Green chilli – 1 [Add more if you want it more hot]
Turmeric powder – ¼ th tsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1 & ½ tsp
Plain yogurt – ¼ th cup
Sugar – 1 tsp
Oil – 5 tbsp
Salt to taste
Tempering
Bay leaf – 1 or 2
Green cardamom – 6 to 8
Black cardamom – 2
Cloves – 6 to 8
Cinnamon stick – 2 inch stick
Instructions
Wash and marinate the chicken with ½ tsp of salt and pinch of turmeric. Mix well and set aside. You can marinade the chicken well in advance with ginger-garlic paste along with salt and turmeric. The longer the duration of marinate, the tastier your chicken will be.
Finely chop 250 gms of onion. Cut the rest of the onions in big chunks and open up all the layers.
Heat the oil in a non-stick wok. Temper the oil with all the whole spices mentioned under ‘Tempering’. Sauté for couple of minutes till fragrant.
Add chopped onions, ginger and garlic paste. Saute them till onion turns deep golden brown.
In the meantime, heat 1 tsp of oil in another frying pan and add a pinch of salt. Now add the rest of the onion which you have layered earlier and fry them till translucent or lightly browned. Once done, set them aside.
Coming back to the main wok; when the onion turns deep brown, take out the bay leaf and black cardamoms. The reason for taking them out is mentioned in the next steps.
Beat the yogurt well breaking all the lumps. You can add little water to dilute it. Add the beaten curd to the wok and stir well so that it blends properly with the onions.
When it starts separating oil, remove the wok from fire. Now you have to blend this fried onion mixture. That’s why the bay leaf and black cardamom were taken out because those won’t taste good if blended. You may wonder about the other whole spice, but they won’t affect much.
If you have a hand blender, you can blend it in the wok itself. Otherwise, transfer it to a grinder/blender and blend till smooth [Make sure to cool down the mixture before processing it in the grinder]. I agree this requires some effort, but this enhances the taste multiple times compared to blending the onion first and then frying.
Once done, transfer the mixture back to the wok. Now add the marinated chicken, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, slit green chilli, salt and sugar.
Keep sauteing till the chicken is almost done. You can cover and cook which will make the process faster.
When the chicken pieces are tender, add little water if you feel it is too dry. The amount of water totally depends on your desired consistency of the gravy. But do keep in mind that if you plan to consume it later, the sauce will dry up when cold.
When you get the right consistency of your do pyaza, switch off the heat. Now spread the fried onion layers on top and give a light mix. A generous amount of fried onions makes this dish superbly delish!
You are done! Enjoy your chicken do pyaza with phulkas or chapatis.
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at https://www.flavorquotient.com/2013/05/chicken-do-pyaza/