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Chicken Curry Recipe | Authentic Indian Chicken Curry

Published: Dec 13, 2021 · Modified: Mar 6, 2024 by FeastwithSafiya · This post may contain affiliate links · 13 Comments

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An authentic Indian Chicken Curry recipe. This one-pot curry recipe is simple, easy to follow, and tastes phenomenal! This is a tested and perfected recipe for many many years.

Someone eating food with their hand.

Authentic Chicken Curry

Authentic Indian chicken curry is simmered with patience and love. Bone-in meat, Indian ground & whole spices, ginger-garlic, onion, and tomatoes cooked on low heat until tender.

Jump to:
  • Authentic Chicken Curry
  • What's in This Recipe
  • Easy boneless Chicken Curry
  • What to serve with Chicken Curry
  • More Indian Curries You'll Love:
  • Kitchen Tools You’ll Need:
  • Thank with Google!
  • Chicken Curry Recipe | Authentic Indian Chicken Curry

chicken curry with plain rice.

Working-class families in India do not use heavy cream to create thick creamy curry. It is watered down to make it soupy to go with plain rice or cooked down for thicker curry to serve it with Roti(Indian flat bread).

Chicken curry is super easy to make. Anyone with beginning cooking skills can create a comforting curry.

What's in This Recipe


Meat & Produce:

Bone-in Chicken: an authentic Indian chicken curry is cooked with a whole chicken cut into pieces. Bone-in meat is the essence of Indian meat curries. I highly recommend using whole chicken cut into pieces for this recipe. Boneless chicken breast is a good substitute for bone-in chicken pieces.

flat lay of Ingredients
  • Tomatoes: I usually like to use pureed Roma or Vine tomatoes. Remove the seeds before pureeing them so you don't have to sieve them.
  • Ginger & Garlic: grate the ginger and garlic or mince them in a food processor. I like to make and store large batches of ginger-garlic paste. It comes in handy in my kitchen.
  • Onion: I like to thinly slice the yellow onion for chicken curry. That's how my mother did. You may run it through the chopper if you want.
  • Oil: a generous amount of oil is a sign of rich and authentic Indian curry. I am using ½ cup of oil but you may adjust according to your desired quantity.
Thinly sliced onions, whole spices and oil.

Whole & Ground Spice:

This recipe calls for all the standard Indian-powered spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, and Kashmiri chili powder.

  • I am using a blend of whole cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, green cardamom, cloves, and black peppercorns. Adding whole spices are optional but I highly recommend them for enhanced flavors. At least use a cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and cardamom if you can.
  • Salt: I am using pink salt and measurements are based on pink salt. Use salt per your taste and the type of salt you may use.
  • Garam Masala: I only use homemade garam masala for meat curry recipes. My homemade garam masala is the key ingredient in this recipe. Whenever a South Asian has tried my chicken curry, they have always asked for the recipe for my garam masala. It's a game-changer, I promise!
A person scooped chicken curry with pita bread by hand.

Easy boneless Chicken Curry

  1. Marinade the boneless chicken breast pieces with all the listed powdered spices, ginger-garlic, and whole spices.
  2. Heat a heavy-bottom pan over high heat. Add the oil to the pan. Once the oil starts to heat up, add chopped onions, and ½ teaspoon of salt to the pan.
  3. Turn the heat to medium and sauté the onions until golden. It takes about 5 to 8 minutes.
  4. Add marinated chicken to the pan. Sauté until chicken is no longer pink. 
  5. Add tomato puree and stir well.
  6. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or just until the chicken is tender. 
  7. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve it with plain rice, roti, or naan.

What to serve with Chicken Curry

Chicken curry is served with plain rice, Indian flatbread, naan, or millet bread.

I like to serve it with plain rice or whole wheat pita bread(making my life easier 😉 ) along with Indian kachumber salad, and onion raita.

a person using a fork to eat plain white rice and chicken.

More Indian Curries You'll Love:

  • Chicken and Potato Curry
  • Aloo Palak (Indian Spinach and Potato)
  • Palak Paneer-Spinach and Indian Cheese Curry
  • Fish Curry
  • Meatball Curry
  • Dal Tadka
  • Eggplant Curry
  • Bhindi Kadhi-Okra Curry

Kitchen Tools You’ll Need:

  • Food Processor
  • Heavy Bottom Pan
  • Good Kitchen Knife

I love sharing recipes that bring back beautiful memories. I believe food truly brings people together and that's how the love of food brought you to my page. Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time out to read my post.

Chicken Salan with pita bread.

I hope I made you feel confident about cooking my chicken curry recipe in your kitchen. Let me know how you feel about this recipe. Leave me a comment if you have any questions about the recipe. Your support encourages me to create better content.

homemade curry recipe.

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Authentic Indian Chicken Curry Recipe.

