Chicken changezi belongs to Old Delhi — the walled city of Shahjahanabad, and the poultry shops in the lanes around Jama Masjid where it is cooked deep red and slick with butter. The name nods to Changez (Genghis) Khan and the Mongol-Mughal line the old city likes to claim, but the dish itself is a twentieth-century creation of those Delhi kitchens rather than anything a Mongol horseman would recognise. Its body is built without shortcuts: onions fried to deep gold and ground with cashews, a little tomato, yoghurt folded in off the heat, Kashmiri chilli for colour rather than ferocity, and a finish of cream and butter that gives it the heft. Bone-in chicken is the rule, simmered in the gravy until it gives. This version follows the chef Ranveer Brar, whose Old Delhi changezi keeps the dish where it belongs — rich, buttery, unmistakably of the old city.
INGREDIENTS
- 800 g bone-in chicken (cut into pieces)
- 3 tbsp plain yogurt (for the marinade)
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste (for the marinade)
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (for the marinade)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt (for the marinade)
- 3 large onions (sliced)
- 12 cashews
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 2 large tomatoes (puréed)
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste (for the gravy)
- 1½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (for the gravy)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 3 tbsp plain yogurt (for the gravy, whisked)
- 3 tbsp single cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi, crushed)
- 1 tsp salt (for the gravy, or to taste)
- coriander and slivered ginger (to garnish)
METHOD
- Marinate the chicken in the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli, turmeric and salt for 30 minutes.
- Shallow-fry the marinated chicken in a little of the oil over medium heat until coloured and almost cooked through, then set aside.
- Fry the sliced onions in the ghee and remaining oil until deep golden, adding the cashews for the last minute, then blend onions and cashews to a smooth paste.
- Return the paste to the pan, add the ginger-garlic paste and cook until the raw smell goes.
- Add the tomato purée and cook down until the oil separates at the edges.
- Stir in the Kashmiri chilli, coriander, cumin and garam masala, then whisk in the yogurt a spoonful at a time so it does not split.
- Return the chicken with a splash of water, cover and simmer until the chicken is tender and the gravy is deep red.
- Finish with the cream, butter and crushed kasuri methi, and check the salt.
- Garnish with coriander and slivered ginger; serve with sheermal, naan or roomali roti.
