How a Michelin Star Indian Chef Makes Chicken Curry at Home | Passport Kitchen | Epicurious

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 bardwaj I'm the executive chef of Junoon Restaurant and this is how my family makes New Delhi chicken curry [Music] 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 going to go in the pot and it's going to 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 it makes at 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 dubba this is a staple in every Indian household this Masala dubba in specific is my mom's so we'll be adding turmeric into the chicken to marinade it gives a nice color to the chicken to America has 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 [Applause] we're going to start by searing off the chicken in mustard oil so mustard oil is extracted

from black mustard seeds it's definitely got a very pungent 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 seared 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 want to see that the chickens have cooked a little bit and it's been some time to infuse some of that flavor of turmeric and the chicken into the mustard oil before you move on you just want to make sure that there's no pieces of chicken left over 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're gonna add our red onions now pinch of salt it will take some water out of the onions I'm going to 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 chili powder is milder in flavor but it's brighter in color so it's going to give a very nice vibrant red color they're just getting sauteed for a couple of minutes I'm going to 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 want to make sure that the pot is

not too hot so that the yogurt won't break we're using day yogurt and what the yogurt does as 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 [Music] 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 going to 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 kasuri methi which is dried fenugreek leaves it does add a little of a 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 agaramasala 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 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 play so our chicken is finished and looks great I will be adding the chicken curry into the bowl get our warm Roti if you want to 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 going to 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 this 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 tush to it that's the beauty of cooking is that it comes from the heart foreign