Chicken Curry Recipe | Authentic Indian Chicken Curry

Safiya
An authentic Indian chicken curry recipe. Easy to follow, one-pot curry recipe that can be made in under an hour. The recipe includes bone-in and boneless chicken curry recipe instructions.
5 from 12 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Total Time 55 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 8
Calories 327 kcal
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Ingredients 

  • 2 pounds whole chicken cut into pieces , skin and excess fat removed
  • 1 medium yellow onion , thinly sliced
  • 4 medium Roma tomatoes , or 3 large vine tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste , or 1 inch grated ginger & 5 to 6 grated garlic cloves
  • ½ cup light olive oil , or any other light cooking oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • water , as needed
  • 1-2 green chilis like Thai chili, jalapeno or Serrano , optional

Whole Spices

  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 green cardamom pods
  • 4-5 cloves
  • 3-4 whole peppercorns
  • 2 bay leaves

Powdered Spices

  • 2 teaspoons coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder , 1 teaspoon for less spicy
  • ½ teaspoon Garam Masala , highly recommend my homemade Garam Masala
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons pink salt , or to taste

Instructions 

  • Puree the tomatoes in a food processor or blender, thinly slice an onion, and grate ginger and garlic.
  • Heat a heavy-bottom pan over high heat. Add the oil to the pan. Once the oil starts to heat up, add chopped onions, whole spices, and ½ teaspoon of salt to the pan. (Salt helps cook onion evenly and dissolves extra moisture faster.)
    sauté onion with whole spices
  • Turn the heat to medium and sauté the onions until golden. It takes about 5 to 8 minutes.
    cook onion until golden for chicken curry.
  • Once the onion turns golden, add the ginger-garlic paste to it. Sauté ginger-garlic for about 1 minute or just until you no longer smell the raw ginger-garlic. now add chicken to the pan.
    add chicken to golden cooked onion.
  • Add all the ground spices and the rest of the salt. Stir to coat the spices on the chicken. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes.
    add all the powdered spices and salt to the chicken.
  • Add the tomato puree and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Turn the heat down to low. Cover the pan and cook chicken on low for 10 minutes.
    add the tomato puree to the chicken curry.
  • After 10 minutes check for the water consistency in the curry. Add 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup water if needed. Cover and cook the curry on low for 20 minutes or just until the chicken is tender. Stir once in between cooking.
    cover the pan and cook the chicken curry on low.
  • Uncover and add garam masala. Taste test for salt. Add more salt if needed. Simmer extra liquid until it dissolves or turn the heat off if you prefer to have the curry slightly soupy.
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with plain rice, naan, or roti(Indian flatbread).
    chicken curry with naan and roti.

Notes

Easy boneless Chicken Curry:

  1. Marinade the boneless chicken breast pieces with all the listed powdered spices, ginger-garlic, and whole spices.
  2. Heat a heavy-bottom pan over high heat. Add the oil to the pan. Once the oil starts to heat up, add chopped onions, and ½ teaspoon of salt to the pan.
  3. Turn the heat to medium and sauté the onions until golden. It takes about 5 to 8 minutes.
  4. Add marinated chicken to the pan. Sauté until chicken is no longer pink. 
  5. Add tomato puree and stir well.
  6. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or just until chicken is tender. 
  7. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve it with plain rice, roti, or naan.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 8g ,Calories: 327kcal ,Carbohydrates: 5.6g ,Protein: 34g ,Fat: 18.7g ,Saturated Fat: 2.8g ,Cholesterol: 87mg ,Sodium: 445mg ,Potassium: 401mg ,Fiber: 1.6g ,Sugar: 2.3g ,Calcium: 34mg ,Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is sourced from a third-party application and should be considered as approximate figures for reference purposes only.

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Comments

  1. Catherine Sarta says

    June 08, 2023 at 5:46 am

    Love this recipe. Delicious. Would comment on 2 issues with the instructions. One is that it says to add all ground spices over the chicken. So it is a surprise when we are told at the end to add the garam Masada and the rest of the salt. They are listed under ground spices and therefore already in the pot. Still tasted good though.

    Reply
    • FeastwithSafiya says

      July 21, 2023 at 9:41 am

      Hi Catherine, thank you for providing your feedback. Glad you liked my recipe :). Adding salt at the end of the recipe is optional. I like adding garam masala in the end, but it can be added along with all the other ground spices. So, either way is fine as long as the final product is delicious. 🙂

  2. Kate says

    March 13, 2023 at 3:10 pm

    Hi.
    I added the Garam masala along with the other powdered spices but in your recipe instructions it adds it at the end of cooking, so I added it twice (so about 1-1/2 tsp)

    It still turned out great cause one can never add enough Garam Masala!!
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • FeastwithSafiya says

      March 21, 2023 at 12:04 pm

      Thank you for your feedback!

  3. Bev says

    October 18, 2022 at 2:09 pm

    5 stars
    I've made this twice already. About to make it again tomorrow. By far the best chicken curry recipe I've ever found on the internet

    Reply
    • FeastwithSafiya says

      October 18, 2022 at 4:51 pm

      Thank you for your feedback, Bev! I am so happy you liked my recipe :).

  4. Amber says

    October 13, 2022 at 8:01 am

    5 stars
    Thank you so much for sharing this!

    Reply
    • FeastwithSafiya says

      October 13, 2022 at 2:47 pm

      Thank you! 🙂

  5. Emily says

    December 18, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you for this authentic one-pot recipe! The instructions are so easy to follow!

    Reply
  6. Jill says

    December 18, 2021 at 11:41 am

    5 stars
    Really appreciate the process photos for this chicken. Looking forward to trying it!!

    Reply
  7. Tavo says

    December 18, 2021 at 10:41 am

    5 stars
    Nothing like a great curry! We had this one for dinner yesterday, and we all loved it!

    Reply
  8. Mirlene says

    December 18, 2021 at 10:30 am

    5 stars
    Oh wow!!! This chicken curry absolutely delicious and rich. Love it with red beans and rice.

    Reply
  9. Mahy says

    December 18, 2021 at 9:42 am

    5 stars
    I love how delicious this chicken curry look. I bet it's so flavorful!

    Reply
5 from 12 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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Hey there! I'm Safiya, the creator of Feast with Safiya. I wear many hats – I'm a mom, food photographer, and recipe developer. I'm thrilled you're here to learn about me and try out my recipes.

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