Indian restaurant bhuna curry is a recipe that shows up all on menus all over the place. It’s typically a thick, well spiced, medium hot dish. It’s really tasty. This bhuna is just that.
There’s no real guideline other than that. That’s why it’s so different from restaurant to restaurant. Kind of like balti in the UK.
Bhuna is the mystery curry
I think bhuna varies so much in restaurants because technically it’s not a dish. It’s a way of cooking. By definition spices are gently fried and then meat is added.
The whole thing is left to stew in it’s own juices. At the end, you wind up really big flavours and not a lot of sauce. Super concentrated curry.
I’ve looked at quite a few definitions of bhuna and it seems to come down to a curry with onions, garlic, tomatoes, chilies and spices.
That’s what this Indian restaurant bhuna curry recipe is all about.
I hope the curry police don’t come and take me away for misleading people with this post.
Or worse yet, take away my spices and condemn me to cooking curry with pre-fab curry powder for the rest of my life.
This is a master Indian restaurant bhuna curry recipe. You can make it with pre-cooked chicken, lamb, beef or use paneer, pre-cooked potatoes or eggplant for vegetarian options.
Bloom the spices in oil
Enough oil to fry the spices. That is a fundamental rule to Indian restaurant style curries. You can’t get around it. Too little oil and your spices will stick. They will burn. Not good.
It may seem like a lot of oil but it’s necessary. I’ve tried rolling back on it. It doesn’t work. Pretty much guaranteed to fail.
And frying spices is what makes bhuna curry what it is. Any curry really. It’s worth the extra calories.
Prep is key for Indian restaurant style curry cooking
Do your prep. That’s important. Make your curry base and have some heated and ready to go. Pre-cook your meat.
Measure out your ingredients. Have everything ready. Put on an apron – a bit of splatter is part of the fun.
If you have not yet read the guide to Indian restaurant technique yet, do it now. It has pictures to help you understand the recipe. There’s a video there so you can see for yourself. And a guide to Indian ingredients in that post.
Indian restaurant bhuna curry. It may not trace it’s roots back to a famous Indian dish but it delicious. And that’s really all that matters…
indian restaurant bhuna curry
Ingredients
The spice mix
- 2 tsp indian restaurant spice mix or curry powder - recipe link below
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder or 1/4 tsp cayenne mixed with 3/4 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp kasoor methi
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
The curry ingredients
- 3 Tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion coarsely chopped
- 2 green chilies seeded and diced (or thinly sliced if you want a bit of extra heat from the ribs)
- 1 Tbsp cilantro stems minced
- 1 Tbsp garlic/ginger paste - recipe link below
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste with enough water to dilute to the consistency of pasatta
- 15 oz curry base - recipe link below
- 10-12 oz pre-cooked chicken or lamb
- 1 Tbsp tamarind sauce - I use Maggi brand
- 3-4 cherry tomatoes - cut in half
Instructions
- Make the spice mix.
- Dilute the tomato paste with enough water to get to the consistency of passata.
- Heat your frying pan (don't use non-stick) briefly over medium heat. Add the oil.
- When the oil starts to shimmer add the onions and stir constantly until the edges of the onions start to brown. This takes about a minute.
- Next comes the garlic ginger paste. Add it into the pan and cook it, stirring constantly, until it stops sputtering.
- Add the green chilies and cilantro stems. Cook about 15-20 seconds.
- Turn down the heat and add the spice mix. This is the critical step. Stir it constantly for 30 seconds. If it starts to darken lift the pan off the heat. You want the spice mix to cook in the oil but not burn.
- Turn the heat up to medium high. Add the diluted tomato paste and stir until bubbles form (the oil will likely separate). This takes around 30 seconds to one minute depending on the heat.
- Add 3 oz of curry base. Stir until bubbles form (little craters really), around 30 seconds. Watch the edges of the pan. The curry can stick here.
- Now add 6 oz of curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook until the bubbles form again. This takes 1-2 minutes.
- Add the rest of the curry base and let cook until the bubbles form. Add the tamarind sauce. Turn the heat down to low and add the pre-cooked lamb, beef, chicken, tofu or vegetables.
- Let the curry simmer for about 5 minutes. If it gets too thick add a bit more curry base. Don't add water. Add the cherry tomatoes for the final 2-3 minutes of cooking.
- Garnish with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
I’m working my way through all your curry recipes and they are amazing, finally I can cook better than any takeaway, thank you so much for sharing your skills!
Awesome. Great to hear your skills are at the point where you are beating the takeaways!
I made this curry yesterday, I also made the curry base, the spice mix and the garlic and ginger paste, it was absolutely gorgeous and just like a restaurant curry which I wanted it to be like. This recipe is perfect thank you
An epic cooking day it sounds like. Now you are set up to make all sorts of curries!
My comment above. Forgot my five star rating!
Haha. Appreciate that. Thank you!
Fantastic recipe.
Tweaked it with a dollop of honey. As we enjoy a slightly bitter sweet taste.
Enjoying all your recipes.
So glad you liked it and it’s great to hear you are finding things you want to cook here!
Out of all the chicken curry recipes on Glebe, including the Jalfrezi which is awesome this Bhuna recipe is the best. Make the curry base as this really gives it the indian restaurant touch. A curry that delivers, without the takeway price. BOOM!
Glad you like it!
Hi there
I made the chicken bhuna last night for my family and I fried the spice mix beforehand and it was gorgeous. my two young boys thought I had bought a takeaway it was that tasty.
Brilliant site. Thank you
Great to hear! Frying the spices (or blooming them) really does make a big difference.
Can’t wait to have a go at these recipes. How long will the pastes and spice mixes keep,
Spices will keep for quite a while. Pastes are good for a week or two certainly.
