Coconut Chicken Curry
This coconut chicken curry is perfect over steamed rice or hot Indian chapati. A blend of aromatic spicy masalas with the natural sweetness of the coconut makes this a rich, creamy, and flavorful dish. You can add more or less spice to your taste. A chicken curry you will be making over and over again.
This is one of the most popular curries with my non-Indian friends and I have never known why? I’ve made them some of my favorites curries which often take much longer to make but this one has always been a huge hit. I guess the spices are well balanced and the richness of the coconut creates a wonderful creaminess with the spices.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Chicken -Today, I have use the whole skinless chicken with bones cut into 8 or 10 pieces but you can also use skinless, boneless chicken thighs and legs. You can use chicken breast but take note that chicken breast cooks quicker so you may need to adjust cooking time.
- Chilies – I like to use the whole chilies for this recipe. The chily fibers adds a nice taste and texture but you can also use 2 tbsp of kashmiri chilly powder.
- Spices – the spices used in this are very simple and easy to find in any supermarket. In fact, most of these you probably already have in your kitchen.
- Veggies – onions ginger and garlic are best used fresh for Indian curries.
- Toasted chickpeas – adds a nice thickness to the gravy along with the coconut. But, you can certainly omit it. toasting them helps to grind them easily in the paste.
- Optional – for this curry you can also add chopped potatoes or carrots and peas. It makes a wonderful chicken potato curry.
More chicken curries
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Ingredients
- 1 kg Chicken skinless, with or without bones cut into pices
- 1 large (5.64 oz) Onions chopped
- 2 tbsp Cooking oil or ghee
- 1 tbsp Tamarind Paste or 2 tbsp lemon juice
Masala Paste (grind in food processor)
- 4 – 6 Red chillies Kashmiri
- 6 cloves Garlic fresh
- 3 inch Ginger fresh
- 1 tsp Paprika sweet for color
- 2 tbsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Cumin seed Jeera
- ½ tsp Turmeric seeds
- 1 cup Coconut fresh grated
- 2 tsp Sesame seeds
- 3 tsp Poppy seeds Khus Khus
- 4 Cloves
- 2 pods Cardamom
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- ¼ cup Chickpeas roasted (channa)
- 10 Black peppercorns
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Masala paste – Soak the chilies in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain well then add them along with all the spices in the food processor or blender until smooth using a few tablespoons of water as necessary Pro tip – I like to lightly toast the spices in a frying pan before blending them. This helps bring out a wonderful aroma and flavor.
- Saute – In a skillet or pan over medium heat add the oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add the ground masala paste and saute until fragrant about 2 to 3 minutes. Pro tip – add a few tablespoons of water if necessary to prevent the masala paste from sticking to the pan.
- Chicken – Then add the chicken pieces and saute for 2 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink. Then, add the tamarind paste and 1 cup of water.
- Cook – Cover the pot with a lid. Cook for 15 minutes until the chicken is tender.
- Garnish – Taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish with fresh cilantro.
- Enjoy
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you