Do- Piaza translates as two onions because thats the number of times they appear in the cooking process. The first stage involves making a puree from onions, garlic and ginger. The final stage is to add lots of sliced onions to the dish. Cook this long and slow, either in a slow cooker or casserole dish, and you will be rewarded with an incredible depth of flavour. The onions become so, slightly caramelised, and wonderfully sweet.
I used bone-in chicken thighs for this dish, but it works just as well with tougher cuts of meat, such as lamb shoulder or beef stewing steak.
Serves 2-4
4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin removed
For the first stage
2 tbsp ghee or sunflower oil
2 onions, finely chopped
Golf ball-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
6 cloves
1 brown cardamom pod
1 tsp cinnamon powder
Half tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
150ml natural Greek yoghurt
For the second stage
3 onions, peeled and sliced
4-6 small tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Salt, to taste
1. Heat the ghee or oil in a large frying pan and add stage one onions, garlic and ginger. Cook for 10-15 mins until very soft. Add a little water if they start to catch.
2. Add the spices and stir through, followed by the yoghurt. Now add the chicken thighs and stir until thoroughly coated with the sauce.
3. Transfer to a slow cooker or casserole dish. If using the slow cooker, cook on LOW for 3 hours, until the chicken is very tender. If using a casserole, cook in a 160C/Gas 2 oven for 2 hours.
4. After the cooking time, add the stage two onions and tomatoes and cook for a further 30-40 mins, until the second batch of onions are very soft. Towards the end of cooking, add the herbs and season with salt.
5. Serve with chapatis or wraps and chick pea mash, made by mashing together a drained can of chick peas, juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp garam masala, 50g butter and a handful of fresh, chopped coriander.
