Chicken with a Twist – Chicken Makhni Pyaza

Chicken with a Twist - Chicken Makhni Pyaza
Chicken Makhni Pyaza
Chicken with a Twist - Chicken Makhni Pyaza
Chicken Makhni Pyaza

Recently I had a dish that was an amalgamation of two chicken dishes – Butter Chicken and Chicken Do Pyaza. Trust me; the result was just superb. I had ordered my food from a restaurant named Dawat in Chandigarh. The dish that I ordered was Chicken Makhni Pyaza. I was looking to eat a different kind of Chicken so ended up ordering Chicken Makhni Pyaza.

As I said, the dish was created after mixing the ingredients as well as the cooking technique of Butter Chicken, and Chicken do Pyaza. As you can see, the gravy was thick (just like Butter Chicken) and had ounces of butter and cream in it that gave it a vibrant and royal taste. Even though the gravy had a high content of tomatoes, one could taste the presence of cashew nut paste in it too. Hence, the presence of cashew nut didn’t make the gravy sour or tangy, but it had a perfect taste. One could taste the flavour of melted butter and cream in the gravy.

Now, here comes the twist! Apart from butter and cream, the gravy also had chunks of onion and capsicum slices that were cooked in a tandoor. Hence, their presence gave the dish a nice coal effect touch, and it blended very nicely with the flavours of rich gravy. The slices of onion and capsicum had a certain amount of rawness in them so that the crunchy aspect could be maintained in the dish. The gravy and the onion chunks, even though were poles apart, still gave the dish a peculiar taste and feel. Although the surprise ends here only, you won’t be able to find ginger juliennes and neither chopped green chillies. But still, you can deal with a little disappointment as the dish will be on your favourite dishes list right after you’ve had the first bite.

The chefs had put in a great thought while preparing the dish so that it could do justice to both Butter Chicken as well as Chicken do Pyaza. The Chicken was not cooked in the gravy (just like the way it is done in Butter Chicken), but it was first grilled in the tandoor. Hence, the chicken pieces were red and had a nice coating of marination on them that made the Chicken stand out in the gravy as it was not bland at all. 

The chicken pieces had a taste of their own and one didn’t need to dip them into the gravy to get rid of the bland taste. Due to its novel preparation, one could have the dish in the main course or even as an appetiser with drinks and cocktails.

The dish had an average amount of spices. Unlike Chicken do Pyaza, you won’t find cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, etc. It maintained the authentic touch of Butter Chicken, but it wasn’t sweet and neither it was spicy like Chicken do Pyaza. Hence, if you’re fond of spicy dishes, you would be a little disappointed. That’s the reason I ordered for a Laal Mirchi ka Parantha (red chilli parantha) with it. One can order butter roti, naan or even a missi roti with it accordingly to one’s preference. Eating rice with this dish won’t be a great combination as the gravy is too thick to be nicely blended with rice.

All in all, I would give the dish a whopping 4/5. Not only the dish was novel in preparation and taste, but it also kept true to its word and presented us with the right amount of ingredients from both the recipes that in the end created a brand new dish. So, the next time you’re in Chandigarh, do try this unique dish. Till then happy eating!