If you’re a fan of British Indian Restaurant (BIR) cooking, you’ve probably already noticed one thing: onions are the backbone of most curry house dishes. But when it comes to curry where onions are the star of the show, nothing beats the legendary Chicken Do Pyaza, often spelt Chicken dopiaza.
Rich, aromatic, savoury, and beautifully textured with soft onions cooked into the sauce and chunky onions stirred in at the end, Chicken Do Pyaza is one of those dishes that often surprises people. It’s not flashy. It’s not terrifyingly hot. It is not bright red or loaded with cream. Instead, it’s a deeply comforting curry that showcases the sweetness, aroma, and complexity of onions in a way few dishes can match.Intro paragraph
What Is Chicken Dopiaza?
The name do pyaza or dopiaza literally means “two onions” or “double onions”. But that doesn’t mean twice the amount, it's about using onions in two distinct ways:
- Onions cooked into the sauce until they melt and help create a thick, rich gravy.
- Chunky and sliced fried onions added toward the end, giving the curry texture, sweetness, and that signature dopiaza character.
Chicken Do Pyaza sits somewhere between a bhuna and a medium curry. It’s richer than a rogan josh, less acidic than a madras, and not as chilli-heavy as vindaloo. Instead, it’s known for:
- A balanced spice profile
- A savoury-sweet onion-forward flavour
- Tender chicken pieces
- A medium level of heat
- A thick, glossy onion gravy
In British curry houses, it’s classed as a medium curry, usually slightly less spicy than a jalfrezi but richer than a standard curry.
The History of Do Pyaza (dopiaza)
Get to know your curries!
Do Pyaza is one of the oldest documented Indo-Persian dishes, dating back more than 500 years. It is widely believed to have originated in the kitchens of the Mughal Empire, where Persian influence shaped much of royal cuisine.
Onions were abundant, inexpensive, and central to Persian cooking, so a dish that celebrated onions in two ways made perfect sense.
As the dish travelled across India, regional variations developed:
- In Hyderabad, dopiaza often includes whole spices and can be quite spicy.
- In North India, it’s more tomato-based with tangy notes.
- In BIR restaurants, the dopiaza has evolved into a gravy-based curry with a medium heat level and signature onion chunks added late in cooking.
The British Indian Restaurant version is unique. While still onion-heavy, it relies on the typical BIR base gravy, pre-cooked chicken or tandoori chicken tikka and fast, high-heat cooking to create that takeaway-style richness.
Ingredients
Be sure to get all your ingredients prepared and ready before you start cooking. It's easier that way. The ingredient measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
See recipe card for quantities.
- Rapeseed (canola) oil
- Onion
- Cardamom pods, lightly bruised
- Cumin seeds
- Coriander seeds, roughly chopped
- Garlic and ginger paste
- Mixed powder
- Ground cumin
- Kashmiri chilli powder
- Tomato purée
- Base curry sauce
- Pre-cooked chicken
- Onion paste made with yoghurt
- Dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- Salt, to taste
- Fresh coriander (cilantro)
- Garam masala
Step by step photos
Check out my step by step photos below to see for yourself just how easy it is to make restaurant quality Chicken Do Pyaza. The exact ingredient measurements are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Step 1: Fry two medium, thinly sliced onions in oil until crispy and browned. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel on a plate and set aside.
- Step 2: Blend the onions into a paste. Use 4 tablespoons of this paste to make a yoghurt and onion paste by whisking in about 3 tablespoons of yoghurt. Set aside.
- Step 3: Heat 1 tablespoon 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.
- Step 4: 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
- Step 5: Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and let it sizzle until fragrant.
- Step 6: Then add the mixed powder, ground cumin, chilli powder and tomato purée.
- Step 7: Give this all a good stir and then add a ladleful of the base curry sauce. The curry sauce will begin to bubble rapidly and, when it does, add the rest of the sauce.
- Step 8: 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.
- Step 9: Add the chicken pieces and continue to 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 chicken stock or base curry sauce. Stir in the onion paste 1 tablespoon at a time, then the dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) and charred onion petals.
- Step 10: Season with salt, then sprinkle with the coriander (cilantro), fried onions and garam masala to serve.
Storage and Reheating
Storing Chicken Dopiaza
- Fridge: Up to 3 days in a sealed container.
- Freezer: Up to 3 months.
Freeze in single portions for easy reheating.
Reheating
Do not reheat more than once.
On the hob: Best method. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if needed.
Microwave: Heat in 1-minute intervals, stirring frequently.
Top Tip
Brown the onions deeply.
Darker onions = deeper, sweeter, more complex dopiaza. That onion paste in the recipe can really add to the dish!
FAQ
It’s traditionally medium heat. You can make it milder by omitting chilli powder or hotter by adding fresh chillies or more chilli powder.
