Chicken Bhuna is a rich North Indian curry made with succulent chicken pieces cooked in flavorful bhuna masala made of onions and tomatoes. This chicken curry has a thick gravy which clings to the chicken pieces, making it perfect to serve with naan.
Chicken Bhuna is a popular Indian chicken dish to order at restaurants. It has simple everyday ingredients and is easy to make at home.
This curry isn’t soupy; instead, it’s nice and thick. The sauce sticks perfectly to the chicken pieces.
The secret? Cook the onions and tomatoes for a long time until they get sweet and caramelized. Then chicken is cooked in this thick, flavorful sauce. As the chicken cooks, it gives off moisture, making the curry even thicker and tastier!
Some people prefer to not use tomatoes when making chicken Bhuna. I like to add a little tomatoes, but feel free to leave them out as I do in my malai chicken curry.
You can also use my onion tomato bhuna masala to make this chicken bhuna. It will reduce the cooking time by a lot, making it perfect for a delicious weeknight dinner!
Table of Contents
Watch How to Make Chicken Bhuna
What does Bhuna Mean?
Bhuna refers to a specific way of cooking – it means “to fry” or “sauté.”
Making bhuna masala usually involves frying onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, and spices in ghee or oil to make a thick, dry sauce. Then vegetables or meat are added to make a curry.
Why You’ll Love this Chicken Bhuna
✔ It has rich bold flavors
✔ Adjustable Spice Level
✔ Great for leftovers
✔ It is versatile – you can add veggies along with chicken.
Ingredients
Chicken: Use bone-in, skinless chicken pieces, such as thighs or drumsticks. These add more flavor to the curry. You can also make this curry with boneless chicken if you prefer.
Spices: We’ll make a special spice blend with coriander seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and cumin seeds.
Marination: Marinate the chicken in salt, turmeric, chili powder, and lime juice to make it tender and flavorful.
Curry Base: You’ll need oil, ghee, onions, ginger, garlic, and tomato.
Finishing Touches: Add more chili powder for heat, yogurt for creaminess, and fresh cilantro and julienned ginger for garnish.
How to Make Chicken Bhuna Masala?
Make the Bhuna Masala Spice Blend
Heat a pan on low heat. Add the whole spices and dry roast for 3-5 minutes until you get the aroma.
- Let the spices cool, then transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
Marinate the Chicken
Mix the chicken with yogurt, salt, turmeric, chili powder, lime juice, and half of the bhuna masala. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
Sear the Chicken
Heat oil in a pan and add the marinated chicken.
Cook the chicken pieces in hot oil until golden brown. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Make the Bhuna Masala Sauce
In ghee, sauté cumin seeds, chilies, and onions.
Add ginger, garlic, and tomato puree.
Cook until the oil starts to separate.
Simmer the Chicken
Add the chicken, remaining bhuna masala spice mix, and chili powder (optional) to the gravy and simmer for a few minutes.
Stir in yogurt and cook for a couple of minutes.
Make sure to keep stirring continuously until the yogurt is incorporated.
Simmer and Serve
Cover and simmer the chicken on low heat for 10 minutes.
Garnish with cilantro and julienned ginger, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Chicken: I recommend to use bone-in thighs/drumsticks or a cut up whole chicken. In a pinch, you can use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Spice it up (or down): Adjust the chili powder according to your spice preference.
Bhunai: The most flavor in this recipe is from browning the onions and cooking the masala until the oil separates.
Yogurt: Use full-fat yogurt for the best flavor and creaminess.
Tomatoes: I prefer to puree fresh tomatoes in a blender. But you can use canned tomato puree as well.
Dairy-free: You can skip adding yogurt, and replace it with coconut milk.
Substitutions and Additions: You can use paneer or boiled eggs in the same gravy. You can add veggies such as spinach, bell peppers, carrots, or mushrooms if you like.
Storing Leftovers: Leftover Chicken Bhuna can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a pan. This curry will also freeze well.
How to Serve?
Chicken Bhuna is best served with roti, paratha or naan. Add a side of raita and kachumber salad. We also like to add a veggie stir fry along side for a complete meal.
You can also enjoy Chicken Bhuna is with fluffy basmati rice.
How to Store?
Chicken Bhuna will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. If you want to enjoy it further, freeze it for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, reheat gently on medium heat until warmed through in a microwave or a pan.
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Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pound Chicken, bone-in, skinless, use some leg pieces
For spice mix (masala)
- 1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds (Saunf)
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
- 4 Cloves (Laung)
- 1/2 inch Cinnamon (Dalchini)
- 4 Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
- 1/2 teaspoon Shahi jeera
For Marination
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1/2 Lime , juiced
For Curry
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 2 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 2 Dried Red Chili Peppers
- 1 1/2 cup Onions, chopped finely
- 1/2 tablespoon Ginger , grated
- 1/2 tablespoon Garlic , minced
- 1 cup Tomato , pureed
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, optional, adjust to taste
- 1/4 cup Yogurt, whisked, I used whole milk yogurt
For garnish
- Cilantro leaves, chopped
- Ginger, julienned
Instructions
Make Bhuna Masala
- Heat a pan on low heat. Add the whole spices for the bhuna masala and dry roast for 3-5 minutes until you get the aroma. Let the spices cool, then transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
Marinate Chicken
- Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients under the marination section and half of the bhuna masala powder. Mix and set aside for 30 minutes or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator.
Sear Chicken
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy-bottom pan and add the marinated chicken pieces. Sear the chicken on high heat for 3-4 minutes to seal the juices. Take out in a bowl and set aside.
Make the Gravy
- In the same pan, heat the ghee. Add the cumin seeds and dry red chilies. Saute for 30 seconds until cumin changes color.
- Add the chopped onions. Sauté for 7-8 minutes on medium heat till the onions are golden brown.
- Add the ginger and garlic, and saute for a minute until the raw smell is gone. Add the tomato purée and saute for 5-6 minutes until the onion-tomato masala is cooked and the oil starts to separate.
- Add the chicken, red chili powder, and the remaining bhuna masala powder. Mix well and saute on medium heat for about 3 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add the whisked yogurt. Mix well while stirring continuously. Cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes until the yogurt is incorporated.
- Cover & cook the chicken on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times as needed.
- Chicken bhuna is ready to be served. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and julienned ginger.
Amazingly delicious!