Always the one to pat myself on the back, before anyone else does, but for this Nauratan Chicken recipe, you’ll want to pat me too 😀 (I said that on the expense of sounding like a total narc but it was totallyyyyy worth it)
Nauratan means colorful in Urdu, and I planned to name this dish, just that, owing to the colors that pop through the dish. From the spicy red gravy made from yogurt, tomato and roasted spices, to the greens and yellows from charred capsicum and potatoes, with the subtle white from chopped onions, and a peekaboo from browned chicken, it definitely is “colorful”.
It’s the perfecttttt amalgamation of veggies and chicken with the spice level that brown moms would be proud of! and OHHH so yum! The masala in this dish is towards the saucy side rather than thin gravy types. Let’s say similar to chicken karhayi in consistency.
Why you HAVE to try making Nauratan Chicken today!
- It’s budget friendly because a 1/2 kg chicken can serve 4 to 5 people easily
- Awesome dish to add as a side/ or as a dish with less gravy for elaborate menus.
- Works well with alll carb sides, And i mean parathas, rotis, naans, breads, rice, pulaos and even spicy rices like Tahiris etc
- Did I mention its ready in roughly around 30 mins ?
- Also super easy! and has room for soooo many variations (see end of post for ideas)
- p.s I’ve also had this with quinoa and couscous as a side, and lets just say….WOW!
The 3 main steps to make Nauratan chicken.
- Making the spice mix
- Making the chicken gravy
- Preparing the vegetables.
Making the spice mix
The spice mix is pretty simple to make. It has cumin seeds, coriander seeds and whole red chilies, similar to a Dahi bara masala but with a different ratio. You are simply going to roast all of these at medium flame until the coriander seeds turn to a nice golden brown color and your kitchen smells like a real chef is at work. Once you get to that stage, turn of the flame and run it through a chopper to get nice coarse spice mix. (semi-grounded)
That completes our stage 1 of launch preparations!
Making the chicken gravy
This part is going to start off as any other Pakistani or Indian curry does. With oil, chopped onions and whole cumin seeds.
Once you take your onions for a tan and turn them golden brown, go ahead and add the boneless chicken, ginger garlic paste, salt and the spice mix you prepared.
Give it a nice toss and turn at medium high flame just until the chicken turns white. Next, drop in a generous quantity of tomato paste and yogurt. You can also use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato paste.
Tip: Always beat the yogurt before adding them to curries to avoid lumpy gravy.
Add about 1/2 cup of water and cover your chicken and let it simmer at medium low flame for about 10 mins.
It will look something like this after 10 mins with a generous amount of curry in the pan as well. Turn off the flame and move on to the next step.
Preparing the veggies
Cut potatoes in medium sized cubes (similar to the size of your chicken cubes). Par boil these in salt water for about 5 to 6 mins (they should be 80% cooked)
Strain them and proceed to the second last stage of this misson.
These are all the veggies that go into this dish. But by all means feel free to be creative, and try other combinations that your imagination inspires.
Toss in the capsicum, potatoes and onions in a frying pan with about 2 tbsp of oil and saute them at high heat until you get a nice caramelized color going on.
Toss these caramelized gorgeousss beauties into your chicken gravy and heat for about 2 to 3 mins.
Top with crushed black pepper and garam masala powder. You my friend have THE most versatile dish in your hand right now.
Serve it warm with pretty much any carb side you can think. You can also smoke it from some extra kick.
Alternates, Fixes and remixes
- Tomato paste – If you don’t want to use tomato use, use tomato puree of fresh tomatoes (1/2 cup puree = 1 tbsp tomato paste)
- This recipe is definitely on the spicier side, if it is too hot for you, here are 2 things you can do:
1. Reduce the number of whole red chilies from the start.
2. If you feel its too spicy AFTER completing the dish, just add 1/2 a cup of yogurt and don’t cook it for more than 2 3 mins. You’ll be set
- I’ve made this recipe atleast 3 dozen times with sooooo many variations. I’ve made it with boneless beef chunks, mutton and minced meat as well (the coarsely ground type not the finely ground type)
– If you plan to make this dish with beef or mutton, you’ll have to cook the meat and mutton for longer with water (for about atleast 30 to mins) before you can start adding veggies. And also double the quantity of tomato paste used in the recipe.
- Smoke it up! Ok so on several occasions I’ve smoked the completed dish with a bit of coal and OH MY GAWD! phenomenal! I haven’t added coal to the main recipe because it tastes pretty darn good without the coal itself! But I’d definitely recommend you to try it with the smoke too! The spices just respond really well to the smoke.
What to do with left overs?
- This left over curry goess realllyyy well in a sub! with a little mayo, salad leaves and Dijon mustard!
- Use it as a filling for your tortilla wraps!
If you try this recipe! Let me know what you think! you can also tag me with your recreations on my Instagram account @butteroverbae
More Chicken recipes
Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!
Nauratan Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/2 kg boneless chicken cut in cubes
- 1 1/2 cup cube cut potatoes about 2 medium ones
- 2 cups square cut capsicum about 2 medium ones
- 1 1/2 cup onions cut up in squares about 2 medium ones
- 1 big big onion finely chopped
- 3 tsp Cumin seeds
- 2 tsp Coriander seeds
- 8 to 10 whole red chilies
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
- 4 tbsp tomato paste or tomato puree of 2 medium sized tomatoes
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1/4 cup oil
Instructions
- In a pan roast 2 tsp of cumin seeds, with coriander seeds and whole red chilies for about 5 mins or until coriander seeds turn golden brown. Run the spices through a food process to get coarsely grounded spice mix
- Add finely chopped onion and 1 tsp whole cumin seeds in a pot along with oil. Allow the onions to turn golden brown.
- Toss in cubed chicken and garlic ginger paste into the onions. Add the grounded spice mix and salt as well.
- Saute the chicken for 2 to 3 mins at high flame or until the chicken turns white.
- Add 1/2 cup of water with tomato paste and whisked yogurt in the chicken, cover it and let it cook for 10 mins
- In the meantime par-boil potato cubes in salt water for 3 to 4 mins.
- In a frying pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry the parboiled potatoes, square cut onions and square cut capsicum.
- Once the oil comes up around the chicken curry, add in the stir fried vegetables. Top it off with crushed black pepper and garam masala powder. Add more water if needed.
- Serve with naan/roti or zeera pulao rice
Anonymous says
Superb recipe just want to ask can i reduce the quantity of red chilli ball?
Wajiha says
you definitely can. But I will tell you that its not a spicy dish. Its moderately spicy to begin with. If thats what you are worried about
Anonymous says
Awesome recipe!! Delicious with rice and amazing in a sub.. Thank you so much for the recipe..????
Wajiha says
this is one of my favoriteeeee recipes! thankyou for trying!
Anonymous says
Uff The Nauratan Chicken was just amazing ????????
Jazak Allah Khair for sharing your recipe
It was loved by all.
Wajiha says
I am so glad you liked it!
Mehrunnisa Ali says
Uff The Nauratan Chicken was just amazing ????????
Jazak Allah Khair for sharing your recipe
Faiza says
I tried it with mutton and it was aaaamazing, honestly!! Keep bringing these recipes, please! I find your tips and photographs especially helpful! I also tried the shakshuka and I’m a really big fan of it!! I can’t wait to try the rest of your dishes, particularly the indo-chinese ones. Thank you for making my cooking easy 🙂
Wajiha says
that is soooo cool! mamma makes it in beef and I knoww how amazing that tastes. im sure the mutton ones would’ve been awesomeeee too! thankyou so much! looking forward to hearing more feedback from you 🙂