“It may seem like a lot of oil but it’s necessary. I’ve tried rolling back on it. It doesn’t work. Pretty much guaranteed to fail.”
Have you tried using Ghee? I find by using this instead of oil it lasts longer in the pan and also rounds off the flavours and makes the curry a bit buttery.
Give it a go.
Thanks,
Kevin
I have tried ghee. I’ve even tried making curry base with ghee. I prefer oil. The rounding of the flavours with ghee is exactly why. I find the big flavours get blunted and a bit lost with ghee. But it is absolutely a personal preference thing. Thank you for posting. I hope it encourages people to experiment.
Absolutely delightful curry. I’m here in Bradford England and discovered your site by accident whilst looking for a bhuna recipe. I cant get your chilli powder though despite being spoilt for choice with Asian grocers, it hasn’t spoiled the curry though I’d appreciate your thoughts. Jan
So glad you found it! I’m not in the UK but I see there are a number of online retailers in the UK that carry it. Also, if you can find a shop with MDH products (look for rows of little boxes of Indian masalas) they have one called Deggi Mirch. That is an excellent substitute for Kashmiri chili powder.
Alternately, you can ask your grocer for a mild Indian chili powder. Kashmiri is bright red but if you aren’t concerned about the colour it imparts most any mild Indian chili powder will do.
Very first time I made chicken tikka masala from scratch,the curry base,spice mix, everything.well worth it,bloody gorgious
It’s a lot of work the first time but once you get going it’s much easier. And I think it’s so worth it.
Hi, thanks for your brilliant recipes. My family love them,they all fancy a buhna this weekend. I made the recipe for two the other week and it was awesome. There will be six of us this weekend and I wondered what adjustments to make to the spice mix etc.thaks again Phil.
Phil – it’s the same challenge as the aloo chaat chicken curry (and every other restaurant style curry on glebe kitchen. They don’t scale well. You could maybe scale up 50 percent and do it twice or do it three times. Just keep each batch warm in a pot as you make it. It does hold well over very low heat for long enough to make the 3 batches. If it gets too thick mix in a bit of curry base to get it back to the texture/consistency you like.
I have tamarind paste but not the sauce. Will this work in the same way or should I adjust quantities of the paste? I’ve made this recipe without the fenugreek leaves and tamarind and it was lovely, but is really like to try it with those ingredients
Glad you liked it. Fenugreek leaves add a real something so do try that. I still remember the first time I added them. It was an aha moment for me. If you use tamarind sauce (unsweetened) then you might want to add a little sugar. Taste it first and decide. The paste (if it’s the same as mine) a bit more tart so maybe add a little less than the recipe calls for. Again, tasty and decide. Good luck!
Another great dish , I’m becoming very confident with your cooking technics in preparing my curries mind you I was a bit heavy with the chillies this time haha .
I’m hoping sometime you’ll come up with a vegetable curry recipe.
More chilies can definitely be a good thing! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes, Mike.
Where do the large tomatoes come into the recipe, like the picture shows?
Corrected. Thanks for the catch, Si.
I wish you had a photo submission option so you can see what people are making thanks to you! This is the third thing I’ve made within 2 days of discovering your site! I stared off making the masoor spinach daal, ended up making a masoor daal and salmon bhuna combined. This is the first time I’ve actually made things and I’m pleased with the way they taste ? Thanks Romain
I cannot believe I somehow missed this comment Jay. Thank you so much! I am absolutely delighted my recipes are working out for you.
Thank you for another wonderfully detailed recipe, I always learn so much from your posts! Curry is one of my favorites and I’m never satisfied with what I get when I order it out, I can now try to make my own at home with your help, thank you!
Erica – you are so very, very welcome!
Its so great to learn all these restaurant tricks for cooking Indian food! I love concept of prepping everything beforehand. This would be perfect for having company over for dinner when you don’t want to spend your whole time in the kitchen.
Riva, depending on how many dishes you cook it can still be a fair bit of work so keep that in mind. It’s about 10 minutes of dedicated cooking time per curry plus rice, plus a lentil dish, plus whatever else you want to serve. Helps to have someone to clean pans for you between curries though!
I tink Lam is bes in da buna
I had no idea that bhuna was a technique rather than a dish! Your photos of this bhuna curry are fantastic. It makes me immediately think cold evening, warm dinner, hot spices, blankie and a movie night. Do you typically use chicken or lamb?
With all my curries lamb and chicken are interchangeable. You need to allow for longer to pre-cook lamb of course, but otherwise it’s exactly the same. I also do vegetarian versions by mixing one recipe worth of restaurant curry without the meat into 3 cups of cooked masoor dal. Play with it. It’s fun!
Lamb
Yay more curry! I can’t get enough of your awesome curry recipes, Romain! They always make me hungry. Love the tomato base in this one. I’ll have to try it using your Indian Restaurant Spice Mix! Yum!
*drooooling* This looks fantastic. I went out to buy kasoor methi and am excited to have your recipe guide me through an awesome curry recipe! haha I have ‘chili’ powder from the indian grocers but I am not 100% sure if its kashmiri chili. They all say, chili. o_O Hope I have the right one!
Watch out for the chili. Kashmiri is pretty mild and it can go all the way up to incendiary. Around here kashmiri chili is marked as kashmiri. There’s also a chili powder from MDH called Deggi Mirch (comes in a little box) that is about the same heat.
Neato! Thanks for the follow up! 🙂
This looks delicious – nice consistency with a deep, rich color – tells me this has some real flavor! I love how quickly it comes together, too, due to all the prep you do in advance for different ingredients!
No shortage of flavour in this style of cooking. This is how they do it in Indian restaurants. 90 percent prep 10 percent cook…