Chicken bhuna is a slow-roasted chicken recipe infused with aromatic Indian spices and a clinging sauce having a burst of flavors that’s simply sensational!
Another weekend is just knocking on the door and here I am presenting an extremely addictive dish for your weekend indulgence! This is my chicken bhuna recipe loaded with very flavorful Indian spices which are slow roasted with chicken over stovetop to bring out the maximum flavor.
Trust me, this chicken bhuna is gonna be a royal treat which you won’t be able to get your mind off! You may have already started worrying that this Indian spiced recipe of chicken bhuna would be another extravagant recipe which will make you spend hours inside the kitchen and ruin all your weekend happiness!
Fear not ladies and gentlemen! I guarantee you that this chicken bhuna recipe of mine will score record-low in the difficulty meter and you actually would find it difficult to believe that something as delicious as this chicken bhuna could actually be so simple to make!
Being an Indian and brought up in a typical Indian household on typical Indian food, it is obvious that I have a natural inclination towards Indian spices. But honestly, sometimes I get absolutely amazed to see how these spices can play around among themselves and create such wonderful flavors that are distinctively different from each other for different combinations.
If you just get few basic spice combinations right, you are sorted; you can build on them and create wonders! This chicken bhuna recipe is a great example of one such wonder where the flavor profiles can be played around with various combination of spices according to your liking.
Bhuna means roasting in Hindi which essentially implies that in this recipe of chicken bhuna, spices and chicken are roasted over slow flame until chicken is completely cooked without adding any extra water. Chicken will be cooked in its own juices.
I had already told you that this recipe of chicken bhuna is really very simple and easy. If you haven’t yet checked the recipe instructions given below, then let me give you some idea – this chicken bhuna recipe essentially involves 3 basic steps.
Firstly, you chop and prepare your aromatics which are nothing but onion, garlic & ginger – the famous trio of Indian cooking. Secondly you sauté these aromatics in oil to head start the slow roasting process.
Finally, you add your spices and chicken and let them cook on slow flame until the chicken is completely cooked. You need to cover & cook on low flame after searing the meat on medium-high for first 5 minutes.
The chicken should release significant amount of water which will help cook the chicken from the originated steam. If you don’t see enough water and the spices tend to stick to the pan, just add couple of splashes of water and continue cooking your chicken bhuna on low heat.
You may add some chopped veggies to your chicken bhuna but that is not absolutely necessary. I did add some bell pepper juliennes as I personally feel that bell peppers add some extra crunch to such stir-fry chicken dishes making it more appetizing and pleasing to eyes.
You can skip veggies altogether and then this chicken bhuna can become an ideal recipe for your weeknight meals as well since the pre-preparation is almost next to nil.
Once you are done with the minimal prep work, you just have to combine everything in the cooking pan and let the chicken bhuna cook on its own. Just make sure that you are keeping the cooking pot on lowest flame; the spices will burn otherwise giving a bitter taste to the dish which will ruin the flavors entirely.
I hope this recipe of chicken bhuna will make your weekends special (and may be few weeknights too!) and you will thank me, if not in comments below, but at least in your mind! Enjoy!
- Chicken – 750 gms, use bone-in pieces for this recipe
- Vegetable or Mustard oil – 4 tbsp
- Onion – 2, large, finely chopped
- Tomato – 1, large, finely chopped
- Bell pepper (red/green/yellow) – 1, cut into 1 inch squares [I used red]
- Green chilli – 1, chopped
- Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp
- Cumin powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander powder – 4 tsp
- Garam masala – 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
- Ginger paste – 2 tsp
- Garlic paste – 2 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Fresh coriander leaves – ½ cup, chopped
- Take a heavy bottomed pan and add the oil to it. Once the oil is hot add the chopped onions and sauté for just couple of minutes.
- Then add the ginger and garlic paste and all powdered spices – turmeric, red chilli, cumin, coriander and garam masala. Give a good stir.
- Add the chicken to the pan and stir to mix everything well. Make sure that all the chicken pieces are coated well with the spices.
- Now cover the pan and cook on lowest flame for 15 minutes.
- After about 15 minutes, add chopped tomatoes and salt. Mix well. The chicken should have released good amount of water, so do not add any more water. Only if you feel that the pan is too dry, add just few splashes of water.
- Now cook the chicken uncovered until it gets tender and all the water is evaporated. This is a dry dish with all the flavorful spices coating the succulent chicken pieces.
- Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve your warm chicken bhuna with flat breads like naan or phulka. Enjoy!
This looks so very mouthwatering!!
Brilliant!
Thanks! 🙂