Punjabi Chicken Curry

The Punjabi dhaba chicken — bone-in chicken pieces cooked in a thick, dark-red onion-tomato masala built by frying onions until deeply caramelised, adding ginger-garlic paste, tomatoes, and a blend of coriander, cumin, red chilli, and garam masala, then slow-cooking the chicken until the oil rises to the surface signalling the masala is done. Finished with dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) and a touch of cream in restaurant versions, left richer and oilier in dhaba versions. The gold standard of Punjabi home cooking — the preparation most frequently made for Sunday family meals across Punjab.