When it comes to weekend dinner ideas, nothing beats chicken. I was craving for a Chicken Peshawari for a long long time now. Its something you don’t normally make at home but definitely order during take-outs and dining outside. The only problem with this dish, which I did not seem to care before is that this recipe is high on fat. The Chicken is literally deep fried and the residue oil is used to make curry!
While that tastes gorgeous, I almost cringe at the thought of anything deep fried. So I decided to recreate the authentic Chicken Peshawari, within the confines of my kitchen. I tweaked the traditional process by baking the chicken instead of deep-frying it, changed a few spices, maybe added some, and still managed to create an authentic, no less gorgeous version of the beautifully flavored Chicken Peshawari.
Chicken Peshawari – Paleo + Keto dinner ideas
Chicken Peshawari is basically a Pashtun cuisine i.e. belonging to a certain geographical area in Pakistan and is widely enjoyed across India and rest of the world today. It is also extremely simple to make, is super scrumptious and is a total crowd pleaser.
It is mostly an onion and tomato based gravy and relies on tomatoes to create all gravy without the addition of any water. Over time the authentic recipe has gone through variations with preparations involving yogurt and use of different spices.
Chicken Peshawari – Paleo + Keto dinner ideas
Let’s see how our Paleo + Keto version is made then:
Chicken Peshawari
Ingredients
- Chicken - 1 kg
Chicken Seasoning:
- Salt
- Black pepper - 1 tsp
- Avocado Oil - 2-3 tsp
- Paprika - 2 tbsp
Chicken Curry:
- Finely chopped onions - 2 (Medium sized)
- Finely chopped tomatoes - 5 (Medium sized)
- Coriander leaves - 1 tablespoon for garnish and 1 tablespoon for curry
- Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
- Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
- Pure Desi Ghee - 2.5 tbsp
- Salt - as per taste
- Black pepper - 1.5 tsp
- Chili powder - 1.5 tsp
- Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
- Garam masala - 1 tbsp
- Cumin powder - 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Lime Juice - of 1 lime
Instructions
- Start by preparing the chicken for baking
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Add one kg chicken to a baking pan lined with a piece of parchment paper
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and avocado oil
- Make sure all the chicken pieces are nicely coated with the spices
- Bake for 25 mins
- After the chicken is done remove from oven and chop them into desired size (cubes, slabs etc)
- Put the chopped slices back into the pan and coat with the residue marinade
- Set aside
- Next add pure desi ghee to a heated iron cast skillet
- When adequately hot, add in cumin seeds and saute for about 5 seconds once they start crackling
- Next add in ginger garlic paste and saute for about a minute until the raw fragrance goes away
- Then add in the chopped onions along with some salt and saute the onions on a medium flame for 15 minutes until they turn golden brown
- Next add in the black pepper and chili powder and saute further for up to a minute
- Then add in the chicken pieces from the pan and discard the left over marinade
- Mix well, cover and cook for 5-7 mins
- Then add in the chopped coriander leaves along with the chopped tomatoes
- Mix well, cover and cook for 15 minutes this time on a medium flame
- After 15 minutes most tomatoes should give away and curry out
- Then add in coriander powder, garam masala, cumin powder, turmeric and lime juice
- Mix well, cover and cook for a final 7 minutes
- There after turn off the gas and garnish with coriander leaves
- Serve hot.
- Pairs well with gluten-free rotis, tortillas or brown rice