Chicken Curry Recipe

This chicken curry recipe is derived from a bloke down my local pub. My local has a guest house attatched to it, I was chatting to this guy who had just registered - he was from Birmingham (England) although clearly of Indian or Pakistani origin, probably second or third generation English. As we got talking about food and this website, he wrote down a recipe for me.

He described it merely as a chicken curry recipe, and to me it seems like a simple Northern Indian family meal. I have not folllowed what was written down exactly - I rarely do - but the result is a warming, tasty, comfortable stew which you can eat as a main meal, as a snack or a supper. It is a very basic dish with lots of onions and can be made even simpler if you use pre mixed spices.

A nice supper of chicken curry

Basic Ingredients

1lb (450g) chicken meat
2 large onions
1 clove garlic
½ inch (1cm) piece root ginger
2 medium potatoes
400g tin plum tomatoes
2 tablespoon plain yoghurt
Oil for frying

1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons turmeric
Chillis
Fresh Coriander leaves for garnish

Notes on Ingredients

Chicken. Any cut will do, breast fillets are easiest, leg and thigh meat is very tasty.

Potatoes. These are optional, I included them to make this a relatively complete meal in itself

Tomatoes. You can use tinned or fresh tomatoes or a combination.

Yoghurt. Again optional or you could use cream.

Oil. This is a northern Indian style chicken curry recipe and ghee is best for this but other oils are ok.

Cumin. Black cumin (shahi or kali cumin) is best for this but standard cumin is ok

Garam Masala. I recommend #1 garam masala mix but you can use any mixture or a good brand of ready made

Chilli. Use fresh chilli for preference but dried or powdered is fine. Use type and quantity to suit your taste.

Chicken Curry Recipe ready to serve

Basic Method

Peel and chop the onions, garlic and ginger.
Cut the chicken into nice chunks, e.g. inch (2.5cm) cubes
Prepare the tomatoes - or just open the tin

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan
Fry the onions, garlic and ginger very gently for about 10 minutes
Add the whole cumin seeds and continue to fry for another 2 minutes
Now add the garam masala and chilli and again fry for about 2 minutes
Turn the heat up and add the chicken pieces, cooking until they are white
Turn the heat down again and put in the tomatoes mixing in thoroughly.
Add the turmeric and mix in.

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 inch (2.5cm) cubes.
Boil or steam the potatoes until they are nearly cooked
Strain and add to the pan.
Simmer for about 45 minutes.
About 5 minutes from the end stir in the yoghurt or cream if you like
Garnish with coriander leaves

Notes on Method

This really is a very easy chicken curry recipe and there is not much to add about the method. You can use a slow cooker to simmer the dish once all the ingredients are in.

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