Indian Dhaba Style Chicken Curry

If you only ever learn to cook one chicken curry recipe - let it be this one! It is such a simple dish yet pleases any and every crowd. Dhaba Chicken stands for every road trip I’ve had with my family travelling across North India and it will give you a taste of simple Punjabi cooking.

One of the secret ingredients to cooking a delicious curry is to use meat on the bone that adds depth of flavour. You also need to take the time to slowly brown the onions, reduce the tomatoes until their colour changes and wait for the oil to separate. This will result in big, bold flavours and tender pieces of chicken.

Growing up, the highlight of any road trip was a stopover at a dhaba for steaming hot, spicy dhaba style chicken curry, slow cooked dal makhani and tandoori rotis or naans fresh from the clay ovens to mop up all the finger licking dishes. My Dhaba Chicken is inspired by the iconic Dhabas of India. Dhabas are rustic roadside restaurants, found along the highways of North India. They are usually frequented by truck drivers and budget travellers who are looking for food which reminds them of home. Dhabas are typically family owned and serve inexpensive local specialities. Some Dhabas will usually cook their food in mud ovens and tandoors just like people cook it in the rural areas, which gives an earthy taste to their dishes. The most important thing is the use of Desi Ghee which is extracted fresh in their villages or in their farm.

Food in dhabas can be summed up in three words: affordable, simple, and tasty. A typical meal at a dhaba will always be enjoyed with either a lassi, which is a sweetened yoghurt drink or a masala chai. Dining at a Dhaba, relishing a good tandoori roti, and taking a nap on one of their ‘charpais’ (a traditional bamboo cot) is the highlight of any Indian road trip. I hope you enjoy this introduction to the flavours of Dhaba style cooking without having to take a road trip to North India.