Chicken bhuna masala or bhuna murgh is every chicken lover's delight. It's a dry chicken curry sautéed in a thick, caramelized onion masala. The spices seep into the chicken, intensifying all the flavors and making it super-delicious. Have it with naan or pita bread for a wonderfully satisfying experience!
Another (almost) dry Indian curry is achari chicken or chicken in pickling spices. It's hot, spicy and totally happening!
If you like flavorful chicken curries, try this madras chicken and almond chicken korma too.
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What does 'bhuna' mean?
Bhuna is a technique in South Asian cooking in which the ingredients (usually some kind of meat with onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and spices) are sautéed on medium to high heat until the fat separates and the masala is cooked through, thick, and glossy.
You can think of bhuna as THE most important technique when it comes to cooking Indian and Pakistani meat-based curries. Every self-respecting curry goes through this process as this is what makes it so over-the-top delicious!
This chicken bhuna or bhuna murgh (murgh = chicken) is no exception and its intense flavor comes from the unique combination of ingredients cooked in the bhuna style.
If you want to know more about the bhuna technique in detail and find out about four more cooking techniques, see this post - 5 Essential Indian Cooking Techniques.
Ingredients
Note: exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down.
Chicken - Make sure to use bone-in, skinless chicken for this recipe. I usually get a whole medium-sized chicken cut into 14 pieces from the butcher's. However, if that is not an option, go with bone-in cuts only if you can. The bones add a lot of taste and flavor to any curry.
Whole spices - These are the heart and soul of chicken bhuna, so don't skip them! Cloves, black peppercorns, green cardamom, and coriander seeds are dry roasted until fragrant and ground roughly to make the spice mixture. You can use a mortar and pestle too if you wish to grind the freshly roasted spices.
Cooking oil - any neutral cooking oil like canola or sunflower oil will do. Don't use olive oil or coconut oil as these are too overpowering for a North-Indian, Pakistani style curry. I have used light olive oil with success, however, as this has a very mild taste.
Onions - Red onions, thinly sliced.
Ginger and garlic - These are ground to a paste or you can use ready-to-use bottled ginger and garlic too, which is easily available in any supermarket these days.
Red chilli powder and salt - If you don't want a spicy curry, you can sub the chilli powder for Kashmiri red chilli. It is milder than regular chilli.
How to make the dry spice mixture
1. Put all the whole spices (cloves, black peppercorns, green cardamom, and coriander seeds) in a small frypan and turn on the heat to medium. Stir until the spices change color and give off a distinct fragrance. Take the frypan off the heat and allow the roasted spices to cool down.
2. Put the spices in a dry grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a rough powder. Don't fine grind them as we want a little texture here.
How to make chicken bhuna
1. Make the dry spice mixture as outlined above and keep it aside.
2. Slice the onions as finely as you can. Thinly sliced onions do make a difference to the texture of the masala.
3. Heat ¼ cup oil in a large frypan and slide in the chicken. Fry until the chicken is slightly browned at the edges. Don't worry about cooking the chicken fully as it will get cooked later in the wok.
4. Now, put a wok or karahi on the hob and add ⅓ cup cooking oil. Allow it to become hot, then tip in the sliced onions. Fry on medium heat, stirring frequently until the onions caramelize or become reddish-brown. Take care not to burn them.
5. Immediately add the ginger and garlic pastes and tomatoes. Sauté this masala (bhuno) for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes soften and the oil separates. You can add a splash of water if the masala is sticking to the wok.
6. Add the fried chicken along with the pan drippings, dry spice mixture prepared earlier, red chilli powder and salt. Mix everything well and sauté (bhuno) on medium heat for 5 minutes.
7. Cover the wok with a tight-fitting lid and allow the chicken to cook on low to medium heat for 15 minutes. The steam created inside the covered wok will prevent the masala from burning.
8. After 15 minutes, switch off the heat, but let the wok rest on the hob for 5 minutes before removing the lid. Serve hot with naan or pita bread.
