The only Chicken curry recipe you will ever need!

Cooking non vegetarian food was something I learnt pretty much on my own by trying out recipes from cooking shows, from my cousin and sometimes from my grandfather. Vegetarian food, on the other hand was being cooked at home all the time and I would learn recipes and intricacies by watching my mother or grandparents cook them over the years.

So with non-vegetarian cooking, there was a learning curve. And like I’ve mentioned before, my sister is somewhat of an expert at Chicken and Mutton recipes in our family and is therefore my go-to person for any gyaan!

But the problem so far had been that I would never follow her recipes to the T. The result was always unsatisfactory. Simple things like cooking a chicken perfectly was something that I would still struggle with! Until, I started following her recipes more seriously.

For best results, follow the recipe!

This North Indian Chicken curry is one such example of how a simple recipe if followed correctly can turn out to be an amazing dish. She has shared this recipe with me before but I probably never did what was asked of me: simplicity!

I would be too enamoured by things like marinating the chicken, using unnecessary ingredients.

I am thankful that she is always super patient with me and shares her amazing recipes with me, even on video calls! We have literally spent hours just watching each other cook and talking about food on these calls! ❤️

This, in my opinion, is that one Chicken Curry recipe that everyone who cooks Indian food should know! It’s simple and is great for every occasion; for a weeknight dinner to a dinner party menu essential, it shines everywhere!

Here’s her recipe for North Indian Chicken Curry.

Ingredients

• 1 full chicken
• 1/2 kg onions
• tomatoes, 2
• 2 inch piece of ginger
• big cloves of garlic, 2
• green chillies, 2
• 3 cloves
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 small stick of cinnamon
• 2 pods cardamom
• 1 teaspoon whole black pepper
• 3 tablespoon oil
• salt to taste
• 2 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 3 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon kasoori methi (dried and crushed fenugreek leaves)
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves chopped
• 1 teaspoon Chicken Masala
• 1 tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)

Method

Gather all the ingredients. Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces. If you are using chicken breast or any other big pieces, cut into inch cubes.

Roughly chop the ginger, garlic and green chilli. Cut the onions and tomatoes into one eight pieces. You need be precise here as once we cook all these we will process them into a sauce.

Pour oil in big wok or pressure cooker on medium high heat. Once hot, put the cloves, cumin seeds, cardamom pods and cinnamon in and wait for the whole spices to bloom. This should take 30 seconds if the oil is hot. Transfer the chopped ginger, garlic, chilli and onions next. Stir and coat all these in oil and cook till the onions start browning.

Add the chopped tomatoes next followed by red chilli powder, salt, turmeric, coriander powder and garam masala.

Mix all the ingredients and cook till the tomatoes break down to a mush. Once they are cooked they will start leaving some oil on the sides. Take this off heat and wait for it to cook down.

Once cool, transfer to a blender. You can also use a hand blender, just be careful to blend it in a deep pot to prevent spilling. Blend the cooked onion tomato mix to a smooth paste. You may need to add a few tablespoons of water to work it into a paste.

Place a pressure cooker on medium high heat and pour some oil in it. Once hot, add kasoori methi and cook it for 15-20 seconds. Add the chicken pieces next and stir. Cook for 5 minutes to cook the chicken till it starts turning white. Now add the blended sauce. Stir it in and add a teaspoon of chicken masala and a generous ladle of ghee.

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Next, mix it in and cook for another 5 minutes. Shut the pressure cooker with the lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Open the cooker carefully when the pressure releases. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves.

Serve this delicious Chicken Curry with steamed rice, roti or naan!