Here is a restaurant style pepper chicken recipe! It is another famous Indian style chicken dish and it is available at almost all Indian restaurants. I am sharing this pepper chicken masala recipe that I learnt from my aunt, my mother’s younger sister, my Chitthi! She makes amazing, mouth watering chicken dishes at home.
My Chitthi and I are foodies; and she is also my shopping partner! After a very long day of shopping, we finish the day by eating out. It kind of became a tradition and I miss every moment of it now. We both loved to try new restaurants and eat very spicy food.
Even though my aunt gave me the recipe for pepper chicken- Restaurant Style Recipe, it took many tries for me to get it right. It is very easy to make but, you have to be careful not to go overboard with the spices. It is important to add a teaspoon of spices at a time, give it a taste, and either add more or stop. The trick is also to add a lot of onions and brown them without burning.
Pepper chicken-Restaurant Style Recipe is just a name, and I promise you it does not involve sprinkling a lot of pepper powder on you chicken. It requires very simple, every day ingredients such as chicken, lots of onions, tomatoes, turmeric, chili powder, ginger-garlic paste; and a very unique, home made spice mix.
The Spice Mix
In this recipe, you will learn how to make your own special cinnamon-clove-pepper spice mix! It can be served with white rice or as a side dish for any kind of Indian roti like naan or chappathi. Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s get spicy!
Happy cooking!
Pepper Chicken Masala
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken cut into medium sized pieces
- 3 large onions finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste please refer notes to learn how to make ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp Chili powder
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 large tomato pureed
- 2 sprigs Curry leaves
- A handful of Fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
- Oil for cooking
- 1 cup hot water
- Salt as required
Ingredients for Spice mix
- 1 1/2 inch Cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp Black Pepper corns
- 6 Cloves
Instructions
- Clean and wash the chicken. Cut it in to medium sized pieces. Keep it aside.
- Heat a large kadai or frying pan; add oil to it
- While the pan is heating (medium-high heat), chop both the onions finely and puree the tomatoes
- Add onion to the pan and sauté them until they turn dark golden brown
- Now add a tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
- Now add the desired amount of chili powder and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder to the onions
- Sauté for a minute or two until the raw smell of chili powder dissipates
- Next add the tomato puree and stir until everything comes together. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes
- Now add the chicken pieces and salt; mix everything and let it cook for 5 minutes. You will notice that the chicken will begin to release its juices
- Heat a cup of water and add it to chicken; and mix everything and give it a taste to see if you need more salt or chili powder (adjust according to your taste). Reduce the heat to medium and let the chicken cook
- Stir every 10 minutes or so
- While the chicken is cooking, heat a small shallow pan (medium heat). Dry roast all the ingredients under the ‘ingredients for spice mix’ section. After 2 minutes or so you will notice that the spices begin to release their beautiful aromas. Remove the pan from its heat source and place the spices on a clean plate for it to cool down
- Once the spices cool down, grind them to a fine powder
- Once chicken is done, you should see a semi gravy consistency in your pan or kadai
- Now begin adding the spice mix a little at a time. Stir everything and give it a taste. Add more or less spice, it is totally up to you.
- Add 2 sprigs of curry leaves and finely chopped coriander leaves
- Give everything a stir and turn up the heat to high or medium-high
- Keep stirring continuously (careful not to break the chicken pieces). After 5 minutes or so, you notice that the chicken gravy in the pan will begin thicken up.
- Turn off the heat, remove the pan from its heat source, and serve immediately
Notes
Directions with pictures
1.Clean and wash the chicken. Cut it in to medium sized pieces. Keep it aside.
2. Heat a large kadai or frying pan; add oil to it
3. While the pan is heating (medium-high heat), chop both the onions finely and puree the tomatoes
4. Add onions to the pan and sauté the onions until they turn dark golden brown
5. Now add a tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
6. Now add the desired amount of chili powder and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder to the onions. Sauté for a minute or two until the raw smell of chili powder dissipates
7. Next add the tomato puree and stir until everything comes together. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes
8. Now add the chicken pieces and salt; mix everything and let it cook for 5 minutes. You will notice that the chicken will begin to release its juices
9. Heat a cup of water and add it to chicken; and mix everything and give it a taste to see if you need more salt or chili powder (adjust according to your taste). Reduce the heat to medium; partially cover the pan with a lid; and let the chicken cook
10. Stir every 15 minutes or so
11. While the chicken is cooking, heat a small shallow pan (medium heat). Dry roast all the ingredients listed under the ‘ingredients for spice mix’ section. After 2 minutes or so you will notice that the spices will begin to release their beautiful aromas. Remove the pan from its heat source and place the spices on a clean plate for them to cool down
12. Once the spices cool down, grind them to a fine powder
13. Once chicken is done, you should see a semi gravy consistency in your pan or kadai
14. Now begin adding the spice mix a little at a time. Stir everything and give it a taste. Add more or less spice, it is totally up to you
15. Add 2 sprigs of curry leaves and finely chopped coriander leaves
16. Give everything a stir and turn up the heat to high or medium-high
17. Keep stirring continuously (careful not to break the chicken pieces). After 5 minutes or so, you notice that the chicken gravy in the pan will begin to thicken up further
18. Turn off the heat, remove the pan from its heat source, and serve immediately
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Yummm I wish I was eating this right now. I wish my family was into spices! I have never heated my spices in a pan, let them cool, and then ground them before. Thanks for the idea! ❤️
Very well done. I like how much detail you provide.
Thank you. My ultimate goal is to help newbies learn to cook. That is why the instructions are very detailed.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you have any estimates on calories per serving? I want to make sure I don’t go overboard.
I am working on it. I will post it soon. Thank you.
Look so delicious and easy. I should try this recipe. Thank you for sharing
This plate looks so delicious, I always like to try new recipes around the world!
I love one dish dinners. This looks great—can’t wait to try it!
This sounds amazing I am always looking for new chicken recipes I got to give this one a whirl!
Looks so yummy. Thanks for the very descriptive recipe. I will have to give this a try.
I love chicken in every way so I’m sure I’d love this recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us. The photos are really useful when we talk about how to prepare food.
Yummy! I’m definitely giving this a try! My husband loves these spices.
Sure! Let me know how it turned out!!
The recipe looks great, Indian food is my favorite, so flavorful! The spice mix and the ginger-garlic paste seem especially delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Mouth watering and looks delicious.
Makes me wanna try it