Chicken Dopiaza – Chicken Cumin Curry

It’s the onions. You cannot get this tangy Chicken Dopiaza or Chicken Cumin Curry right unless you fry your onions to just the right shade of medium brown. I say this because I almost wrecked it several weeks ago. I started chatting on the phone and well, I got a little distracted. My siblings, if they are reading this, won’t be amused. In fact, one or both of them might roll their eyes a bit. Let me explain. As a toddler, I was tongue-tied, literally. I did not, could not speak. When that happens, there’s often a tiny procedure where a doctor snips off a thin band of soft tissue that fastens the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. I had this done to me, totally successfully, but there have been unfounded and, I might add, unscientific sibling rumours that the doctor’s hand slipped and he snipped too much away, haha; a notion that’s been bolstered by sibling claims, even some seven decades later, that they’re still trying to get a word in edgeways, haha again.

True, as time went by, I may have made up a smidgen for my earlier reticence. And once, just once, I was sent home from school with my lips taped shut. I remember the sniggers on the school bus as I sat very still all the way home, terrified and humiliated. And later, when Ammi (my mom) ripped the tape cleanly off, I yelped. It was a formative moment. In case you want to know, my siblings and I went to a missionary day school run by Irish nuns of the Holy Cross Order in sleepy little Dhaka, then in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Perhaps my predilection for a nice natter was an act of resistance to the experience. Or, I may be making excuses. Either way, as I was saying earlier, I turned from my chat to stir the onions in the pot, and they were almost at a point of no return. I had to quickly add the ground onion mixture to prevent a disaster.

So don’t be distracted, is what I am saying: watch those onions. The foundation of a saalan (a South Asian dish with gravy) is a sauce, and the foundation of a sauce is often onions, although in some parts of South Asia, tomatoes are also a key ingredient. But tomatoes aren’t quite the same as onions. Onions are unique in that when sliced or diced they can be sautéed to varied levels of crunchiness and they add flavour, colour, and substance to your dish. In this dish, and in many others as well, if you add ground onion paste to the sauté, you end up with a lovely smooth sauce. Once you’ve nailed this basic step to currying, you are on your way.

Yes, store-bought fried onions also work. Most desi or South Asian grocery stores carry several brands, and they are a fair substitute and save a heck of a lot of time and effort. If you use the store bought version, follow a slightly different technique: start by cooking the whole spices and the onion paste, and then add the fried onions. These have been fried already, so don’t fry them again. My cousin in Karachi told me recently that she grinds the store bought fried onions in a blender, and adds them to the sauce and the effect is just amazing. 

As so many of you already know, a saalan is many layered. So once you’ve browned the onions, add the other spices and curry or bhoono — which means let the spices mature. Add a dash of hot water now and again to prevent the sauce from burning. Why use hot water? I learned this from my Ammi: it’s better to add warm or hot water so that you maintain the temperature of the sauce. In other words, cool or tepid water will slow down the process of currying. Keep stirring the pot.

Add the chicken pieces, and keep on currying, on medium to high heat, to let the spices and the sauce seep into the protein, and for both to reduce. (I use bone-in chicken pieces because the juices add to the flavour but boneless chicken will work too — I prefer thigh and leg cuts). There ought to be a shine as well; this tells you the oil is separating and the dish is done. If the chicken is extra tender, I suggest putting away the ladle, and swishing the pot slightly from side to side to make sure the gravy circulates and doesn’t burn. Like its cousin, Beef Dopiaza – Beef Cumin Curry, this dish is tangy but not sour and it has warmth but does not have to be chilli hot. Paprika adds both colour and warmth, while red chilli paste livens it up considerably!  

FUN FACTS: Curry isn’t an actual word in South Asia. True, it’s an English word, (and probably exists in other languages, outside South Asia), but it has a somewhat problematic history. I think of it as a verb, not a noun. So what you need to figure out is the process of currying and once you get it, your range of cooking will expand in incredible ways. Zeera or Jeera is cumin in Bangla, Urdu and Hindi, and Dopiaza is a word that came to South Asia from Afghanistan and it means “Twice Onions.” In this dish cumin is a major flavour and onions are used in two ways : sliced and ground.

LIKELY QUESTIONS

• What can I use instead of bone-in chicken? You can substitute bone-in chicken with 1) boneless chicken; 2) vegetables such as potatoes, cauliflower & peas; 3) tofu. These will take less time to cook. 
• Do I have to use red chillies, whole and ground? No, but they do add flavour! I suggest try to find Kashmiri dried red chillies as these have flavour but far less heat. Break off the dried red chillies in half and shake out the seeds to reduce the heat even more. Chilli flakes may work; I haven’t tried this option yet. 

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Chicken Cumin Curry is a perfect main dish with Mung & Basmati Pilaf – Bhooni Moong ki Khichree. It also goes extremely well with plain boiled rice, naan or any flat bread. A perfect side dish is Kachumar which is an easy South Asian fresh salad — watch my blog for a recipe for this dish very soon!

Photo Credit

All Photos unless otherwise noted by: Almas Zakiuddin SOME RIGHTS RESERVED