How to Make Restaurant Style Handi Chicken at Home?

Handi Chicken 

Most Commonly, Parotta, Chapati, Nan, Rice, Idli, and Dosa all are eaten with Chicken Curry. Chicken is one of our favorite dishes of all time. Agreed? 

Percentage of Chicken Lovers in India 

In India, 42.8 percent of women, and 48.9 percent of men consume meat, chicken, or fish weekly according to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16. Hence, Half of India's population eats chicken. This is a survey taken in 2016. After five years, the number of non-vegetarian eaters will only increase, isn't it? 

Chicken as a meat has been depicted in Babylonian carvings from around 600 BC. From then till now chicken is one of the most common meats available around the world. There are more than 200 dishes available made with chicken in India. The highest meat consuming state in India is Kerala 92.8 percent and the lowest is Punjab only 4 percent.

What is 'Handi'? 

Handi Clay Pot

Handi chicken is a bold and spicy dish from the Northern part of India. Usually, Handi Chicken was traditionally prepared in an Earthen pot. There is a special type of earthen pot called 'Handi'. This pot has a wide bottom made of clay. It's available online but a bit expensive. So, it's better to buy in the nearby local market. But for now, we can also cook in Silver Pots for our convenience. 

Fresh Cream in Handi Chicken 

Fresh cream and all came much later into our kitchen. Instead of this fresh cream, milk and butter were used in the traditional days. But now fresh cream is available in the nearby supermarket. Why fresh cream in the sense, it gives the restaurant-style taste in our home food. 

Handi Chicken is a typical restaurant type dish that was told by my sister who lives in Hyderabad for some years. She has learned how to cook this North Indian special curry and we had this for our dinner with Maida Parotta. People who miss restaurant type chicken gravy in this quarantine period, this will truly satisfy your cravings. 

Let's go into the recipe now! 

Serves - 3 

Time - 1 hour 30 minutes 

Origin - Northern India 

Course - Main 

Other names- Murgh Handi 

The process to follow before making Handi Chicken 

1. Make the chicken into medium size pieces and wash it with water.

2. Put Turmeric and Salt in the chicken and keep it for 20 mins.

3. Wash it with lukewarm water. 

4. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of Turmeric powder, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice in the chicken and mix them well. We will keep this marination for 20-30 mins. Then, we can start the other process for the recipe.

Now Let's See How to Make Homemade Garam Masala

Homemade Garam Masala makes this recipe smell and tastes good. As we know, no other ready-made masala can beat homemade masala ever. Let's see the process of making it. 

Ingredients for Garam Masala

• 1 Cinnamon stick (Pattai)
• 1 Saigon Cinnamon (Brinji Leaf)
• 1 Star Anise (Annasi) 
• 3 Brown Cardamom (Elachi)
• 4 Cloves (Lavang)
• 3 Dry Chillies 
• 2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds (Jeera)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Coriander seeds (Malli) 
• 2 teaspoon Black peppercorns (Milagu) 
• 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds (Soambu)

Heat the pan and put all the ingredients one by one as given in the list. Sim the flame and cook for one and a half minutes till it releases aroma. After it cools down, put it in the mixy jar and make it as a powder. Now the Homemade Garam Masala is ready to use in the Handi Chicken Recipe. Keep the remaining powder in your kitchen because you can use it for other recipes too. 

Ingredients for Handi Chicken 

Chicken 

• 500 grams of Chicken with bone 
• 2Medium Sliced Onion 
• 2 Medium size Tomato 
• 1 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2 tablespoon Coriander Powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder 
• 1 tablespoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder (If you want more spice you can add up some more chili Powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon Fenugreek Leaves (Kasthuri Methi)
• 1/4 cup chopped Coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup Curd
• 1/2 cup Fresh Cream
• 4 tablespoon Vegetable Oil/ Sunflower oil/Ghee (If you don't like the smell of Ghee you can use oil) 
• 2 tablespoon Homemade Garam Masala (Process is given below) 
• 1/2 cup water 

Instructions

1. Heat Ghee/ Oil in the Handi Pot or Ever silver pot in medium heat. Then add onions and fry till it becomes golden brown. 

2. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until oil starts to rise to the top. 

3. Add chopped coriander leaves and tomato for a minute and add marinated chicken into this. Roast the chicken on a medium flame for 10 minutes. Then cover and cook the chicken on sim flame for 20 minutes. (We shouldn't add water until this step. The chicken will cook on its own juice and the juice from tomato)

4. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, Kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix them well for a minute and let it cook for 10 minutes in medium flame. 

5. Sim the flame and add curd. Mix it well and cover and cook the chicken for 5 minutes in a low flame. 

6. Add fenugreek leaves and fresh cream, mix them. Cover and cook for 3 minutes in a low flame. 

7. Sprinkle some garam masala and add half a cup of water. Cover and cook for 7 minutes in a low flame. 

8. Garnish with Coriander leaves (This step is optional. If you like Coriander leaves taste add it, otherwise you can skip this step)

Now the Restaurant style Handi Chicken is ready to be served at your home! Cheers! Share your experience with us in the comment box below! 

Suggest us which can be the next recipe to share with you all in our 'From India' blog.