Chetna’s Easy Chicken Curry

So here’s the thing.  This is not the most photogenic dish.  It’s just not.  But MAN, it packs a wallop of a flavor punch.  This easy chicken curry recipe from Great British Bake-Off contestant Chetna is healthy and simple, but (most importantly) totally delish.

Now, some folks may ask why there’s no curry powder in it, if it’s a curry.  But actually curry powder is a largely Western invention and addition, and “curry” is just a larger class of dishes.  You can read a bit more about it here since, as a white American farm girl, I’m not the expert 🙂  Suffice to say, this is a curry!

You may look at the total preparation time and think, “ain’t nobody got time for that on a weeknight”.  And maybe that’s true, but what I love about this recipe is that the hands-on time isn’t much, and the first several steps go in stages with plenty of time in-between to prep…so while the oil heats up chop your onions, while the onions cook chop up your tomatoes, etc.

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken thighs with the yogurt, and half the garlic, ginger, and salt in a bowl. 

Stir together and set aside for whatever time you’ve got…you can use them right away, in an hour, or up to a day.

In a large (4 quart), heavy pan with a lid, heat the oil or ghee on medium heat.  Once it’s hot, add the minced onions and cumin seeds.  Cook 5 minutes, until browned at edges.

Add the remaining ginger and garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. 

Then add the remaining salt, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and cayenne/chile powder and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to break down, around 4 minutes, then add the tomato paste, cook for another 2 minutes.

Now’s the time to start cooking your rice (or quinoa or whatever floats your boat).  

Finally, add the chicken and yogurt marinade from bowl plus the water, and stir to combine.  Bring everything to a simmer while stirring.  Simmer 40 to 45 minutes over low heat, covered, stirring once or twice to ensure everything is cooking evenly and not burning or sticking to the bottom.

The chicken is done when it’s cooked through and very tender.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed, though I strongly recommend tasting throughout the last 20-30 minutes and layering seasoning as needed.  Serve with the rice and garnish with cilantro.

I found Chetna’s recipe video super helpful as well, in giving some step-by-step instructions and letting you know what it should look like throughout the process.  I’d like to try it completely following her recipe here and see how it compares.  My onion-tomato mixture isn’t quite as jammy, but has a lot more liquid in it.

My easy chicken curry recipe below is actually using some of Chetna’s techniques, tweaked from the written Smitten Kitchen recipe.

Regardless of which way you make it, this is a super easy and flavorful dinner any night of the week…though it takes a bit longer to cook, it’s mostly hands-off and makes awesome leftovers!

Other easy Asian-inspired dinners:

• One-Pot Yellow Cauliflower & Chickpea Curry (vegan)
• Super Easy Onion Pakoras (Without a Deep Fryer)…with Tamarind Chutney
• Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Chicken Massaman Curry
• Super Simple Sesame Chicken

Chetna's Easy Chicken Curry

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

A healthy and flavorful chicken curry that's perfect for an easy dinner...comes together in around an hour, but without a ton of hands-on time.

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Ingredients

• 2 1/4 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 cup of plain, full-fat yogurt (I use Greek 2%)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced or grated, divided
• 2-inch piece of ginger, minced or grated, divided
• 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, divided (plus more to taste)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of neutral oil or ghee
• 2 large yellow onions, minced
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• ~2 1/2 cups of small diced fresh tomatoes; can use 3 to 4 roma tomatoes, or a 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1/2 tablespoon of ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of garam masala
• 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cayenne or a mild chile powder (e.g. kashmiri), to taste (I use far less)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cup of uncooked basmati or jasmine rice

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken thighs with the yogurt, and half the garlic, ginger, and salt in a bowl.  Stir together and set aside for whatever time you’ve got...you can use them right away, in an hour, or up to a day.
2. Cook your rice according to directions.
3. In a large (4 quart), heavy pan with a lid, heat the oil or ghee on medium heat.  Once it's hot, add the minced onions and cumin seeds.  Cook 5 minutes, until browned at edges.
4. Add the remaining ginger and garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. 
5. Then add the remaining salt, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and cayenne/chile powder and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to break down, around 4 minutes.
7. Add the tomato paste, cook for another 2 minutes.
8. Finally, add the chicken and yogurt marinade from bowl plus the water, and stir to combine.  Bring everything to a simmer while stirring.  Simmer 40 to 45 minutes over low heat, covered, stirring once or twice to ensure everything is cooking evenly and not burning or sticking to the bottom.
9. The chicken is done when it's cooked through and very tender.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed, though I strongly recommend tasting throughout the last 20-30 minutes and layering seasoning as needed.  Serve with rice.

Notes

• You can use either fresh or canned tomatoes, but I recommend fresh if you can
• The calorie count does include the rice.

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• 
  McCormick Organic Whole Cumin Seed

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 272

Adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen as well as Chetna’s video

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