How to make Dan Toombs' chicken dopiaza

In his debut book, Dan Toombs has refined his take on British Indian Restaurant cuisine to create dishes that taste just like your favourite takeaway

(Photographs by Kris Kirkham)

Chicken dopiaza

Serves 4 or more as part of a multi-course meal

Dopiaza curries are big on flavour and can be mild or quite spicy, depending on the restaurant. Broken down, the word do means two and piaza means onions. So the authentic Indian version of this dish is a curry with onions cooked in two different ways. If you count the base curry sauce, and fried onion petals, this recipe is made with onions cooked in four different ways so the name doesn’t quite fit. That’s just being technical, though.

tbsp rapeseed oil or seasoned oil
1 small onion, quartered and divided into petals
6 green cardamom pods, bashed
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds, roughly chopped
3 tbsp garlic and ginger paste *
​125ml tomato purée
​500ml base curry sauce, heated **
​600g pre-cooked
stewed chicken, plus 250ml of its cooking stock, or more base curry sauce
2 tbsp mixed curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1–2 tsp mild or hot chilli powder, to taste
7 tbsp onion paste made with yoghurt
1 tsp dried fenugreek (methi) leaves
Small bunch of coriander (cilantro), chopped
2 handfuls of fried onions
1 tsp garam masala 
Salt

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large pan over a high heat. When good and hot, toss in the onion petals and sear them until they are nicely charred but still quite crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium-high and pour in the rest of the oil. When bubbles start to appear, add the whole spices. Stir the spices around in the oil for about 30 seconds and enjoy the aroma of that awesome meal you’re making. Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and let it sizzle until fragrant then add the mixed powder, ground cumin, chilli powder and tomato purée. Give this all a good stir and then add 250 ml (1 cup) of the base curry sauce. The curry sauce will begin to bubble rapidly and, when it does, add the rest of the sauce and the stock or extra sauce. Turn up the heat and simmer; some of the sauce may begin to caramelize on the side of the pan, so just stir this in from time to time for more flavour.

Add the chicken pieces and simmer, without stirring, for about 2 minutes, until the chicken is warmed through. The sauce will cook down and become thicker, but if it becomes too thick for your liking, add a little more chicken or spice stock or base curry sauce. Stir in the onion paste 1 tbsp at a time then the dried fenugreek leaves and charred onion petals. Add salt to taste then sprinkle with the fresh coriander (cilantro), fried onions and garam masala to serve.

* Garlic and ginger paste

Makes 15 generous tbsp

Garlic and ginger paste is used in almost every curry. It’s so easy to make and tastes far better than any commercially available alternative. If you would like a little more control over the amount of garlic and ginger that go into your creations, make a separate garlic paste and/or a ginger paste in the same way.

150g garlic, chopped
150g ginger, peeled and chopped

Place the garlic and ginger in a food processor or pestle and mortar and blend with just enough water to make a smooth paste. Some chefs finely chop their garlic and ginger instead, which is a good alternative to making a paste. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days and use as needed. If you’re planning a curry party, go ahead and get this job ticked off early. I often make larger batches of pastes and freeze them in ice cube trays. Frozen cubes can be transferred to airtight plastic bags in the freezer, ready for when you get that curry craving. Be sure to let them defrost a little first.

**Base curry sauce

Makes enough for about 8-10 servings

75ml rapeseed oil or ghee 
​800g Spanish onions, roughly chopped 
25g carrot, peeled and chopped 
25g cabbage, chopped
40g red pepper (bell pepper), deseeded and diced
40g green pepper (bell pepper), deseeded and diced 
​150g tomatoes, diced
3 tbsp garlic and ginger paste (see p18)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala

Heat the oil or ghee in the pressure cooker pan. When hot, add the onions and fry for about 5 minutes until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the remaining ingredients, except the garam masala, and stir it all to combine. Fry for a further minute or so.

Pour in 400ml water in and secure the pressure cooker lid. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes then carefully open the pressure valve to release the steam. Your sauce is now ready to be blended until smooth. Four minutes blending per batch should do the job. Stir the garam masala into the blended sauce and add the same volume of water to your base sauce. There you have it: a base curry sauce that usually takes 90 minutes to make, in less than 20 minutes!

TIP: With this and the large batch sauce, you might like to experiment with different flavours. Try substituting the cooking stock from pre-cooked chicken or meat or (pages 26 and 27) for the water.

The Curry Guy by Dan Toombs (Quadrille, £12.99) Photography © Kris Kirkham