Simple Chicken Curry Recipe
This Indian curry dish keeps things simple yet delicious, and you should find most if not all you need in your kitchen cupboards already. It’s quick and easy to make and needs no pre-prepared ingredients such as base gravy.
I’ve designed this simple chicken curry recipe to be quick to cook so have opted for boneless chicken breast or thigh meat, with the option of adding stock to enhance the flavour.
Serves 2-3. Prep time: 10 min. Cooking time: 40 min. You can double the recipe up if you wish but use about 1½ the quantity of cumin and curry powder to avoid overpowering it. All spoon measurements are level.
Books by Richard Sayce
INGREDIENTS
- 3-4 TBSP Veg, Sunflower or Olive Oil
- 1 Large or 2 Medium Onions, very finely chopped
- 5 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Ginger Powder or chopped fresh Ginger
- 2 tsp Cumin Seeds or 1½ tsp Cumin Powder
- Salt to taste. If using the optional stock (see later) be wary that it will probably have a significant amount of salt in it (you can add but you can’t take away)
- 1½ TBSP Curry Powder of your choice (see Notes)
- ½ – 3 tsp Chilli Powder to taste depending on your heat preference (optional)
- 1½ tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves aka Kasuri Methi (if you have any)
- 3-4 TBSP Tomato Purée, or 1 tin of tomatoes, or 400g Passata
- 1-2+ Mugs of hot Water or Stock of your choosing
- A few Chillies, finely chopped (optional)
- 2-3 tsp Lemon Juice. Fresh is best but bottled juice is acceptable
- Boneless Chicken Breast or Chicken Thigh chopped into pieces with a size of your choice. Allow at least 150g per person
- Optional: Add some vegetables of your choice, for example mushrooms, red or green pepper, boiled potatoes
- A sprinkle of Fresh Coriander and a smidgen of Garam Masala (if you have any)
METHOD
- Heat the oil in a suitable frying pan or saucepan then add the onions, cumin seeds, and salt. Cook slowly on low-medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion turns translucent and browns a little on the edges.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and cumin powder (if not using seeds). Fry a minute, stirring frequently.
- Then add the curry powder, and optionally the chilli powder and fenugreek. Stir frequently for another minute.
- Next add the fresh chillies and dollop in the tomato purée with a mug of water or stock (about 300ml). You can use passata or tinned tomatoes instead, in which case use half a mug (150ml) of water/stock instead.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high, mix well, then cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time to avoid burning. Add a little extra water if it thickens up too much.
- Squeeze in the lemon juice, dump the chicken in, mix, and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- At this point, add any pre-cooked vegetables you wish to use.
- Add more water or stock to thin the sauce if desired, taste, and add more salt if needed.
- Serve topped with fresh coriander (if you have some) and a sprinkle of garam masala (optional).
NOTES
- All spoon measurements are level (1 tsp = 5ml, 1 TBSP = 15ml).
- The simplest way of making a chicken stock is to dissolve 1 or 2 stock cubes to hot water. Alternatively for a superior flavour make your own from chicken bones, or buy in ready made liquid stock.
- Enjoy this simple chicken curry recipe, and please feel free to adapt to your own taste.
My Mild Madras Curry Powder blend is available to buy, freshly milled with top quality spices. 100g and 250g pouch sizes.
