This Indian Chicken Curry is so rich and creamy that we couldn’t get enough of it! We cook the chicken in an incredible yogurt and creamy sauce with ginger, garlic and warm spices. This is pure comfort food, perfect with basmati rice or naan.
One of my earliest food memories was eating out with my mom and dad at a local Indian restaurant. I’ve been in love with the aroma, taste and color of Indian cuisine ever since. We tried to bring some of these flavors and aromas into our kitchen’s intensely delicious chicken curry recipe.
This chicken curry is inspired by traditional Indian curry called Malai Wali Murghi or cream chicken. I absolutely love the cream saucewe make sure you have a lot to enjoy rice or big bread like Naan or my quick and easy homemade bread. For Thai style curry, see our Yellow Chicken Curry!
Key Ingredients
- chicken: In our videos we use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but chicken breasts or bone fragments can work as well. If bone fragments are selected, the cooking time should be enough for the chicken to cook. If it takes longer, you can always add 5 to 10 minutes.
- spices: We marinate the chicken in a mixture of salt, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper and chili. While 20 minutes will be enough, you can keep the chicken in the fridge with spices for up to 24 hours. We call for ground spices in the recipe because that’s what most of us can use. If you have whole spices, just grind them before adding them to the spice grinder or small coffee grinder.
- Onion, garlic and ginger: One of our favorite tips learned from Indian cuisine is to make fresh garlic, ginger, onions and cement before cooking the puree with oil or ghee. This delicious base adds a lot to our chicken curry. We do not recommend changing fresh garlic and ginger for dryness in this recipe. Fresh ginger lasts for at least a week in the refrigerator, so don’t worry about wasting it. We like to juice the remaining ginger (as in these ginger mirrors), or use it to make this spicy garlic ginger edamame!
- Oil or ghee: We prefer the ghee flavor in curry, but if you have it you can use oil. Ghee is a clear butter with a higher smoke point and shelf life, adding a lovely toasted buttery flavor.
- Tomato sauce: The tomato sauce adds a rich flavor to our curry. We like to use a double concentrate tube because you can save all the leftovers for other recipes.
- Yogurt and cream: Don’t use low-fat options to lighten this curry! Regular whole milk yogurt and heavy cream make this sauce rich and mouthwatering. Yogurt helps tenderize the chicken, and the buttercream balances all the spices.
- Garam Masala: Some of the most delicious curry recipes we have tried, add Garam Masala in the last few minutes of cooking to preserve its aroma and flavor. We do this in the chicken curry, adding cream to it in the last 5 minutes. Garam Masala is a warm, sweet Indian spice blend that varies between regions and families. I have some in my spice cabinet!
How to Make Chicken Curry
The ingredients list for curry chicken seems to be very long, but I bet that you have almost everything in your pantry. It’s very simple to make! You will first marinate the chicken with our spices. As mentioned above, 20 minutes is enough, but you can do this 24 hours in advance (keep the chicken covered and keep it in the refrigerator).
When preparing curry, make onions, garlic and ginger puree into a food processor or blender. This aromatic paste will be the basis for our delicious curry and helps to thicken it.
Brown the chicken with oil or ghee and add onion and ginger sauce. When the water evaporates, you will stir more spices, tomato sauce and yogurt. I add one tablespoon of yogurt at a time to prevent it from being separated. (Using whole fat yogurt also helps prevent curds.)
Cook for 20 minutes, then add Garam Masala and cream. Give it 5 minutes and serve it on rice or some naan or homemade bread. For more curry recipes, try our Coconut Ginger Vegetable Curry.
Our Favorite Chicken Curry
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This Indian chicken curry recipe is rich, creamy and spicy. Serve it with rice (try coconut rice) or Naan bread so you can pick up all the creamy sauce. We do not recommend substituting yogurt or cream in this recipe as they add richness and flavor to the sauce.
Make 4 servings
Watch us make recipes
You will need
1 to 1½ pounds of boneless, skinless chicken or breast
1½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon grinding
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp chili, optional calories, extra 1/4 tsp in medium spicy
6 medium cloves and garlic, peeled
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled
1 medium onion, about chopped
1½ cups of water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or use ghee
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
4 tablespoons whole fat regular yogurt
1 teaspoon Garam Masala, see notes
3 tablespoons heavy cream
A few coriander leaves, chopped, optional
direction
- Marinated chicken
1Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces and add it to the bowl. You can place the chicken whole if you prefer, or you are using bone fragments.
2Scatter 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp ground cilantro, 1/4 tsp ground turmeric, 1/4 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper on the chicken. Toss and marinate aside for at least 20 minutes.
3In advance: The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours; it should be covered and stored in the refrigerator.
- Making curry
1Add garlic, ginger, onion and 1/2 cup water to the mixer or food processor. Fused to most of the smooth. You can also use an immersion mixer with cup attachments.
2Heat oil or ghee over medium-high heat (with a lid). Place the marinated chicken in a pan, one layer, brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and place the skillet back on the heat.
3Add the onion generator mixture and cook, stirring frequently until all water evaporates, about 5 minutes.
4Stir the remaining 1/2 teaspoon fennel, 1/2 teaspoon coriander and 1/4 teaspoon turmeric over the onion sting mixture and cook for about 20 seconds. Stir the tomato sauce, lower the heat to medium low, and cook for another minute.
5Add yogurt, Spoon at a timestir it into the sauce and add again. Adding cream slowly prevents it from cloting.
6Return the chicken and any accumulated juice along with the remaining 1 cup water and 3/4 teaspoon salt to the pan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to low heat and cook, then cover with a lid. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
7Remove the lid and add Garam Masala and cream. Taste the sauce if you feel you need the sauce and add the last 1/4 tsp of salt (we almost always add it).
8Turn heat back to medium-high, cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce decreases and increases for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with fresh coriander scattered on top.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- storage: The remaining curry can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Promotion Tips: The chicken can be marinated in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
- Bones chicken: Use about 3 pounds. No bone removal or chicken cutting is required. You can make the chicken with whole chicken without adjusting the recipe as the low heat cooks are still enough to cook the chicken until tender.
- Garam Masala: The warm and sweet spice mixture differs between the area and the home. The mixture usually includes cardamom, cumin, clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Garam Masala was added at the end of the cooking so that spices per flavor. You can buy or mix. We especially like the one from the spice house.
- butter: A clarified butter that is popular in Indian cuisine. Cook the butter until the milk separates solid and turns to a toasted brown. Then filter the butter. Ghee has a higher smoke point and a longer shelf life than regular butter. You can make ghee at home or buy it.
- Madhur Jaffrey’s Malai Wali Murghi (Chicken Chicken) Inspired Recipes
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
Service size
1/4 of the recipe
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Calories
330
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Total fat
19.2g
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Saturated fat
11.6g
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cholesterol
141.8mg
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sodium
1022.8mg
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carbohydrate
7.8 grams
/
Dietary fiber
1.2 g
/
Total sugar
3.2g
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protein
30.8 grams
We are Adam and Joanne, a couple who are passionate about cooking and sharing delicious, reliable recipes since 2009. Our goal? Inspire you to enter the kitchen and cook fresh and delicious meals confidently.
