala & let it cook for another 10 mins or until the tomatoes becomes mushy.

7.) Now take a large kadhai/pot and add chicken pieces into it for even cooking. Let masala mix with chicken nicely. Do not add water. let the chicken cook in its own moisture.

8.) Add 1-2 tsp of dry spice masala over the chicken, cover the lid of the pan or kadhai and let it cook for 15 mins on medium flame with occasional stirring.

9.) Add chopped capsicum to the chicken gravy and cook for another 10 mins. At this point you can add 100 ml of water if you need a little gravy into it (it is totally optional).