Chicken Dopiaza, also known as Murgh Do Pyaza, is a popular Indian restaurant curry. Onions are added twice for extra flavour and a slightly crispy texture. Made from scratch in one pot within 30 minutes, making it perfect for weeknight dinners or special occasions.
This restaurant-style chicken dopiaza is creamy, tangy, and mildly spicy in flavour, like chicken pathia. The chicken is marinated in spiced yogurt to stay tender, then simmered in a spicy onion-tomato-yogurt sauce for extra creaminess.
I’ve found that Indian chicken curry tastes best with full-fat yogurt. It makes the do pyaza sauce creamy like dahi chicken, rich in flavour yet lighter than the heavy Indian restaurant curries.
Serve do pyaza with naan, roti, or steamed rice for a complete meal. If you liked this chicken curry, try other Indian restaurant favorites like bhuna chicken, chicken dhansak, authentic chicken vindaloo, Indian butter chicken, chicken korma, and restaurant-style chicken jalfrezi, all made from scratch with simple ingredients.
Table of Contents
Jump to:
- Table of Contents
- What does Dopiaza mean?
- 🔍 Quick Look: Chicken Dopiaza Recipe
- Why You’ll Love this Recipe?
- Chicken Dopiaza Ingredients & Substitutions
- How to make Chicken Dopiaza
- What do you serve with Chicken Dopiaza Curry?
- Recipe Tips
- Recipe FAQs
- Other Indian Restaurant Chicken Curry Recipes to Try!
- Recipe Card
What does Dopiaza mean?
Dopiaza, or Do Pyaza, comes from Persian. ‘Do’ means two, and ‘Pyaza’ means onions. The name refers to adding onions twice while cooking, which gives the curry a rich flavor and a mix of soft and crispy textures.
🔍 Quick Look: Chicken Dopiaza Recipe
⏱️ Prep Time: 10 mins
🍳 Cook Time: 30 mins
🕒 Total Time: 30 mins (excluding marinating time)
👥 Servings: 6
📊 Calories: ~309 kcal per serving (approx.)
🔥 Cook Method: Marinate chicken → prepare spiced yogurt → sauté spices & onions → add chicken in dopiaza sauce → cook until tender → finish with onion petals, kasuri methi & lemon juice
👩🍳 Flavor Profile: Mildly spiced, tangy, and savoury
⭐ Difficulty: Easy, one-pot recipe
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Disclaimer: AI summaries may contain errors. Please check the original Chicken Dopiaza recipe for accurate steps.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe?
- Quick & easy: Restaurant style curry ready in just 30 minutes, perfect for weeknights.
- Light and creamy without using too much oil or heavy cream.
- One-pot curry: Everything cooks in a single pot, with minimal cleanup.
- Everyday ingredients: Uses pantry staples; no specialty items required.
- Family-friendly: mild spice, perfect for kids too
- You can easily scale this recipe to double or triple the quantity.
Chicken Dopiaza Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken: I have used bone-in pieces for extra flavour in this chicken dopiaza recipe, but you can also use boneless breasts or thighs.
- Onions: For all my chicken curries, I use red onions, but yellow onions can be used.
- Ginger-garlic paste: Homemade paste gives the best aroma, but store-bought works well. You can also crush fresh ginger and garlic in a mortar and pestle and add.
- Tomato puree: I use fresh tomatoes blended smoothly for restaurant-style chicken curry, but tinned tomatoes or passata are fine substitutes.
- Spices & flavouring: Salt, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin, and garam masala give this Indian chicken curry its classic taste.
- Red chili powder: I use two types of red chili powder. Kashmiri chili for color and spicy chili for heat. You can swap with paprika or cayenne to adjust the spice level.
- Yogurt: To get that restaurant-style creamy texture, I use full-fat yogurt in the curry similar to mughlai chicken. Greek yogurt, or homemade thick curd, can be used. Avoid sour curd as it can affect the taste of chicken dopiaza.
- Whole spices: Bay leaf, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns, and cinnamon add fragrance. If you don’t have all the whole spices, don’t worry, using just 1-2 will still give this Indian restaurant curry great flavor.
- Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves): Optional, but adds nice aroma and flavour. I love it to add it to all my chicken curries.
- Oil & ghee: Use neutral-flavor oil like sunflower. Ghee adds richness, but butter works well too.
Variations
- Substitute chicken with lamb meat, mutton, or shrimp.
- Make it vegetarian with paneer, mushrooms, or okra. Or add vegetables to this chicken curry, like bell peppers or spinach.
- Make it dairy-free. Use dairy-free yogurt in this dopiaza recipe.
How to make Chicken Dopiaza
Step 1: Combine chicken with salt, Kashmiri chili, spicy red chili, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, and yogurt. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Step 2: In another bowl, mix yogurt with turmeric, coriander, cumin, Kashmiri chili, and spicy red chili powder. Keep it aside.
Step 3: Heat 2 teaspoon oil and 2 teaspoon ghee in a pan. Add whole spices and fry for 30 seconds until you smell the aroma.
Step 4: Add the chopped onions. Cook until soft. Then add ginger-garlic paste and cook until onions are golden.
Step 5: Pour in tomato puree. Cook for 5 minutes or until the oil begins to release from the spices.
Step 6: Reduce heat. Add the spiced yogurt mix. Keep stirring until it boils and the oil separates from the dopiaza sauce.
