5 from 18 votes
Chicken Handi: Delicious Restaurant-Style Recipe
Chicken Handi is a flavorful dish made with tender chicken cubes cooked in a spiced tomato sauce enriched by ginger, garlic, fenugreek leaves, and a cream finish. Roasted and crushed coriander and cumin seeds add a warm, earthy note. The recipe includes frying browned onions separately for texture and aroma, which are combined back into the curry for depth.
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Servings:
4
People
Course:
Main Course
Cuisine:
Indian, Pakistani
Ingredients
- 300 grams chicken cut into 1-inch cubes, boneless
- 3 tomato pureed
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ tablespoon fenugreek leaves crush them with your fingers, aka methi
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- 2-3 tablespoon cream
- ¼ cup neutral cooking oil or ghee, generic cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds roasted and crushed
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds roasted and crushed
Instructions
- Place your handi or pan on the heat and add oil. Add the chopped onions to the oil and start frying them. Once the onions have turned golden brown, remove them from the oil and place them on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
- Add the chicken cubes to the pan, and saute until it changes color to a slight golden brown. Remove the chicken and place aside.
- Add ginger garlic paste to the pan and saute. Next add the tomato puree, salt, chili powder, and turmeric powder to the same pan and let it cook for 2 minutes.
- Then, add the chicken pieces to the pan, cover it, and let it cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
- Once the chicken is fully cooked, add the black pepper powder, roasted and crushed coriander seeds, and zeera or cumin.
- With your hands, crush the browned onions that we set aside at the beginning of the recipe and add them to the pan.
- Rub the dried methi or fenugreek leaves in the palm of your hand and add them to the pan. Let the chicken curry cook for another 2-3minutes to let the flavors of the methi and the crushed brown onions combinewith the chicken.
- Drizzle the cream over the chicken handi masala and let it simmer for a few minutes. When the oil separates from the gravy, your delicious restaurant-style, easy Chicken Handi is ready to serve!
Cup of Yum
Notes
- Use fresh, ripe red tomatoes or add tomato paste for deeper color and flavor.
- Crush the fried browned onions by hand before adding to the dish to enhance aroma and texture.
- Crush dried fenugreek leaves between fingers to release their fragrance fully.
- Add cream near the end to give the curry a rich, smooth finish.