Growing up, chicken curry with rice has always been a staple in my house. My mom was an expert and could whip up enough homemade curry to feed our family of 6 in what felt like a matter of minutes. The dish always felt so hearty, warm, and fed not only our stomachs but also our souls. We would all gather together for dinner in the evening and watch a movie, chatting about our days and simply enjoying the food and each other’s company. While my siblings and I have moved out, we still visit our parent’s house every Sunday to enjoy my mom’s authentic chicken curry.
I wanted to be able to recreate this dish in order to be able to share it with my husband and our growing family in the future. And so, after many trials cooking alongside my mom, I feel I have finally been able to pin down the recipe that is my mom’s simple yet authentic South Asian Chicken Curry.
The Stars of the Dish
My mom has always been a big fan of onions. Growing up, I remember my siblings and I would lug bags of onions from the local grocery store into our house because my parents used onions as a key ingredient in so many of their dishes. This dish is no different. We will be using one whole onion for this dish, diced up finely. My mom says the trick to avoiding the tears when cutting onions is to soak them in cold water. I have yet to try this trick- and so I am inevitable a teary mess by the end of this step. We will also be using one whole tomato for this dish. I typically deseed the tomato; however, if you would like more of a liquid consistency for your curry, you can skip the deseeding step. I also will peel and grate 3 cloves of garlic to add to this dish.
The Chicken in Chicken Curry
For this recipe, I opted to use one chicken breast as this will be for my husband and he prefers white meat. However, growing up my mom always used chicken thighs, and I must admit dark meat is my preference for this easy chicken curry dish.
Cube your chicken into even pieces and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of curry powder. I source my curry powder from a local South Asian grocer who grinds and roasts the curry powder on-site; however, any curry powder would do for this dish.
Let’s Cook
Start by adding approximately a tablespoon of oil to a pan and add the onions. The key to this dish is ensuring that we have enough time to cook our staple ingredients. Sauté the onions on medium to low heat until they are translucent and soft. Then add the garlic and sauté for approximately 3 minutes until the onions and garlic are integrated well together. At this point, we can add our diced tomato. Tomato is what adds liquid consistency into this dish. If you prefer more liquid consistency for your curry, add more tomatoes (you can add as many as 3 to this dish). Ensure that you are cooking these three staples until they are all soft and well blended together.
At this point, add a teaspoon of oil to the middle of the pan and turn the heat to high. Add your chicken to the middle on top the oil and let it cook for a few minutes until there is a nice char on the chicken. Lower your heat to medium and sauté all the ingredients in the pan together.
Add approximately ½ cup of water to the dish and cover the pan and let it cook for another 5 minutes. This will allow for the flavours to integrate with one another and become a seamless dish.
At this point, we can taste for salt and add as needed. Keep on heat until the chicken is cooked and serve it over rice.
This quick and easy South Asian chicken curry is the perfect recipe for the home cooks that are just starting their cooking journey. It is flavourful, rich, and super easy to make. This authentic South Asian chicken curry has been a staple in my house for years and I hope you find it as delicious and hearty as I do.
Ingredients
-250g of chicken breast or thigh
-1 tsp salt
-1 tbsp curry powder (any South Asian curry powder; such as Niru Brand Foods)
-1 large yellow onion
-1 large tomato
-3 cloves garlic
-1/2 cup of water