There are a couple of meanings of the word "dopiaza", but it still remains controversial. First example is "do", which means two in Hindi, and "piaz" means an onion. Some people believe the name refers to the quantity of onions used in the dish, which is usually two, while others insist that the name comes from the equal amounts of onions and meat which were used in the actual recipe. The third definition may have been derived after the Mogul Emperor Akbar's courtier, Mullah Dopiaza. Nevertheless, this dish is very popular in many western countries, as well as India.
The recipe to prepare and cook chicken dopiaza
| The List of Ingredients |
| 8 boneless chicken thighs, which are skined and halved |
| 2 teaspoons of ginger puree |
| 2 teaspoons of garlic puree |
| 2 pieces of cinnamon sticks (2 inches in length) |
| 2 brown cardamom pods, which are bruised |
| 4 cloves |
| 2 crumpled bay leaves |
| Half a teaspoon of ground turmeric |
| Less than 1 teaspoon of chilli powder |
| 1 large red onion which is halved and finely sliced |
| 1 teaspoon of groud roasted coriander |
| 1 teaspoon of ground roasted cumin |
| 2 tablespoons of low-fat plain yoghurt |
| 225 grams (8oz) of boiled onion puree |
| 1 tablespoon of tomato puree |
| 1 teaspoon of salt |
| 300ml of Aromatic Stock |
| 1 large tomato which is cut into chunks |
| 2-5 green chillies with the stalks remaining and intact |
| 2-4 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander leaves |
Directions:
- Place the chicken in a heavy duty non-stick saucepan, preferably 12 inches (30cm) in diameter. Add the garlic and ginger purees, cardamoms, cinnamon, bay leaves and cloves.
- Cook over medium heat for around 8 minutes, stirring, until the chicken begins to turn brown.
- Reduce the heat slightly, then add the red onion and carry on cooking for another 3-5 minutes, and stirring frequently.
- Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander, and cook for 1 minute.
- Add half the yoghurt and cook for 2-3 minutes, then repeat with the remaining yoghurt.
- Add the onion puree and carry on cooking for 3-4 minutes, and stirring frequently.
- Sprinkle in the salt and stir in the tomato puree and aromatic stock, and bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 12-14 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally to ensure that the thickened sauce does not stick to the pan.
- Add the tomato, green chillies and fresh coriander. Cook for 1 minute, then serve the dish with Tandoori bread and a raitha. Pilau rice and boile rice is also suitable, depends on how you prefer it.
Do not remove the stalks from the green chillies unless you like your food hot and spicy. Once the stalk is removed, the chilli will release its flavour into the sauce, making it hot.
Please refer to my blog for more information on how to prepare and cook particular ingredients: http://howtocookpreparebasicindiandishes.blogspot.com/ and also - http://indianingredientsyouneedtoknow.blogspot.com/