How a Michelin Star Indian Chef Makes Chicken Curry at Home _ Passport Kitchen _ Epicurious

Every household in India makes their own version of curry and they put their own touch on it .

Curry varies from region to religion and what it's made from and how it's eaten .

My name is Akha Bwa , I'm the executive chef of Junoon restaurant and this is how my family makes new deli chicken curry .

So what makes a new deli chicken curry is the use of its mustard oil as well as the incorporation of yogurt that differs from the southern region of India where you'll see curries made more with coconut milk , mustard seed curry leaves as well as tamarind .

So we're gonna start with red onions here .

You don't have to be fancy with the cutting .

It's all gonna go in the pot and it's gonna cook down , chopping the tomatoes as well .

Gives more body to the curry itself .

The spices and the use of onions and tomatoes and ginger garlic are the main factor of what it makes at North Indian .

We're using bone in chicken thighs .

The bone has bone marrow in it .

So it provides a more intense chicken flavor because New Delhi is landlocked .

We tend to have more meats like chicken lamb and goat .

Over here we have our masala .

This is a staple in every Indian household .

This masala in specific is my mom's .

So we'll be adding turmeric into the chicken to marinade .

It'll give us a nice color to the chicken .

Turmeric is grown all across the country and you'll find it pretty much everywhere .

Every household , every spice market will have it .

The chicken is coated .

We're gonna set it aside now and get ready to start cooking the curry .

We're gonna start by searing off the chicken in mustard oil .

So mustard oil is extracted from black mustard seeds .

It's definitely got a very pungent aroma .

It's also got a higher smoke point than even neutral oils like canola oil .

So you can kind of start to see smoke .

So I do believe that this is hot .

Yep .

We hear it .

So we're gonna get one side seared , flip it over and then remove it and then in that same oil we're gonna add in our whole spices to start building those layers of flavor .

And here you can see the pieces with the bones on it .

They've gotten a little bit of color on it .

We just want to see that the chickens have cooked a little bit and it's spent some time to infuse some of that flavor of turmeric and the chicken into the mustard oil before you move on .

You just wanna make sure that there's no pieces of chicken left over in the pot .

Otherwise the pieces will burn as you continue to cook it .

It's on to putting in our whole spices in the pot .

Cinnamon sticks , whole bay leaf , black cardamom , green cardamom , black pepper corns .

And last I'm adding in some cloves .

You're talking about aroma and you're talking about flavor that's being imparted into this oil .

We are gonna add our red onions .

Now , pinch of salt , it will take some water out of the onions .

I'm going to add in the ginger garlic paste .

As I see the onions have gotten translucent .

The ginger garlic paste is a staple in our cuisine as well .

The use of ginger and garlic , whether it's minced or it's in paste form goes in curries as well as marination for kebabs .

We are looking for some of the oil to start leaving the onions .

We're ready to add our ground spices in curry powder .

Chili powder is really at your discretion in terms of how spicy you want it .

The Kashmiri chili powder is milder in flavor but it's brighter in color .

So it's going to give a very nice , vibrant red color .

They're just getting sauteed for a couple of minutes .

I'm gonna be adding my tomato paste and tomatoes .

Now I'm just gonna put a touch of water in here to just act as a de glazer .

If your pan is very hot water will eventually evaporate , I just wanna make sure that the pot is not too hot so that the yogurt won't break .

We're using day yogurt .

And what the yogurt does for the dish is that it kind of gives it a more silky smooth finish as well as adding that nice tart citric flavor .

A lot of North Indian cuisine utilizes yogurt in the curries , add the chicken in .

Now we're adding some water to this , put the lid on and let the chicken simmer .

So after letting this simmer for a couple of minutes , I'm gonna open it up and check on it and it looks great .

Now , finish with my last few aromatics .

So we're gonna add in our Kuti meti which is dried fere leaves .

It does add a little of a citrus notes to it .

Our Gura masala spice blend has about 10 different spices in it and they're all roasted spices .

It's gonna be at its freshest by adding it at the end .

The two main spices that are used in a masala in New Delhi is cumin seeds and coriander seeds .

You'll have other spices like cinnamon , bay leaf nutmeg , cloves , star green cardamom , black cardamom .

All those spices are within the masala spice blend and they differ from house to house finish with our fresh cilantro .

Our chicken curry is done and now it's time to play .

So our chicken is finished and looks great .

I will be adding the chicken curry into the bowl , get our warm roti .

If you want to see how roti is made .

You can also check out our episode for a crunch factor as well as a little bit of a different flavor .

We'll put in some raw red onions .

We have green chilies to go along with .

And this is my family's new deli chicken curry .

When it comes to chicken curry , we do not use utensils , we use our hands and that's how I ate it growing up .

So I'm gonna start by ripping a piece of the roti , just rip a piece of chicken off .

Make sure I get a nice big handful of gravy .

Now I'm just gonna go ahead and enjoy myself the flavor I find to be perfect because there's such a great balance of spice .

There's a little bit of acidity and tartness from the tomatoes as well as the yogurt and then those onions and ginger and those whole spices that we put at the beginning give just a nice aroma and I just , you know , look forward to taking the next bite .

What can I say ?

This recipe was passed on from generation to generation .

It was something that my father learned from his parents and then passed down .

I certainly hope one day to pass this recipe down .

Each person has their own variation and slight twist to it .

That's the beauty of cooking is that it comes from the heart