Good old ‘chicken curry’…..goes well with rice or bread. My family loves it because it tastes so good and I love it because it is so easy to make!!
Ingredients:
Chicken – 2 lbs, thighs and legs (cleaned, skinned and halved)
Oil – 2 tbsp
Onions – 2 medium, sliced
Tomatoes – 3 medium, chopped
Cinnamon – 1” stick
Black Cardamom – 1
Peppercorns – 4, whole
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Garlic – ½ tbsp, finely chopped
Ginger – ½ tsp, grated
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Chili Powder – to taste
Salt – to taste
Yogurt – ½ cup, well beaten
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
Cilantro– 5 sprigs, finely chopped for garnishing
Green Chili – 1, finely chopped for garnishing
Method:
- In a medium non-stick wok, heat Oil on medium to high flame.
- Add Cumin seeds and allow them to splutter
- Then we add Whole Spices i.e. Cinnamon, Cardamom, Peppercorn and cook for 15 seconds.
- Add in Onions and allow them to cook and become translucent and then, Ginger and Garlic is next – mix.
- Once the onions are golden brown, add in the tomatoes and mix well.
- Now add your powdered spices – Garam Masala, Red Chili Powder and Salt. Reduce flame to medium and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add cleaned Chicken, mix well cook for 6-7 minutes.
- Add yogurt and mix it gently into the chicken.
- Reduce heat a little, cover the wok with tight lid and cook for 10 minutes.
- Check on the Chicken and stir once in-between to make sure it is not burning at the bottom.
- Remove Chicken from heat and add Lemon Juice. Give it a final mix and serve with Cilantro and Green Chili as garnishing.
- Serves 4-6.
Tips
- Watch and learn!
I followed this recipe this evening and my wife and I agree that it was the best chicken curry that we have ever tasted. Thanks you so much for sharing with us.
Daryl
Thanks so much for the feedback Daryl! Glad you guys enjoyed it!
Hello,
Thank you for this great recipe. Love it. Just added some extra bay leaves (1) and cloves (5), and it was perfect!
hi can i use chicken breast instead of thigh and leg?
Hi Sophie,
Thigh meat is usually more tender compared to breast, but chicken breast will work. Be sure not to overcook it as it will get dry really fast.
I’m a fan, and have tried several of your recipes with great results. I’d like to note that the first time I made this, I followed the printed recipe, and in doing so, I burned the cumin seeds and had to start over. It says to cook the dry spices on a hot flame for one minute, which is way too long. When I followed the video, however, it was fine (you add the onions sooner in the video.)
I didn’t have fresh tomatoes, so I used about 18 oz. of diced canned tomatoes. I also added Kashmiri chili powder, cayenne pepper and a little hot curry powder to heat it up a bit. My version turned out much more red, and actually looks almost nothing like yours – maybe from the canned tomatoes. But it was was fantastic just the same. Keep up the great work!
Hi Hootch,
Thanks for your feedback on the printed recipe. We will make that change. Glad you enjoyed the chicken curry.
wow i just made this today and it was soo tasty I gobbled it up maybe a bit too quickly..first thing ive cooked which i feel like was as good as my mums cooking, thanks so much!!
This was an incredibly tasty dish. I had my doubts, since the chicken was not marinated beforehand, but there was more than enough flavor. I think it’s a relatively healthy dish, and my husband just devours it.
I made your chicken curry dish (again) and it keeps getting better (according to my wife, points for me). My question is in regard to the yogurt I should use for the recipe. I have used strained Greek style either 0% or 2% fat. Is there another style I should use? Needless to say, the food was wonderful and I look forward to learning new recipes.
Hi Daniel,
Kudos for your brownie points with the wife :). We usually use homemade yogurt that we make with 2% milk, but really, you can use any kind of yogurt. Greek yogurt will give you a thicker sauce.
Thanks for the delicious recipe! Unfortunately, I may have missed something because the yogurt appears all broken up in the curry. Is this expected? I used full fat yogurt that was well-beaten. Am I supposed to temper it in?
Thanks again!
Hi James,
Full fat yogurt is fine to use but the yogurt has to be mixed in very quickly or you can temper it to prevent the curdling.
hi! i tried this dish and i can tell you that it was amazingly delicious. thank you for having given me inspiration to cook delicious dishes for my family especially my daughter Suhani
hi,
i am regular visit to your site. . i should be thankful to you both for creating this site. though i have visited most of the site,i must say the end result is mouth watering when compared to other sites.
