There is an Indo-Pak cuisine just across the road and we love to eat biriyani and chicken handi over there :) My husband is specially fond of their chicken handi dish and frequently brings that for dinner :D So on a special occasion I decided to give it a try at home. I searched for a recipe in the net but all were different from each other . The only common thing was cilantro. I have never cooked chicken with cilantro/coriandar before. The chicken handi that we are fond of , indeed has cilantro in it. So I prepared this delicious dish in the same way that i make chicken curry/kosha but added cilantro. And it turned out so good :) My hubby said it was actually as good as the restaurant preparation !! :P
I made this before I started blogging. So the amount of
the ingredients are a bit approximate. Here is the recipe...

Chicken Handi



Ingredients :

Chicken - 1 lb breast pcs
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Cilantro- half a bunch
Yogurt- 4 tbsp
Onion - 1 big,chopped
Cloves- 3
Green Cardamom-3
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Ginger paste-1tsp
Garlic paste- 1tsp
Turmeric-1/3 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander+Cumin power - 1 1/2 tsp
Mustard oil- 2 tbsp
Vinegar- 1tsp
Salt- to taste
Ghee- 1tsp

Procedure :

Cut the chicken breasts in bite sized pcs and wash them well. In a bowl , mix the chicken with yogurt, vinegar, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder, chilli powder, 1 tbsp oil and some salt and marinate for about half and hour.
In a pressure cooker [ which i bought recently :) ] heat 1 tbsp oil . Add a pinch of sugar and let it turn brown. This adds a nice brown colour to the curry. Then add the whole garam masala and fry for a few secs. After that add the chopped onions, fry for about 5-7 mins till it turns translucent. Then put the ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell is gone. Then add the marinated chicken and mix everything nicely. After some time, add the chopped tomatoes and keep stirring. Keep frying till oil separates out. It takes about half an hour. Then add the chopped cilantro and mix well. After it is cooked for some more time, add water according to consistency of gravy u prefer. Add salt. Then close the lid of the pressure cooker and put in high heat. Mine doesnt give whistles, the pressure regulator rocks after adequate pressure builds up. I cook chicken for 7 mins after it starts rocking. It takes about 12 mins after I add water. After its done, I do not open the lid immediately and wait till the pressure falls on its own. That takes about 10 mins.
The smell of cilantro was already coming thru the vent pipe :) After opening the lid, I added 1 tbsp of ghee and adjusted the salt. Chicken Handi is now ready !! :)

Before we bought the pressure cooker, I used to cook chicken for about 45 mins-1 hr after adding water.

We had this with Shrimp Biriyani, salad and raita !! If somebody has an authentic Chicken Handi recipe, do let me know :)