Handi Chicken

When the Muslimah Food Bloggers group on Facebook announced that the challenge for September was to cook any dish from Pakistan I was very excited. I didn't have time to take part in the recent challenges so was happy to be able to make something for this month's challenge.

My husband and I both studied in Karachi so we both have fond food memories.  The delicious freshly baked Naans, Chicken tikkas, Lassi the abundant fruit and vegetable carts.
I spent 2 and half years in Karachi, while my husband, my eldest sister and a few other Maldivians studied MBBS for 7 years in Karachi.  Karachi isn't an easy place to live,  especially if you are female ,but if you stick to certain rules such as proper attire meaning Salwar kameez and Dupatta and have someone with you when going out, you will be just fine. I had two very nice Pakistani friends, one of them with whom I still keep in touch.  Anyway, the food is one thing I miss and I have lots of fond memories such as the wonderful kheer my friend Kanwal's mom used to make for us and send it over for lunch sometimes, the delicious dinner at Lal Qilah or Usmania or just the simple chicken tikka and naan at the tikka walas ..Swatting flies off during summer while trying to eat or the roasted nuts served piping hot ,on the carts on the roads,  in the chilly winter,and of course meeting my knight in shining armor 😉, so yes Pakistan may have been hard but lots of fond memories too. I love the bustling markets, the fruit seller near the corner of my flat, the speed the poultry shopper slaughters and plucks the feathers of the chicken chops and sells them all in 10 minutes' time.

One of my husband's favourites is Chicken Handi, I  liked Karahi but he said he preferred Handi, so I decided to make it for this month's along with Naan and sweet Lassi.

I looked up a few recipes and I noticed the addition of brown, in my case burnt, onions. I remember the  smell of onions being cooked in ghee in the flat next door and getting hungry just from the smell. The ingredients are easy to find, you need yoghurt though and I skipped the dried fenugreek and forgot the cream but it still had a lovely taste. So I will leave these two ingredients as optional.

Recipe : Chicken Handi recipe adapted  from the recipes from youtube such as  this one easy chicken handi recipe and  the recipe from curries and stories by Neelam 

500g boneless chicken, skinned cut into small cubes ( I used breast pieces)
1 large onion, sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp grated or pureed garlic
3 tomatoes chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
2 chillies chopped
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala (homemade or store-bought)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp fenugreek ( optional)
1/4 cup cream ( optional)
3-4 tbsp ghee

First heat  3 tbsp ghee in a wok add fry the onions till golden brown, remove and drain on kitchen paper and then finely chop it with the knife.

 umm.... they ended up getting burnt a bit but I used it anyway, so try and get the onions slightly less darker than this 😆

Next into the same pan add the garlic and ginger ( add the remaining ghee if you feel it needs more ghee, pakistani food is quite generous with the ghee) . Cook on medium heat for 1 minute to release its fragrance but not burn.

Next, add the cumin seeds and tomatoes, and fresh chillies, chilli powder, the chopped-up browned onions, turmeric and cook for a few minutes, Don't rush take your time, the tomatoes will break and you will get a nice sauce.

Add the chicken cubes and about  1/3 cup water, lid on and simmer till the onion is cooked.  Give a stir occasionally.

Remove lid once the chicken is cooked, remove the lid add yoghurt, ground coriander and if using cream and fenugreek.

Cook a few minutes and finally sprinkle in the garam masala and stir it in.

Serve with some flatbread.

Linking this over to MFB's September Challenge, be sure to check out all the delicious  other recipes linked below.

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