I have a query , for this particular recipe . though it came out good my hubby said that due to curd the taste was bit sour. can it be i added more curd or lemon, though it was 2 tsp.
Hi Priya,
It could be either the yogurt or the tomatoes – maybe they were more sour that ours. Next time, add a little milk to counter the sourness or skip the yogurt of you are not fond of sour stuff.
I make this for my family all the time now. It is sooo good! Thank you for this wonderful recipe. : )
You are very welcome!
omg i just made this and the family loved it thank you
I just made this and oh my god it was amazing, family loved it and i can’t wait to try your other recipes 🙂
Thanks x
Thanks for the feedback Ishah!
I absolutely loved this dish…….I just wish there were more spices readily available. You guys do the world good! Cheers.
Hi Marc,
Thanks! You can always find spices online if you don’t have an Indian store nearby.
hi it
me please can you chawme how to make samosa .thank you/
This recipe is excellent. Thanks for the site!
thank for your recipt it was good and yamyyyyy
I am learning to cook all over again with new techniques. Thanks.
You guys rock! Everything i’ve tried to cook from your site has been heaven! keep up the good work
I cooked your chicken curry last night (8-18-09). It was easy, presented very well with Basmati rice and was delicious. Seeing the video and comparing to your printed recipe made this curry the easiest yet most authentic.
Thank you
-Tim
Hi,
Plse plse add a recipe for Maachar Jhol, shrimp curry or desi egg fried rice if you can…Thanks..
Thanks for posting the instructions — I just made a batch and it came out excellent! I’ve previously used pre-mixed spice blends but enjoyed the heavier cardamom flavor in this version.
I guessed at ground spice equivalents for the cinnamon, cumin, cardamom and used dried ginger powder as I didn’t have any of the whole spices on hand. It still came out beautifully.
Hi Shamli,
I’ve tried many a recipe from you two and it has come out near perfect!!!! I am definitely new at cooking Indian food and your website has really made me feel comfortable to cook for my indian friends!!!
Thanks again!
i tried this and it came out beautiful, thanks, im learning so much about cooking from you wonderful ladies
Hi Shamli,
We have heard that a lot of people add vinegar to cook the chicken faster but have not personally tried it. The chicken does have a lemon juice added on at the end so if you do use vinegar, you might want to omit the lemon juice or atleast give it a taste-test before you add it in.
Let us know if it works for you!
can v had veingar 2 it!! so tht d chicken cook fast!!
Hi Anuja & Hetal,
I just found this website and absolutely love your videos…it’s like bringing a cook book to life since you are showing us all the techniques that may seem so unclear in just reading a recipe!!
I noticed in your chicken curry recipes you don’t marinade the chicken before hand (like with salt and haldi as i had been taught from my grandmother)..will that take away from the taste of the curry?
I have made the chicken curry. It is the best!!
Well done and thank you.
Hi my name is annie.. i really wants thanks you guys on this wounderful foods.. you bring a smile on my face
Hi Dinah,
Some of the whole spices can be found at a regular grocery store, but some spice powders are not. There are many online Indian grocery stores you may want to look into. You can use curry powder – it is a basically a blend of many different spices. The taste will be a little different.
Hi
The spicy chicken curry looks good. But I live in a place where there are no indian groceries. Does regular supermarkets carry these ingredients.
Also, if I was to use curry powder will that work for the spicy chicken curry recipe.
thanks
Yes, you are supposed to be able to see the onions…this is ‘Balti-style’ of chicken curry and has an awesome flavor. If you want to try the other type of Chicken Curry, here is the link:
https://34.233.61.50/2008/04/21/spicy-chicken-curry/
Both the recipes are good but different. Enjoy!
Ok so I tried this recipe.. came out well except the onions and tomatoes were visible in the gravy unlike in most curries where the tomatoes and onions totally disappear and the gravy is smooth.. is that how its supposed to be?
Hi Karishma:
The yogurt creates the gravy for this dish.
Interesting, So you do not add any water for the gravy at all?
Oops, Sorry and thanks for bringing it to our attention. Have fixed it now.
Hi,
I’ve seen many of your recipes and have tried them too……The recipes are presented in a very easy way…..and also looks mouth watering…
And yaa in the above recipe you have forgotten to mention about the onions,mean when one should add them……but anyways the recipe is very good….
dear maam
it was a lovely experience as i saw your
chicken curry video on you tube. it seemed
delicious making my mouth water.it looked
beautuiful when it was fully ready in the
end. i would love to make it.thank you.
yours faithfully
samreen zaidi
NOIDA
I’ve always made curry with ready mixes. It’d be an experience to try this.