Who does not like a steaming plate of homemade chicken curry that fills the senses up with comfort and nostalgia? The kind of chicken curry that reminds you that all is still well with the world. A good chicken curry is food for the soul, and if paired with potatoes, you know you can make it extra special.
So here is an easy chicken curry with potatoes recipe that is made atleast once a week in my kitchen. It is a great main dish for weekends, or even weeknights when you crave for something soulful. Most of you follow me because you find my recipes hassle free. Well, this easy chicken curry with potatoes recipe is the same, and the results are fabulous. But you will need to collect some ingredients and a little extra time for marination. But there is nothing that is not available in an Indian pantry, so do not worry!
The ingredients in this easy chicken curry with potaotes
Apart from the chicken and the potatoes, there are a lot of spices and aromatics that go into this chicken curry. But the most important part is the garam masala that is added in the marination. I always make my own garam masala at home and use it for most curries. The garam masala I make is very simple as it just has three ingredients – cardamom (elaichi), cinnamon (dalchini) and cloves (laung). I would suggest you keep a batch of this garam masala in your kitchen and I promise you will fall in love with the flavour profile.
To make the garam masala I have used in the kitchen, you have to dry roast the above three ingredients and grind them in the right proportions. The dominant spice is cardamom and equal portions of cinnamon and cloves are added. Take seven grams of cardamom and two grams each of cinnamon and cloves. Dry roast them in a pan for two to three minutes till they start releasing their flavour. Transfer them to a grinder and grind till a smooth masala is formed. You need to keep the cover of the cardamom pods in this and make sure all the fibre is ground properly. That’s it! This is the garam masala I use in most of my recipes.
The other ingredients used in the marination are simple. There’s yoghurt, which adds a lot of texture to the final curry. For aromatics, we use ginger paste and garlic paste. Ginger paste is higher in quantity than the garlic paste. The chicken is also marinated with lime or lemon juice as it helps in enhancing the taste and in better absorption of the ingredients into the chicken pieces. Spices in the curry include freshly ground cumin powder and black pepper powder, along with salt and turmeric.
Making the perfect chicken curry
Making chicken curry is not a herculean task. Just a few factors learned and remembered right, and you can have a delicious bowl of it every now and then. Here are the tips you should follow when you make this easy chicken curry with potatoes:
- Always pat the chicken pieces dry before making them. You can do this with a paper towel. If your raw chicken has water dripping from it, the curry will not be its best version.
- Always fry onions well before adding ginger-garlic paste and the rest of the spices. Onions should be fried till they turn golden brown and start to melt before adding spices and chicken. The caramelised onions add a lot of depth and flavour to the chicken curry and it takes time to them to turn sweeter. So a little patience is required 🙂
- Add a little sugar to the onions while cooking them. This not only helps onions caramelize faster but also lends a wonderful brown color to the gravy.
- Fry (bhuno) the chicken into the masala for at least ten to twelve minutes before adding water.
- For best results, always use chicken with bones. Half the flavour lies in the bones.
| Prep Time | 1 hour |
| Cook Time | 40 minutes |
| Passive Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
people
|
- 1 kg chicken cleaned and patted dry with paper towel
- 45 grams thick yogurt for the marinade
- 10 grams garlic paste for the marinade
- 25 grams ginger paste for the marinade
- 2 tsp bengali garam masala for the marinade (see the recipe above)
- 1 tbsp mustard oil for the marinade
- 1 tbsp lemon juice for the marinade
- 1 tbsp salt for the marinade
- 3 tbsp mustard oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 dried red chillies
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 2 cardamom pods
- 300 grams red onions thinly onions
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp black pepper powder
- 200 grams potatoes cut into cubes
- 250 ml hot water
- Chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Ingredients
|
|
- Thoroughly wash and clean the chicken pieces. Pat them dry with a paper towel ensuring there is no extra water.
- Marinate the chicken with garlic paste, ginger paste, salt, garam masala, yogurt, mustard oil and lemon juice. Mix well with hands. Marinate for 30 minutes to two hours.
- Heat oil in a kadhai. Once the oil gets hot and starts to smoke, temper it with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and dried red chillies. Stir for a second.
- Add the thinly sliced onions and fry till they turn translucent. The onions have to be caramelised before you add the chicken so keep stirring for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Add some sugar to help the onions caramelise faster. Stir for another five minutes.
- Add the marinated chicken and potatoes and stir. The chicken needs to be cooked thoroughly till all the rawness in it disappears. Keep frying in medium flame for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Cover and cook the chicken in low flame and let it simmer till the chicken is almost done. Should take around fifteen to 20 minutes. Keep checking in between.
- Take the lid off and add hot water. Do not add cold or room temperature water as it won't give the desired results. Add hot water and let the curry come to an aggressive boil. Let it keep boiling till you achieve your desired consistency.
- Check if the chicken and potatoes are cooked completely. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with rice, pulao, roti, paratha or puri.
