Golden Chicken Handi Traditional Style Curry is a lovely aromatic and flavour packed curry.
It came about because I had bought some fresh turmeric and wanted to showcase it in a recipe some how. Fresh turmeric is now readily available, and although it’s a bit of a mess to use (it stains EVERYTHING!) it is really worth using it once in a while as it tastes amazing. It’s also supposedly, very good for you.
So I wanted a curry that would benefit from the use of fresh turmeric and used simple flavouring so that the flavour of the turmeric wasn’t lost. A Handi seemed to tick all the boxes.
Made using fresh tomatoes and using only seven dried spices, this curry allows the earthy flavour of turmeric to shine through as well as giving it a wonderful golden colour, not to mention everything else you use in the preparation of the turmeric.
This is a simple curry to make, with a little patience. The photos on this post are from the first time I made it and there are no fancy lighting or props. Sometimes it’s good to just keep it basic and let the readers see exactly how a dish can look without poncy garnishes, dishes and backdrops! And absolutely AI free!
Preparing Your Fresh Turmeric
When I say fresh turmeric stains everything, I really am not joking. So think ahead of what you’re going to use in it’s preparation.
First off, I kept the skin on and just took the gnarly dried ends off the root. It’s best to wear some disposable gloves for this to stop your hands ending up resembling a hand belonging to a charachter from The Simpsons!
I then sliced the turmeric and blitzed it in a small blender. The bowl of the blender was plastic and clear. It’s now an orangey colour, it doesn’t matter to me but you may not want the same to happen to yours!
Of course you can grate the turmeric, again keep those gloves on. As most graters are steel, it shouldn’t stain them for to long. If you are grating onto a chopping board it will stain that yellow/orange. Again it’s not something that bothers me, it is just colour. Once washed there is no smell of turmeric on the board to taint other food.
After reading this, you may decide you really don’t want to use fresh turmeric as it sounds like too much hassle. That’s fair enough, you can just use ground turmeric powder. There are some notes at the end of the recipe if you want to do this. Please, please don’t be put off though and have a go with the fresh. It is after all what puts golden into your Golden Chicken Handi! Just wear gloves so you don’t end up with golden handies too!
Whole Roasted Spices Vs Ready Ground
If you don’t have the spices you need for this recipe, or the means to grind them, then of course you can use ready ground. You can even use a ready made curry powder or mix powder. it will still taste really good, just different.
Roasting the whole spices and just using the ones in the recipe does give the dish a lovely warming back note with just the right amount of spice though. Seriously, give it a go.
Remember ‘Ome Made have a wide variety of curry masala and spice blends including Garam Masala, that are suitable for this recipe.
If you like the look of this recipe you may like this one too Chicken Malabar
If you are a curry lover then why not join us on the Facebook page The UK Curry Group
Golden Chicken Handi Dhaba Style
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 kg bone in chicken thighs skin removed
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp grated fresh turmeric
- 1 tsp crushed/grated garlic
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 0.5 tbsp lemon juice
Spice Masala
- 1 2’’ piece cassia bark
- 2 cardamom pods bruised
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
Gravy/Sauce
- 3 onions finely diced
- 5 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1 tbsp garlic/ginger paste
- 1 tbsp grated fresh turmeric
- The above spice masala
- 4 large fresh tomatoes chopped
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 300 ml water, bone broth or light stock
- 3 tbsp plain natural yoghurt whipped (room temp)
- 3 tbsp double cream
Tadka
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 1’’ piece of peeled ginger julienned
- 2 green finger chillies split lengthways add more or less to taste
Finishing Touches
- 1.5 tbsp kasuri methi
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander finely chopped
Instructions
Marinate The Chicken
- Add the salt and lemon juice to the chicken and stir to coat.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to coat well.
- The chicken can be left to marinate and come up to room temperature while you prepare the rest of the curry.
Spice Masala
- In a clean, dry frying pan, gently roast the spices, moving them around so they don't catch and burn, until aromatic. As soon as they are, remove to a plate or shallow dish so they can spread out and cool.
- Once the spices are cool you can grind them in your chosen grinder or a pestle and mortar.
The Curry Sauce
- In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Let them cook on a gentle heat until lightly browned, soft and sticky.
- Add the green chillies, garlic, ginger and fresh turmeric. Cook for around 1 minute.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, stir in and let cook with the lid on for around ten minutes, at which point they should have broken down.
- Add the ground spices and Kashmiri chilli powder. let cook for around 1 minute, stirring so they don't catch and burn.
- Add 300ml of water or bone broth and let cook gently for about twenty minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat and blend the sauce smooth with a hand blender, being careful not to splash yourself. You can tip the sauce into a blender but let it cool slightly first so the lid doesn't blow off.
- once the sauce is blended, heat back up to a simmer and add the chicken. Bring up to a simmer again and put a lid on the pan. Let cook gently for at least 40 minutes. By this point the chicken will be cooked. An extra 10 to 20 minutes will mean the meat is practically falling off the bone. It's your choice as to how well you want the chicken cooked.
- Take the lid off the pan and add the whipped yoghurt and cream.
- Bring back to the simmer before tasting for seasoning, add more salt if required plus the Kasuri methi, coriander and garam masala
Tadka
- In a small heavy bottomed pan heat the ghee and butter until sizzling and hot. Add the julienned ginger and green chillies. Fry until the green chillies look glossy then pour over the top of the curry. The curry is now ready to serve.