Yes and that is easy too. It just takes a little longer to cook. Give this One Pot Chicken Dopiaza (Do Pyaza) a try.
Absolutely. Paneer, chickpeas, tofu and/or vegetables all work beautifully.
That's down to the cook. I prefer thigh meat because it has more flavour. Many people prefer breast meat because it is white meat and it's easier to see that it is cooked through. Red thigh meat often looks raw even when it is perfectly cooked through.
Turn up the heat and reduce the sauce uncovered until thickened. Likewise, if your curry is too thick, just add more base sauce.
Many curry houses do. Green peppers add sweetness and aroma.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these curry house favourites:
Pairing
A good side of rice always goes down well.
Have you tried this Chicken Do Pyaza recipe?
If yes, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I’m sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.
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Chicken Do Pyaza
This is a curry house style Chicken Do Pyaza (dopiaza) that you can literally prepare in about 20 minutes if you have batch cooked chicken tikka and the essential base curry sauce. It's just as good, if not better than the chicken do piaza curries you find at the best curry houses.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
- 1/2 small onion, quartered and divided into petals
- 3 green cardamom pods, lightly bruised
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp coriander seeds, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 2 tsp mixed powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1–2 tsp mild or hot chilli powder, to taste
- 70ml tomato purée
- 300ml (2 cups) base curry sauce
- 300g (10.5 oz) pre-cooked chicken
- 4 tbsp onion paste made with yoghurt
- ½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- Salt, to taste
- Small bunch of coriander (cilantro), chopped
- ½ tsp garam masala
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon 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 a ladleful of the base curry sauce. The curry sauce will begin to bubble rapidly and, when it does, add the rest of the 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 continue to 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 chicken stock or base curry sauce.
- Stir in the onion paste 1 tablespoon at a time, then the dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) and charred onion petals. Season with salt, then sprinkle with the coriander (cilantro), fried onions and garam masala to serve.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 675Total Fat: 50gSaturated Fat: 8gUnsaturated Fat: 43gCholesterol: 139mgSodium: 404mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 39g
Mike says
Absolutely bloody fantastic,mine and the wifes favorite so far, thanks Dan, will try to remember to leave comments (good or bad) on all recipes we use
Dan Toombs says
Thank you Mike.
I really appreciate the feedback. Really glad you like the recipe. 🙂
Sean Duncan says
Thanks Dan, I made this today. It was quite easy and really lovely. Great flavours. Just right.
Dan Toombs says
Thank you Sean. I'm really happy you liked the recipe.
Cheers
Dan
Myniceinfo says
Must try, very delicious..thanks for this recipe
Jill says
Once I have made up curry sauce and onion sauce and Frozen them can I then make a curry using both of the sauce then re freeze it
Dan Toombs says
Hi Jill
Yes you can. You might lose a little flavour but not much. Go for it.
Dan
Jamie Young says
Cooking time says 4 hours. Is this a mistake?
Dan Toombs says
Thanks for noticing that Jamie. Not sure what went on there. Once you make all the base ingredients, you should be able to throw this curry together in about ten minutes.
Thanks,
Dan
Simon says
What curry powder do you use for this recipe? As it’s only a mix of cumin, coriander, turmeric, and chilli powder why don’t you list out the individual spices?
Dan Toombs says
Hi Simon
I usually use my own curry powder which is here https://health-upgrade.news/2015/02/25/homemade-hot-madras-curry-powder/%3C/a%3E. You're right, you could leave it out and if you know your spices just add more of what you want. You could also use more curry powder for additional flavour.
Thanks,
Dan
Kate says
Could you make this without the chicken for vegetarians with say paneer?
Dan Toombs says
Yes, that would work well.
Thanks
Dan
Deke Weild says
Odd how you use cumin & coriander seeds and cardamon pods in the video but not the receipe. Think I'll go down the video approach. Thanks for the recipes
Dan Toombs says
Hi
Thank you for noticing. It looks like I have missed those ingredients out of the recipe so I will amend.
Dan
Anne says
What would you suggest serving with this please?
Means or rice or both?
Dan Toombs says
I like to serve it with Basmati rice.
Thanks
Dan
Polly says
@Dan Toombs,
Can the onion sauce be made in a slow cooker rather than the oven to save time and with the price of electricity nowadays
Caroline Toombs says
I have never made it in the slow cooker but I don't see why not, you would need to experiment a bit.
Thanks
Dan
Sandi Gregg says
I make it in a slow cooker. It comes out just fine.....no black top to it but, for me, that's just fine 🙂
Dan Toombs says
I’m glad it worked in your slow cooker. I have a slow cooker book coming out next year and it will feature a dopiaza
Thanks
Dan