Dahi Chicken or Dahi Murgh is a tangy & mellow yogurt chicken dish from north indian cuisine. It has a thick textured gravy. Pair dahi chicken with rotis or paratha for a delicious weeknight meal.
Somedays when mom used to run out of tomatoes, she would make yogurt based curries. Everyone loved the change of taste from the regular onion - tomato masala especially during the summer months.
One cannot have too many chicken recipes up their sleeve, right? I have shared another yogurt based chicken recipe in the past. However, this dahi chicken is different from the chicken in yogurt & cardamom sauce in cooking method, spices as well as taste.
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What is Dahi Chicken?
Dahi =Yogurt. Dahi Chicken is a mild chicken dish from the north indian (punjabi) cuisine. It is also called curd chicken curry. It is dryish (without a lot of gravy) and has a thick masala coating the chicken. The chicken cooks in its own juices and moisture from yogurt without addition of water. Due to use of full fat yogurt, it is quite creamy without any heavy cream or nut pastes. You can make it for everyday meals as well as include it in your dinner party menus. With dark meat chicken and whole yogurt, this is an excellent keto friendly recipe as well.
Most indian chicken recipes use yogurt so what's different here you may ask. Firstly, yogurt is the main ingredient in the sauce. Secondly, the masala in this recipe is made by sautéing together browned (light caramelized) onions and dahi together with fresh ground spices which make up for robust creamy flavors. Quite different from the usual method of adding yogurt to chicken curries towards the end of cooking.
The dish has a sourish tang and is not as hot because the yogurt mellows down the masala. The masala has a prominent taste of black cardamom and black pepper. It should traditionally be cooked in mustard oil, however since mustard oil is an acquired taste for many due to its strong sharp aroma and taste, you can substitute with ghee or any other neutral oil.
Ingredients
- Bone In Chicken - For curries I always prefer dark meat bone in chicken. Use skinless chicken pieces. I usually use "curry cut" that I buy from my middle eastern grocer. You can buy bone in chicken from stores and remove the skin using a paper towel. A mix of both or just drumsticks or only chicken thighs will work wonderfully as well.
- Full Fat Yogurt - I use malai top (creamy) indian style dahi (plain yogurt) from indian stores. You can use greek yogurt or plain full fat yogurt from brands like stony field or chobani. Some yogurt brands have corn starch mixed in as a thickener, please read label before purchasing and avoid.
- Oil - When I make it on weeknights, I use mustard oil. If you are cooking for parties, go for ghee.
- Onions - Ideally yellow sweet onions are best but I use whatever I have at home on a particular day. Red, yellow, white- it will all work.
- Ginger and Garlic Paste - Pound or process together equal parts peeled garlic & ginger to a coarse paste using mortar pestle or a small blender jar.
- Tomato Paste (Optional)- You just need a tablespoon. Substitute with store bought or homemade tomato puree. It adds a wonderful sweetish acidity towards the end.
- Spices For the Fresh Ground Masala - Coriander, cumin, cloves, dried chillies, black cardamom (seeds only), black peppercorns, nutmeg & turmeric.
- Kasuri methi (optional) - Are dried fenugreek leaves which are commonly used to add a unique aroma and taste to north indian curries. They are easily available in indian stores. You can skip if you don't have.
How To Make Dahi Chicken
- Dry roast the spices and grind them into a corse powder.
- Rub half of the the spices over chicken and mix half with yogurt.
- Heat up oil and sear the spice rubbed chicken on both sides. Sear in batches.
- Temper the remaining oil with cinnamon & bay leaves.
- Add ginger garlic and saute for few seconds.
- Add the onions and cook them until the onions are caramelized and browned (not dark brown).
- Mix in the yogurt on low heat and saute it immediately. Cook with the onions till you see oil bubbles separating.
- Add the chicken, mix and cover the pot.
- After about 25 minutes, the chicken should be cooked through. Mix in the tomato paste(if using).
- Saute on high heat for 2-4 minutes and finish with kasuri methi & cilantro.Serve warm.
Serving & Variations
Dahi chicken is amazing with all sorts of flatbreads and a side salad and chutney. It is also a delicious side dish with yakhni pulao or dal. You can store it for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Here are a few variations you can try
- Make it Spicy - Mix in some chopped thai bird green chilies right before serving.
- Deluxe - When you are serving for parties, you can also finish it with 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream.
- Kid friendly - This dish has quite a kick of black pepper, reduce the black pepper quantity if you are making for kids.
- Make it Vegetarian - You can use this recipe for a vegetarian version with paneer, baby potatoes or gobhi(cauliflower) etc. Sprinkle a little ground masala on paneer or par boiled potatoes or blanched gobhi and pan fry in oil. Mix rest of the ground spices with yogurt and make the sauce following the recipe. Add pan fried paneer, potatoes or gobhi to the cooked masala and finish cooking them in masala. Its really delicious!!
Few Tips
- You can make this recipe with boneless chicken. Use boneless skinless chicken thighs. I would recommend rubbing the chicken with ground spices and letting it sit for 3-4 hours for extra flavor.You don't need to marinate if you use bone in chicken, the masala gets a ton of flavor from the bones while cooking.
- Make sure that the chicken is dry when you rub the spices. Sear chicken on medium heat to avoid spices from sticking or burning.
- Make sure that the yogurt is not too watery or too sour. You can use hung curd as well. Watery yogurt will not give you a thick masala, so please avoid.
- I love the sweetish acidity that tomato paste adds. You can absolutely skip it. I find it better than adding sugar.
