Chicken Dupiaza with Pilau Rice – create the perfect Indian takeaway meal at home with this delicious curry recipe using tender chicken thighs and double onions.
Indian Dupiaza (Dopiaza)
Dupiaza or Dopiaza means double onions and refers to a delicious curry recipe using a base of onion puree as well as additional onions for a delicious sauce that can be used with a variety of different meats or proteins.
It’s a popular choice at Indian takeaways and restaurants across the UK and other parts of the word and is my favourite option to pick along with pilau rice.
Meat used in Dupiaza
In this recipe, I use tender pieces of boneless chicken thighs. I recommend chicken thighs over chicken breast, at they stay much more tender in the sauce and absorb a lot more flavour. Although you can use chicken breast if you prefer.
Other great options are lamb, goat, beef or prawns (shrimp). Lamb and chicken are definitely my go-to proteins whenever I make this dish.
Vegetarian Dupiaza
Want to try this recipe but don’t eat meat? There are lots of great ingredients you can add to this instead of meat to turn it into a delicious vegetarian dish.
Some suggestions:
A mixture of vegetables, cauliflower, butternut squash, broccoli, spinach, potatoes, eggplant (aubergine), zucchini (courgette), mushrooms etc is all great options.
Want to add some protein? Go for a vegetarian meat substitute like Quorn, or use canned chickpeas or beans.
Sides for Chicken Dupiaza
For me, I always like to serve this with simple pilau rice as shown with this recipe.
Some other great sides are:
as well as that there are heaps of delicious dishes to choose from in this Indian Fakeaway Section
More Curry Recipes
Do you want some more curry recipes to try? Check out these:
- BEEF AND POTATO CURRY
- COCONUT BEEF MEATBALL CURRY
- 4 INGREDIENT QUICK LENTIL CURRY
- BOMBAY BEEF CURRY
- CHICKEN AND CAULIFLOWER CURRY
- COCONUT CHICKEN AND LENTIL CURRY
- HEALTHY MATAR PANEER CURRY
- CHICKEN AND SPINACH CURRY
or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 900 delicious Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendly recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, syn value and smart points etc
Originally created on 8th April 2010 and updated on 24th March 2020
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Chicken Dupiaza with Pilau Rice
Chicken Dupiaza with Pilau Rice - create the perfect Indian takeaway meal at home with this delicious curry recipe using tender chicken thighs and double onions.
Ingredients
For the Chicken Dupiaza
- 650g (22.9oz) boneless skinless chicken thighs (raw)
- 320ml (1.35 cups) of Chicken Stock
- 2 Teaspoons fresh grated Ginger
- 4 Garlic Cloves Crushed
- 2 teaspoons Turmeric Powder
- 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons of ground coriander
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Chilli Powder (deggi mirch which is hot) *amount depends on how spicy you like it.
- 2 Teaspoons Garam Masala Powder
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 500g (17.5oz) of onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- 80ml (1/3 cup) Fat-Free Natural Yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Puree (paste)
- 2 tsp of ghee (4 syns)
For the pilau rice
- 1.5 cups (260g) of basmati rice (uncooked)
- 1 small onion, diced finely
- 0.5 teaspoon of turmeric
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 8 cloves
- salt to season
- 3 cups (720ml) of water
- cooking oil spray
Instructions
- Bring a small pan of water to the boil and add half of the chopped onions (250g). Boil until soft, drain and puree with a hand blender or in a food processor. Set aside - this is your onion puree
- Heat a deep frying pan over medium-high heat, add the ghee until melted. Add in the remaining onion and carrots and fry for a few minutes to soften.
- Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and tomato paste (puree) and stir until paste-like. Add a little drop of water to prevent sticking if needed.
- Add the chicken thighs, and mix to coat with the paste.
- Pour in the stock and add the cardamom pods. Add in the onion puree and bring to a boil, then reduce heat slightly and simmer for 15-20 mins. The liquid should have reduced down into a thick gravy that coats the chicken. So if it is still liquidy, turn up the heat a little to allow it to bubble gently.
- Spoon some of the gravy into the yoghurt, to bring the yoghurt to room temp and then remove dupiaza from the heat and stir in the yoghurt.
- It is ready to serve with the pilau rice and any other choice of sides.
