This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869.
.

Original Recipe



23.–Chicken Doopiaja

The literal translation of doopiaja is "two onions," and the term probably is correctly applicable, as it will be noticed, in the recipes for preparing the doopiaja curries, that besides the full quantity of ground onions, it is necessary to put in about an equal quantity of fried onions, thereby doubling the quantity of onions.

Doopiajas are more piquant curries; they are cooked with more ghee and less water. The following condiments, &c., are considered ample for a really good doopiaja of chicken or of any meat:—

One chittack and a half or three ounces of ghee, one breakfast-cupful of water, one tspful and a half of salt, four tspfuls of ground onions, one tspful each of ground turmeric and chilies, half a tspful of ground ginger, a quarter of a tspful of ground garlic, twelve onions cut lengthways, each into six or eight slices, and half a tspful of ground coriander-seed if it be liked.

Take a full-sized curry chicken and divide it into sixteen or eighteen pieces. Melt the ghee in a warm or heated pot, fry brown the sliced onions and set aside; then fry the ground condiments, stirring the whole; when brown, add the cut-up chicken with the salt, and fry to a rich brown. Chop the fried onions and put into the pot with one cup of water, and allow to simmer over a slow fire for about one hour, when the chicken will be perfectly tender, and the liquid reduced to a thick consistency, and to half its original quantity.

Modern Redaction



Ingredients


1 oven-ready chicken, divided into 16 serving pieces
90g ghee
250ml water
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp onions, ground or pounded to a paste
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground chillies
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic, ground or pounded to a paste
6 onions, cut lengthways into 6 or 8 slices each
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

Method:

Heat the ghee in a large pan, add the sliced onions and fry for about 6 minutes, or until golden brown all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the ground ingredients to the pan and fry for a few minutes, or until brown and aromatic. Add the chicken pieces along with the salt and continue frying until nicely browned all over.

Chop up the fried onions and add to the pan with the 250ml water. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently over low heat for about 60 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are cooked through and very tender (the gravy should be very thick).

Serve hot, accompanied with rice.

Find more Victorian Recipes Here and more Curry Recipes Here. For the original version of The Indian Cookery book see my The Indian Cookery Book main page.