Bihar’s Best Dish: Handi Chicken

Bihar style Handi Chicken is a must-attempt dish for Indian curry sweethearts. Fragrant, delicate boneless chicken pieces cooked in rich curry sauce. Handi curry can be presented with naan, basmati rice or any of your #1 sort of bread!

Chicken curries are one of the staple dishes that we never get exhausted of. I love to cook both homestyle chicken curries and eatery style chicken curries at home. In the event that you are a curry fan like me, you would rather not miss our peruser’s #1 Hyderabadi Chicken, Naga Chicken Curry, Chicken Rendang, Monkfish Curry and Murgh masala recipes which are so natural to plan thus flavourful.

Handi Chicken dish is a traditional North Indian style curry, slow-cooked in a copper or earthen clay pot (called handi) with aromatic spices, yogurt, cream, and fragrant herbs.

For a home cook like us, we can utilize any weighty base pot or container rather than the customary earth pot. Numerous eateries and focus points reproduce and change this dish as indicated by their own loving. In the UK, English Indian Café style Handi Chicken is cooked in a pre-cooked curry base with is so smooth, rich, and flavourful. In this recipe, I’m sharing our recipe for making Handi Chicken without any preparation without utilizing a pre-cooked curry base.

You can cook it at home easily by following the steps in our easy home-style Handi Chicken recipe. All you have to do is to give some time to gather all the required ingredients and the whole cooking process will only take about 40 minutes.

Ingredients You Need

Handi Chicken recipes could look convoluted as it requires numerous fixings yet in the event that you investigate every fixing, you will see the vast majority of them are storage space well disposed and the rest 1% is additionally generally accessible at stores and supermarkets. Following is a speedy aide and nitty gritty estimations in the recipe card at the lower part of the page.

Chicken– You can either use boneless chicken thigh or breast. Bone-in curry cut or chicken parts such as thighs, drumsticks, or wings go well with this recipe too. Cooking time can be varied according to the meat cut.
Ginger, Garlic, and onion– Essentials in Indian cooking! Freshly grated ginger garlic paste is added to enhance the flavor. Highly recommend adding shallot onion to thicken and sweeten the curry.
Tomato– Use vine-ripened fresh tomatoes or tomato passata. It gives beautiful red color and tangy flavor to the curry sauce.
Yogurt– Plain natural yoghurt is ideal to add to both marinade and curry sauce. It keeps the meat soft and tender if you add it to the marinade and creates a creamy texture in the curry sauce.
The spicesused in this recipe are all pantry-staple, except Kasuri Methi. Chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, cumin seeds, and coriander powder. If you are a curry lover you might need to keep all these spices in hand for later use.
Kasuri Methi– You can find it in the packaging as Kasoori Methi or fenugreek leaves. Dried fenugreek leaves are crushed into small particles and added near the end of the cooking process. Adding this will give the dish a more authentic Indian curry aroma.

How To Cook Handi Chicken?

Marinate chicken pieces with, yoghurt, turmeric, garam masala, and salt to taste. Set it aside for 15 minutes or leave it in the fridge if you have more time.
First, heat the oil to medium heat. Add cumin seeds and stir for a few seconds, then add the chopped onions and cook until soft and translucent. Then add garlic and ginger paste and continue to stir until the onions start to get brown.
Now it’s time to add the tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are reduced and oil starts to separate. Add turmeric, chilli, garam masala, and coriander powder. Saute for a few seconds until fragrant.

Add chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes and pour the water and yoghurt in. Season with salt to taste. Close the lid and cook for another 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Stir occasionally and add more water if needed.
Stir in the double cream, green chilli, and dried fenugreek leaves. Cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and finish with coriander and a dash of garam masala.

Tips For Cooking For Handi Chicken

Taste just like an authentic handi recipe use a heavy bottom pot like a cast-iron pan ( Dutch oven ) if you cannot get any clay pot in hand. We usually cook with a cast-iron pan which can maintain the temperature and perfect slow-cooking recipes.
Don’t forget to crush the Kasuri methi just right before adding it to the curry sauce to enhance the flavour.
Use freshly grated ginger garlic paste instead of store-bought one for the best aromatic flavour.