Chicken Datshi
Chicken Datshi is a beautiful example of how little you actually need to make something deeply satisfying. Chicken, a mountain of chillies and soft, tangy churpi come together in a light broth that slowly turns creamy as the cheese melts into it. Traditionally the datshi is made from yak milk. I'm using cow's milk here, but the principle remains the same: heat, acidity and a little patience doing most of the work. It's simple food, but the combination of heat, funk and richness is anything but simple.
Ingredients
For the soft churpi
1 kg curd, preferably sour
500 ml full-fat milk
For the Chicken Datshi
1 kg bone-in chicken, cut into small pieces
300–350 g soft churpi, loosely crumbled
15–20 mixed fresh chillies, take a mix of few green and red varieties, slit
3–5 dried red chillies
5–6 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 small onion, sliced
1 small tomato, sliced, optional
1–1½ cups water
1–2 tbsp butter, traditionally yak butter
1 tbsp Sichuan pepper
Salt, to taste
Method
Make the soft churpi
Place the curd and milk in a heavy-bottomed pot and bring the mixture up slowly over low heat.
Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the milk and curd completely curdle and separate into curds and whey.
Line a colander with a clean muslin cloth and pour the mixture through it.
Gather the cloth around the curds and hang it up, or leave it suspended over the sink, allowing the whey to drain away.
Don't press the curds under a weight. The goal here is very different from making paneer. You want a soft, moist and crumbly cheese, not a firm block.
Once most of the whey has drained, open the cloth and crumble the churpi loosely with your fingers.
You need approximately 300–350 g for the Chicken Datshi. If making the churpi ahead of time, refrigerate it until ready to use.
Build the broth
There is no frying involved in Chicken Datshi. Everything goes straight into the pot.
Place the chicken, crushed garlic, water and a little salt in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes, until the chicken is mostly cooked.
The idea here is to create a clean, light chicken broth. This broth becomes the base of the cheese sauce.
Add the chillies
Add the mix of chillies including dried red chillies, sliced onion and tomato, if using.
Simmer for another 5–7 minutes.
At this stage the broth should smell sharp and intensely of chilli. Don't worry if the flavours still seem a little raw. The datshi hasn't entered the equation yet.
Add the churpi
Reduce the heat to low and add the crumbled churpi.
Let it soften and melt slowly into the broth. Don't stir aggressively. Instead, gently nudge the cheese around the pot occasionally to prevent it from sticking.
Cook for 10–15 minutes.
As the churpi melts and the liquid reduces, the broth will become creamy and slightly grainy. The chicken will finish cooking and the chillies will soften while remaining intact.
Bring it together
The consistency should be thick enough to coat a spoon, but still loose enough to mix easily with rice.
If it becomes too thick, add a splash of hot water.
If it is too thin, simmer uncovered for a few more minutes until it reduces.
The chicken should be completely tender by this point.
Finish
Stir in the butter and adjust the salt.
Toast the Sichuan pepper lightly, crush it in a mortar and pestle, sprinkle over the curry and switch off the heat, cover.
Let it rest for about 5 minutes. This allows the cheese sauce to settle and thicken slightly.
What you're looking for
Chicken Datshi isn't meant to behave like a conventional curry. The finished dish should have a thick, spoon-coating gravy with visible chillies, tender chicken and a rustic, slightly grainy cheese texture.
The flavour should be hot, salty, savoury and gently tangy, with the fermented character of the curd-based cheese coming through.
A slightly over-fermented churpi actually works particularly well here. Its acidity and funk have enough character to stand up to the chillies and chicken.
Keep the tomato restrained if using it. This isn't a tomato curry, and too much tomato will push the dish in a completely different direction.
A little fat floating on the surface is also perfectly fine. In fact, that's exactly what you want.
A note on the cheese
Traditional datshi is made using yak milk, which gives the cheese a particularly rich, fatty character. Cow's milk is a practical substitute and works very well for a homemade version.
The important thing is the texture. Don't treat this like paneer. You don't want a firm, sliceable cheese. The churpi should remain soft, moist and crumbly, so that it can break down into the chicken broth and become part of the sauce.
Serving
Serve Chicken Datshi hot with plain steamed rice.
Bhutanese red rice is ideal, but soft white rice works beautifully too.
The rice is an important part of the dish. It catches the spicy, cheesy gravy and gives you something to balance all those chillies against.