This Indian Chicken Curry Recipe is Ace! I mean it! I’ll tell you why…
Do you ever wonder how many calories are in garlic chili chicken? Or, what is the healthiest Indian takeaway meal?
Clearly, like me, you are looking to have a nice curry without breaking your calorie bank!
(If you’re asking the question: How many calories in chicken curry? This one has only 239 calories per portion!)
For some reason, the complex flavors of curries and their smells, make us think we won’t be able to recreate such dishes at home. How could I, in my little kitchen, create such a majestic dish like this glorious garlic chili chicken? Well, if I can – you surely can too!
~~ This curry uses green chilies… how about trying this delicious Kolhapuri Chicken Curry that uses dry red chilies?
Before meeting Jay, my condiments of choice were only salt, olive oil, and mayonnaise.
Ketchup? No, thank you! Black pepper? No way! I wouldn’t even eat Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino!!
Indian Spices: the trick!
As I started to appreciate this cuisine, through the years I have tried too many awful recipes – as said before, I was sure curries needed to be complex, hard to prepare, as they are so flavorful!
But that is one thing all these years thought me: Easy Chicken Curry Recipes are the best as they allow the glorious Indian Spices to do the hard work!
The Chili Garlic Sauce I make for this recipe is a trick which I think I will start incorporating in many other ways, as it is a simple Indian Tadka. Nothing more!
The list of ingredients is short, the steps are very few and you end up with a result like this!
~~ Looking for the easiest (yet super tasty) chicken curry you’ll ever have? Try this Easy Chicken Curry (With Tomato)… a great 30-minute recipe!
Questions time!
How to make chicken curry?
This chicken curry is straightforward to prepare as it involves preparing a curry base, blending half of it, cooking the chicken with the whole lot and… topping it off with a glorious garlic and green chili tadka!
Here’s how:
In a pan, warm up the oil and cook the onions with some salt (this speeds up the process) and once these are translucent, add the turmeric, coriander powder and red chili powder; once the spices are cooked and separate from the oil, add the ginger garlic paste and lightly fry it.
Once the smell of the raw garlic has gone, add half the fresh coriander and allow it to cook for 3-4 minutes, then take half of the curry base and blend it.
Once half the curry is blended, add it back to the pan and mix well; at this stage add the chopped chicken and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes.
Add some water to the curry as well as the remaining fresh coriander and bring the chicken curry to the boil; once it is boiling, lower the flame and put a lid on the pan and allow the curry to simmer.
When the chicken is nearly cooked, in a separate pot, warm up some sunflower oil and cooked thinly sliced ginger and the slit green chilies; once the smell of rawness has gone, add the tadka to the cooked chicken curry (always ensure the chicken is thoroughly cooked), mix and serve!
What to serve with chicken curry?
This chicken curry is extremely versatile and works perfectly with chapattis, parathas and simple or masala rice as well!
If you are looking for an alternative that has less carbohydrates and calories, a great option is to serve it with some boiled cauliflower or some low-carb and low calorie alternative, such as Eat Water Rice.
~~ Have a look at these great 18+ Low-Carb Vegetables that are easy to integrate in most diets… there are many recipes included as well!
How can I modify this easy chicken curry?
This Indian chicken curry is very flavorful and it is the perfect answer to any chicken curry in a hurry question, and it can be modified easily according to anyone’s needs.
This recipe can be made with half chicken and half potatoes, or only with potatoes for a less meaty (or vegan) option!
Make this spicy chicken curry milder by halving the doses of both chilies (red and green), or keep only the green chili of the tadka for a different twist or add a quarter cup of full-fat natural yogurt to it!
~~ If you’re after a full flavor, yet mild curry, try this easy Butter Chicken Recipe or Chicken Tikka Masala!
Why is this recipe great?
This is one of Jay’s favorite Easy Chicken Recipes and we like to prepare it over the weekend, as it smells and tastes like takeaway, without the cost, the calories nor the wait!
You can adjust the level of heat and ‘garlicness’ (poet’s license!) and can serve it with many different sides and bread types. Keep it light and serve with cauliflower or a couple of chapatis, or treat yourself to some parathas or a portion of masala rice. It fits with anything!
For this, I used chicken thighs, as the red meat gives it that deeper flavor, however, as chicken breast has fewer calories, should you wish, that can be used instead. It is my preference for most curries to use chicken on the bone and keep some extra calories on the side for that meal, as the difference is not much when counting, but the boost of taste is more than worth it!
Try it out and enjoy this takeaway style curry…without the calories!
~~ Love takeaways but hate their calories and fat? Try this tasty and easy Chicken Biryani… best homemade fakeaway rice option!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Sunflower Oil Or any vegetable oil that doesn’t have a strong taste
- 2 Large Onions
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 2 tsp Coriander Powder
- ½ tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 20 g Fresh Coriander
- 300 ml Water
- 4 Skinless Chicken Thighs
- ¾ tsp Garam Masala
- 3 Green Chilies
- 10 g Fresh Garlic
- Salt to Taste
Instructions
- Slice the onions in Juliennes and set aside; wash the coriander, chop it (eliminating the hardest part of the stem), and set aside as well, separately from the onions. Prepare the chicken in chunks that are larger than bitesize and set aside; I would normally divide a thigh in two.
- Start cooking: In a pan, add 1 tbsp of sunflower oil and warm up on medium heat. Once warm, add the onion and a little salt, as this will speed up the cooking of it. Stir well and keep on cooking until the onions start to soften and are translucent, which will take about 4 minutes.
- Once the onions are translucent add the turmeric, coriander powder, and red chili powder, stir well and allow the spices to cook. This will take about one minute; you will know the spices are cooked once the smell of rawness has gone and the oil separates from them.
- At this point add the ginger garlic paste, mix well again and allow it to ‘fry’; once more, this will be cooked once the smell of rawness, especially of the garlic, has gone.
- Add half of the fresh coriander to the mix and stir well; allow this to cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
- Take half of the mixture and blend in an upside-down blender/grinder with a little water if necessary. Return the blended mix to the pan with the non-blended one, mix well and add the pieces of chicken.
- Mix well and allow the chicken to cook that way for 2 minutes, then add the water, stir well and bring to a boil. Add the remaining of the fresh coriander and stir well once more.
- Bring the flame down to low, put a lid on the pan, and allow to cook while simmering. The chicken will be ready in 10-15 minutes.
- - Halfway through the 15 minutes, add the garam masala to the pot, mix well and allow it to continue cooking.
- In the meantime, finely chop the fresh garlic and wash and slit sideways the green chilies.
- - About five minutes before the chicken is ready, in a small pot add the remaining one tbsp of sunflower oil, and once warm add the finely chopped fresh garlic and chili and cook through; this tadka will be ready once the smell of rawness of the garlic has gone.
- At this point, add the tadka to the chicken and mix well. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Should you realize that you added too much water, remove the lid and put the heat higher, as this will allow the water to evaporate quicker.
Should your curry be too dry for your taste, add more water but remember to bring to the boil before serving. I only blend half of the base to give it some creaminess, but this step can be either omitted or the whole base can be blended: again – your choice depending on your preference.
5 Responses
Absolutely delicious. We cut the chicken breasts into large cubes, which worked very well.
Thank you Sara!
This dish was really delicious. I made it for my girlfriend tonight and we both loved it. The gravy was incredibly flavourful, and the dish tasted like something that you would get at a good Indian restaurant.
Great to hear Amrit, thanks!
Great recipe! It was my first time making curry and turned out great!