Top Tips
1. Avoid adding water at any stage in the cooking if you can. If you feel, however, that the chicken or spices are in danger of burning, add a few splashes of water only, just enough to moisten the food. Too much liquid can spoil the 'bhuna' look and taste of this curry.
2. Don't skip dry roasting the whole spices. It takes just 2 extra minutes, but this extra step takes the bhuna chicken to a whole new different level of deliciousness, trust me.
2. If you want to use fresh ginger garlic paste, here's how: put equal quantities of ginger and garlic in a blender with a few tablespoons of water and blend until you get a smooth paste. Use the quantity as mentioned in the recipe and store the extra in a sealed glass bottle in the fridge. If using pre-made bottled ginger and garlic, skip this step.
Side dishes
2. Cumin rice
3. Onion raita
For more side dishes, check out this post: 20+ Best Side Dishes for Chicken Curry.
More chicken curries
- Chicken handi (boneless)
- Chicken karahi (boneless)
- White chicken karahi
- Chicken kali mirch (pepper chicken)
- Murgh cholay (chicken and chickpeas)
Want still more? Check out the entire collection of chicken recipes on the blog!
📖 Recipe
Chicken Bhuna Masala
Equipment
- 1 Small frypan for roasting the dry spices
- 1 Spice grinder for grinding the spices
- 1 Large frypan for shallow frying the chicken
- 1 Wok or karahi for cooking the chicken
Ingredients
Whole spices
- 5 cloves
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 4 green cardamom
- 1 ½ tablespoon coriander seeds
Other ingredients
- ¼ cup cooking oil for shallow frying the chicken
- 1 chicken bone-in, skinless, cut into 14 pieces
- ⅓ cup cooking oil canola or sunflower oil
- 2 red onions medium-sized, sliced fine
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste heaped
- 1 tbsp garlic paste heaped
- 1 tomato medium-sized, chopped
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 ½ tsp salt
Instructions
Preparation
- Put all the whole spices in a small frypan and turn on the heat to medium. Stir until the spices change color and give off a distinct fragrance. Take the frypan off the heat and allow the roasted spices to cool down.
- Put the spices in a dry grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a rough powder. Don't fine grind them as we want a little texture here.
- Slice the onions finely and chop the tomato.
Cooking
- Heat ¼ cup oil in a large frypan and slide in the chicken. Fry until the chicken is slightly browned at the edges. Don't worry about cooking the chicken fully as it will get cooked later in the wok. Keep aside.
- Put a wok or karahi on the hob and add ⅓ cup cooking oil. Allow it to become hot, then tip in the sliced onions. Fry on medium heat, stirring frequently until the onions caramelize or become reddish-brown.
- Add the ginger and garlic pastes and chopped tomato. Sauté this masala (bhuno) for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes soften and the oil separates. You can add a splash of water if the masala is sticking to the wok.
- Add the fried chicken along with the pan drippings, dry spice mixture prepared earlier, red chilli powder and salt. Mix everything well and sauté (bhuno) on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Cover the wok with a tight-fitting lid and allow the chicken to cook on low to medium heat for 15 minutes. The steam created inside the covered wok will prevent the masala from burning.
- After 15 minutes, switch off the heat, but let the wok rest on the hob for 5 minutes before removing the lid. Serve hot with naan or pita bread.
Notes
- Avoid adding water at any stage in the cooking if you can. If you feel, however, that the chicken or spices are in danger of burning, add a few splashes of water only, just enough to moisten the food. Too much liquid can spoil the 'bhuna' look and taste of this curry.
- Don't skip dry roasting the whole spices as this makes the dish a lot more tastier.
- If you want to use fresh ginger garlic paste, here's how: put equal quantities of ginger and garlic in a blender with a few tablespoons of water and blend until you get a smooth paste. Use the quantity as mentioned in the recipe and store the extra in a sealed glass bottle in the fridge.
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