Frequently asked questions
If you want, you can certainly rub the chicken with fresh ground spices and a little yogurt and marinate for a few hours or up to 1 day for extra deep flavors (This is in fact, how bengali doi murgi is cooked) However, for this recipe, do prepare the masala by sautéing yogurt (quantity as mentioned in recipe) along with browned onions, this gives the right taste to the dish.
You can make it a little saucy by adding water towards the end of cooking. I dont recommend making a very runny gravy.
Black cardamom has a totally different taste profile than green cardamom. Black cardamom has a strong woody scent which goes so well with most indian non vegetarian dishes while green cardamom has a delicate sweet aroma and taste. You can use green cardamom if you do not have black cardamom but the taste will be different (though still great!)
Dahi Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
For The Chicken
- 1.6 lb (~750g) bone in chicken 10-12 pieces
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Dry Spices
- 2 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 12-15 black pepper corn
- 4 cloves
- 4 whole dry red chillies adjust to taste
- 2 black cardamom seeds only
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
For The Sauce
- 4-5 tablespoon oil or ghee
- 2 bay leaf
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic minced
- 1 cup onion thinly sliced
- ¾ cup yogurt , use whole yogurt
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste or 2 tablespoon tomato puree (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder or paprika optional
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi optional
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry using a paper towel.Once dried, rub the lemon & salt. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, on low heat, dry roast all the whole spices [except turmeric,nutmeg & salt] till you smell the aroma. About 3 minutes.
- Let the roasted spices cool down a bit. Once cooled, tip into your coffee grinder or using mortar & pestle, coarsely grind the spices.
- Add half of the ground spices, turmeric, salt and nutmeg to the chicken. Thoroughly rub all over.Let while you work on the masala.
- Whisk the other half of the spice powder with yogurt.Keep near.
- In your cooking pot, heat up oil. Once oil is slightly smoky, layer the chicken in batches in oil. Here, the idea is just to sear and seal the chicken [not cook it]. You can do it in a non stick pan as well. I just use the same pot. Let sear on both sides. Once seared, remove from oil in a plate.
- Add bay leaf and cinnamon to the remaining oil in the pot. Saute for 10 seconds and then add the ginger and garlic. Saute for another 10 seconds and then add the onions.
- Cook the onions till nicely caramelized and browned (but not dark brown).About 5-7 minutes.
- Add the yogurt and combine well with onions. Cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly to avoid curdling. You will slowly see yogurt releasing water. TIP: Whenever adding yogurt to hot pot, ensure that the stove is on the lowest mark.
- Keep cooking for another 2-3 minutes and once you see that the masala is oily, add the chicken along with juices. Bump up the heat to medium and mix the chicken well till its coated in the onion yogurt masala.
- Cover the pot and let cook for 20-25 minutes or till chicken is done. Dont add water. As the chicken will cook,it will release its own juices which are enough along with moisture of yogurt to cook it.You will need to stir 2-3 times in between to make sure that the chicken is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the chicken is cooked, add the tomato paste, kashmiri red chilli and kasuri methi. Mix together and saute on high heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Finish with cilantro and serve warm.
Notes
- You can make this recipe with boneless chicken. Use boneless skinless chicken thighs. I would recommend rubbing the chicken with ground spices and letting it sit for 3-4 hours for extra flavor.
- Make sure that the chicken is dry when you rub the spices. Sear chicken on medium heat to avoid spices from sticking or burning.
- Make sure that the yogurt is not too watery or too sour. You can use hung curd as well.
- I love the sweetish acidity that tomato paste adds. You can absolutely skip it. I find it better than adding sugar.
- Make it Spicy - Mix in some chopped thai bird green chilies right before serving.
- Deluxe - When you are serving for parties, you can also finish it with 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream.
- Kid friendly - This dish has quite a kick of black pepper, reduce the black pepper quantity if you are making for kids.
- Make it Vegetarian - You can use this recipe for a vegetarian version with paneer or gobhi(cauliflower).Simply mix the ground spices with yogurt and make the sauce following the recipe. Add fried paneer or shallow fried gobhi to the cooked masala. Its delicious!!
- You can also use this spice rub on chicken and vegetables, grill and serve as it is - so so good!
Partho
Awesome
Nikhil
Hello. If one were to make this with boneless chicken as per one of your variations, how would this change the cooking time? Thanks.
Tanvi
Depending on how big your boneless chicken pieces are, it should take 15-18 minutes for chicken to cook. Please use boneless chicken thighs. Thanks
Nikhil
Thanks so much. I'll make this in a few days! I still make your chicken bhuna-- best recipe ever, and it's been ca. 10 years!
Tanvi
Yay! that makes me so happy 🙂
Jan Scherders
Today i made your Dahi Chiken. It was reaylly TOP. I made it with three chicken legs and I used a cleaver to make smaller pieces.
Jan Scherders
Today i made your Dahi Chicken. It was really TOP. I made it with three chicken legs and I used a cleaver to make smaller pieces.
Tanvi
🙂 thank you.
Jan
I also liked the finishing touch with the tomato, kashmiri chili powder and the methi leaves!!
By the way, if you want the dish to be dryish I think normal yoghurt is not good enough and you have to make some hung up yoghurt. That is very easy to do.
Tanvi
Yes absolutely. Yogurt & Methi is one delicious combo. Hung curd works great for a dryish masala as you say, I will add that to notes as well. Thank you
Ridhi
Loved it! Such a great recipe.
Tanvi Srivastava
Thank you! So glad you liked 🙂