Indian Chicken Curry Recipe

An easy Indian chicken curry recipe for a pretty basic chicken curry, that is easy enough for beginners as well, and yet really flavorful.

Course Indian Curries, Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 10

Servings

Calories 3292kcal

Take 3 pounds of chicken leg quarters, properly clean them with water, and strain off all the excess water.
In a bowl, mix together - ¼ cup yogurt, ¼ cup ginger garlic paste, 1½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1 teaspoon garam masala powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, and a ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder to make a smooth marinade.
Apply the marinade to the chicken, ensuring to coat all the chicken pieces well.
Let the chicken marinate for 4-6 hours or overnight.

In a pot, lightly heat up 3-4 tablespoons of oil.
Add 2 cups of chopped onions & 1 teaspoon of salt, and saute till the onions start to turn light brown (takes about 15 minutes).
Add 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, mix it in, and saute for 2-3 minutes, just until the raw smell of ginger & garlic goes away.
Then add in the spice powders (preferably all together) - 2 tablespoon of chicken masala powder, 1 teaspoon of garam masala powder, 1 teaspoon of coriander powder, and ½ teaspoon of cumin powder - along with a splash of water, so that the spices don't get burned, and lightly roast the spices for 1-2 minutes.
Now add in 1½ cup of chopped tomatoes, and saute till the tomatoes cook down a bit. This will take about 5 minutes or so.
At this point, you can also add in a few spoons of tomato paste to better bind the onions & tomatoes together in the curry. I usually substitute with tomato ketchup, as it's readily available. 1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup, right after the tomatoes. (see notes for alternatives)
When the tomatoes have cooked down, add in the marinated chicken, along with 3 cups of water, and mix everything together.
Cook the chicken covered for 30-40 minutes, stirring intermittently, till the chicken is cooked through.
Garnish with ⅓ cup of chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot with rice or chapati / naan.

I prefer to use chicken leg quarter pieces, you can use chicken drumsticks or whatever you prefer.
Whenever I use store-bought chicken masala to flavor the chicken curry, I usually supplement with additional spice powders. But if I use homemade, then I only use chicken masala powder.
Using a little tomato paste helps bind the onions and tomatoes a little better. But I usually don't have it handy, so I use tomato ketchup instead, and it works fine for me. Alternatively, you can use tomato paste instead of chopped tomatoes, or make a paste of the roasted onions & tomatoes to have a smoother chicken curry. But I usually don't take out the mixie for just making a basic chicken curry (because it will be one more thing to wash!), and so I make do with tomato ketchup.