Stovetop: Punjabi Chicken Curry from Scratch

September 18, 2025 4 Comments

LET'S DISPEL YET ANOTHER INDIAN FOOD MYTH!

Not all Indian chicken dishes have the same consistency and taste as butter chicken. It’s the feedback I’ve been dealing with over the last few months as I share this recipe. People keep saying, I feel like mine came out too watery! And I have to explain that it’s what we want from this dish. We want a really good curry — or gravy — that’s thin, brothy, and absolutely addictive when it’s poured over rice and/or as it soaks through your dipping bread of roti, naan, or even toast. ...oooh just imagine crusty fresh-from-the-farmer's-market bread dipped into this fragrant broth - turning soft in some spots - still crunchy in others! Yipes, that sounds really good! 

Every time I make this dish, I’m transported back in time to the Indian bachelors’ version of curry. It’s what I call those stories of young Indian students studying and living for the first time outside of India, trying to replicate the flavors of home thousands of miles away without a recipe or much guidance. It’s what my dad and his friends would come up with crammed into their tiny apartments as students at the University of Michigan back in the 1970s, cooking together one weekend out of the month. They’d be sure to make enough to feed an army of fellow Indian students homesick for their moms’ cooking with enough leftovers for the busy week ahead. No one knew how to cook, but anything was better than the bland, unfamiliar food that surrounded them. 

Those stories always ended with a description of the thinness of the broth, the pool of glistening oil that separated on top as the ingredients married perfectly, and the welcome sweat on the brow of the eater from the heat. THIS is THAT. Every time I make it, I think of that time of uncertainty, hope, and fear for everything unknown that was to come their way — and how sometimes all you need is a little bowl of the perfect curry to get you through it all. Oh, and a little bowl of tangy onions on the side. 

xoxo Anupy 

Stovetop: Punjabi Chicken Curry from Scratch

Marinate: 6 hours
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 10-45 minutes
Total: Up to 7 hours 10 minutes
Makes: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

Marinade

• ½ cup plain, unsweetened yogurt (Indian dahi), not Greek (fat, low-fat, or no fat)*
  
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  
• ½ teaspoon red chile powder or cayenne
  
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  
• ½ teaspoon salt
  
• 3 pounds skinless chicken, bone-in or boneless, scored**
  

Curry

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (or combination), mustard oil works well 
  
• 1 pinch hing (asafoetida), optional
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
  
• 6 whole cloves
  
• 3 bay leaves
  
• 2 black cardamom pods
  
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  
• 1 small yellow or red onion, minced or pureed
  
• 1-inch piece ginger, minced or pureed
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pureed
  
• 1 medium tomato, pureed (no peel) or diced (with peel)
  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted tomato paste
  
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
  
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  
• 1 teaspoon red chile powder or cayenne pepper
  
• 2 tablespoons kasoori methi (dried fenugreek), hand crushed to release flavor
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
  
• 1-4 fresh Thai or 1 serrano chile(s), stems removed and sliced down the middle***
  
• 1-3 cups water, divided
  
• 2 tablespoons additional ghee, optional
  

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add the yogurt, turmeric, red chile, black pepper, and salt; stir until combined. Add the chicken and stir again until all the pieces are evenly coated with the marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 1 hour to overnight — the longer it marinates, the deeper the flavor. Once ready to cook, pull the chicken from the fridge to rest on the counter until ready to use. You don’t want to leave raw meat on the counter too long, but also want to avoid placing very cold chicken directly into a hot pan.
2. In a heavy medium-sized saute pan (about 4-quarts), heat 2 tablespoons of the oil or ghee (or a combination) until warm. Add the hing, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, cardamom, cumin, and turmeric; stir and cook for about 40 seconds until the seeds sizzle. Add the onion; stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic; stir and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato and tomato paste; stir and cook for 1 minute, breaking down the paste with the back of a spoon or spatula. 
3. Carefully transfer the chicken pieces (not the extra marinade) to the pan in a single layer and cook for 1 minute before flipping and doing the same on the other side. Now add any remaining marinade, the garam masala, coriander, red chile, methi, salt, fresh chiles, and 1 cup of water. It’s important to add the water slowly and let it cook off to better ‘build’ your curry or gravy. Also, using boiling hot water versus room temperature water avoids lowering the cooking temperature.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook partially covered for 5 minutes until the curry starts to thicken. Add more water a ½ - 1 cup at a time, and continue to simmer. The range of water needed can vary — remember chicken releases water as well. Cook boneless chicken for a total of 10 minutes and bone-in for a total of 45 minutes, including the initial 5 minutes cook time. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165°F / 74°C. When done, turn the heat off, add the 2 tablespoons of ghee if using — for brightness and flavor — and completely cover the pan. Let it sit on the same burner for about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick, cloves (if you can’t find them - no worries), bay leaves, and cardamom pods. All the other spices are edible. Serve with basmati rice or Indian bread like roti or naan.

Notes

*Dahi, or Indian yogurt, is slightly tart and thinner than mainstream options — it can be found in Indian grocery stores. If you can’t find it, no worries, regular yogurt is fine. 

**If using bone-in, cut chicken into 10 pieces (split the breast). If using boneless, cut into large chunks. Scoring each piece with a fork or knife allows for maximum flavor absorption. I made this recipe using 3 pounds of chicken because that is the weight of an average whole chicken for bone-in. Feel free to reduce the amount of chicken and scale back the other ingredients as well. Or, make it as is and freeze a portion.

***We don’t remove/discard the seeds or membrane — you can if you prefer less heat. Because a serrano is longer than a Thai chile, I first cut it in half and then slice it into thin strips. Thins strips of chiles look pretty in this dish.

Check out my process shots!

Make it vegetarian

Swap the chicken for pan-fried, oven-baked, or air-fried tofu for a plant-based version of this dish. 

Watch me Make Chicken Curry!

Watch me make it on YouTube! And while you're there, consider subscribing! 

"What in the world is the code below?!"

If you’re subscribed to our weekly emails, you’ve probably noticed a block of code pop up under our latest recipes. On the blog, that’s actually a super handy printable/downloadable recipe — but it doesn’t display correctly in email (ahhh, technology!). Click through to our website to access this feature, and rest assured — there’s a method to our madness!

[[ recipeID=recipe-2memwatme, title=Stovetop: Punjabi Chicken Curry from Scratch ]]

4 Responses

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Also in Indian As Apple Pie Recipes