Step 7: Add the marinated chicken. Stir to combine with the dopiaza sauce. Cook for 5 minutes until it turns white.
Step 8: Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Add ¼ cup of water if it looks dry.
Step 9: Add the onion layers, kasuri methi, garam masala, and a squeeze of lemon. Stir and cook 2 minutes. Optional: I like to add tomato cubes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Step 10: Turn off the heat. Sprinkle fresh coriander. Serve chicken dopiaza hot with naan, roti, or rice.
What do you serve with Chicken Dopiaza Curry?
Chicken Do pyaza pairs perfectly with homemade naan bread, paratha, or roti. For rice, basmati works well, or this quick 30-minute jeera rice. Creamy salad or raita also complements the curry beautifully.
Recipe Tips
- Use full-fat yogurt to make the dopiaza sauce creamy, similar to Indian restaurants, but lighter than their versions.
- Always cook chicken in dopiaza sauce on low heat so the chicken stays soft, juicy, and full of flavor.
Recipe FAQs
Dopiaza has a delicious blend of spicy and tangy flavors. Adding onions twice gives a soft and crispy texture. The chicken turns tender, and the curry is creamy, rich, mildly spicy, and slightly tangy from the yogurt.
The main difference is in the curry texture, cooking technique, and spice level:
Bhuna Chicken: Spices are fried on high heat until the oil separates, giving you a thick and concentrated sauce.
Dopiaza: Onions are added twice, giving a balance of soft and slightly crispy textures in a medium-thick gravy.
Spice level: Bhuna is usually hotter and more intense, while Dopiaza is lighter and slightly tangy.
Both curries are popular, but Bhuna suits spice lovers, while Dopiaza is perfect for those who enjoy a milder, onion-rich curry.
No, traditional Dopiaza is mildly spiced, with more focus on flavour and aroma than heat. You can make it spicier by adding more chili powder, or keep it mild for kids and beginners.
Recipe Card
Chicken Dopiaza (Indian Restaurant Style)
Equipment
- 1 Heavy bottom pan/pot
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 small mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 750 g bone-in chicken pieces substitute with boneless, if preferred
For the Chicken Marinade
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder substitute: paprika
- ½ teaspoon spicy red chili powder substitute: cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1½ tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- ¼ cup full fat yogurt or curd
- Salt to taste
For Spiced Yogurt Mixture
- ¾ cup full fat yogurt or curd
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 4 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder Substitute paprika - add as per taste
- ½ teaspoon spicy red chili powder Substitute cayenne pepper - add as per taste
For the Dopiaza Sauce
- 2-3 teaspoon oil
- 2 teaspoon ghee clarified butter, substitute oil or butter
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 5-6 black peppercorns
- 1- inch cinnamon sticks
- 2 onions, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 250 g tomato puree blend fresh tomatoes or substitute with tinned tomatoes/passata
- 1 big onion cut into quarter and separate petals (about ¾ cup)
- 1½ teaspoon Kasuri methi roasted and crushed
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder add as per taste
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- salt to taste
- coriander leaves to garnish
Instructions
Preparations
- To marinate the chicken: In a mixing bowl, combine chicken with salt, Kashmiri red chili powder, spicy red chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste, and, yogurt. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- To make spiced yogurt mixture: In a bowl combine yogurt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, Kashmiri red chili powder and spicy red chili powder. Combine the spices well with yogurt/curd. Keep it aside.
Cooking Chicken in Dopiaza Sauce
- Heat 2 teaspoon oil + 2 teaspoon ghee in a heavy bottom pan/pot over medium heat. Stir in the whole spices and cook for 30-40 seconds or until aromatic.
- Add onions and sauté until onions are soft. Next, add ginger-garlic paste. Sauté until onions are golden.
- Stir in tomato puree. Cook it for 5 minutes or until oil separates from the dopiaza sauce.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the spiced yogurt mixture. Cook stirring continuously until the mixture come to a boil.
- Now, set the heat on medium-low and cook stirring continuously, until the yogurt mixture starts to leave oil from sides. This is an indication that dopiaza sauce is ready.
- Add the marinated chicken in dopiaza sauce and cook on medium heat, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes until the chicken turns from pink to white.
- Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 15 minutes, adding ¼ cup water if the dopiaza curry looks dry. Stir occasionally. You will see oil starts to float on top.
- Finally, add onion petals, kasuri methi, garam masala powder, and lemon juice. Taste the gravy, add salt as per taste. Stir and cook it for 2 minutes. Garnish chicken dopiaza with coriander leaves. Serve with naan bread, roti or basmati rice.
Video
Notes
- Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours in the fridge) for juicy, flavorful meat, just like restaurant-style Chicken Dopiaza.
- Use full-fat yogurt/curd for a light, creamy curry without using heavy cream.
- Never use cold yogurt taken out of the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature, whisk well, then add. Otherwise, it will curdle in the curry.
- Lower the heat before adding the spiced yogurt mix and stir continuously until it boils to prevent curdling.
- Keep the curry semi-thick. Avoid adding too much water, or the flavors will dilute.
- Cook onion petals until slightly soft. They should not taste raw.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Preeti
I’ve made this chicken dopiaza recipe many times, and each time the rich onion gravy and tender chicken turn out so flavorful. It’s a simple yet delicious curry that’s perfect for a weeknight dinner or a special occasion.