- Enjoy!!
- Spray a deep frying pan with some cooking oil spray, add the onion and fry until softened.
- Add in the rice, turmeric, pinch of salt, cloves and cardamom pods and stir until all coated.
- Pour the water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until all liquid is absorbed.
- Once the liquid is absorbed, add a lid, turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes. Do no stir through the whole cooking process.
- Once ready to serve, stir through some chopped coriander (cilantro).
- Enjoy!!
For the Chicken Dupiaza
For the Pilau Rice:
Notes
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, Slimming World and Weight Watchers friendly
- Slimming World - 1 syn per serving
- Green WW Smart Points - 12 per serving (or 9 if using shrimp or chicken breast) - 5 per serving if you serve with cauliflower rice
- Blue WW Smart Points - 12 per serving (or 9 if using shrimp or chicken breast) - 5 per serving if you serve with cauliflower rice
- Purple WW Smart Points - 12 per serving (or 9 if using shrimp or chicken breast) - 5 per serving if you serve with cauliflower rice
- Gluten Free - use gluten free stock
- Dairy Free - use oil of choice instead of ghee and omit the yoghurt
SUITABLE FOR FREEZING
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 SERVING (WITH PILAU RICE)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 497Total Fat: 9.1gSaturated Fat: 3.1gCholesterol: 116mgSodium: 608mgCarbohydrates: 71.3gFiber: 4.3gSugar: 7.6gProtein: 36.9g
This looks lovely, think I will have a go at this over the weekend.
Thanks for posting all these great looking meals, makes things so much easier to have a little help.
Hiya. Was this a slightly different one to the one on Minimins?
it is pretty similar, I just improved the recipe and added some more veggies to bulk it out, to make sure it includes the 1/3 superfree 😉
I cooked this for last night’s dinner after using Patak’s for years. It was really delicious, all the ingredients were in my cupboard so no sweat there. I cooked it in the afternoon but transferred it to the slow cooker. I also cooked the rice your way, it was lovely, and so so easy to make. My husband wants me to make it again this way instead of using the Patak’s, what a compliment.
thanks for all your lovely comments on my recipes. I am glad you are enjoying them.
This is gorgeous, I usually use my own spices but never made it quite like this, the taste is soooo different, really tasty and not overpowering at all. I even made my own garam massala.
Thanks for the recipe.
this was gorgeous, a bit spicy so if you dont like hot stuff just put a bit more yogurt in it! easy enough to make too cant wait to have it again
this was great used chicken breast cant be bothered with thighs
Does the chicken need to be pre cooked? Or will it cook in 30 minutes in the yogurt mixture?
chicken is raw when added to the pan after the onions and spices, you stir to coat with spices and then add other ingredients and cook for 20 mins. 🙂
Thank you so much for your prompt response, as you can tell I’m not a very good cook however managed to make this and it is absolutely delicious.
Do you know if you can freeze or reheat this dish?
Delicious. I used prawns instead of chicken; I’ll make it again
I really love all your recipes and I go to them every time. It’s the best Slimming World site of the lot, even Slimming World itself. Thank you for your wonderful food and I’m going to make this curry today. xx
Can you substitute the ghee with anything please ?
Just tried this and it’s the best curry I have tasted in a long while.
Thank you
ahh thank you Anne – so happy to hear that 🙂
Hi!
Recipe sounds lovely…can I just ask…how much water do you use when you book the onions for the purée?
Thanks
Hello there, I’m slowly working my way through your curry recipes, they’re all delicious thank you. I was wondering if you can make the pilau rice in the instant pot rather than stove top?
I am sure you can, I haven’t tested it yet personally as it generally is pretty quick to make on the stove top. Let me know if you try and how it turns out 🙂
enough to just fully cover the onions.
Can I substitute the ghee with anything or leave it out?
if you haven’t got ghee, I recommend using another cooking oil of your choice, same ratio. I don’t recommend omitting.
Hi, brill receipe, you say it is freezable, when you cook from freezer, do you thaw or cook from frozen?
Thanks Yvette
Cooked it, and it was good.
I did not go with the pilau rice. I had some vegetable fired rice already cooked.
Also, I used fresh green chillis instead of the chilli powder.
Thanks
I thaw and then reheat usually