You'll love this homestyle chicken curry recipe, with tender chicken simmered in a rich and spicy curry sauce, easy to make and done in under 30 minutes!
Homestyle Chicken Curry Recipe
Looking for your next favorite easy Chicken Curry Recipe? This is it. Curry is the perfect dish for spicy food lovers, and this one absolutely satisfies.
This is a simple home style curry, something you can put together very easily with staple ingredients, and it's adaptable to any type of curry powder you wish to use.
That's what I love about a delicious Indian chicken curry, the way you can really make it your own.
The recipe base is a curry paste of bell peppers and hot chilies with onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, and curry powder. This gives the dish a wonderful flavor and thickness, something you can easily make as spicy as you wish.
You can make it thick or thin by adjusting the amount of water or stock uses, or make a creamy version with yogurt, heavy cream, or coconut milk. This is definitely a dish you can make your own.
Let's talk about how to make chicken curry, shall we?
Chicken Curry Ingredients
The full ingredients list with measurements is listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Red Bell Pepper.
- Hot Red Chilies. Use any of your favorites to a heat level you prefer. Kashmiri chilies are preferred, but any work here, like Fresno, jalapeno, serrano, or hotter like red habanero. You can also use dried pods, but rehydrate them in hot water first before pureeing.
- Other Base Vegetables. Onion, garlic, ginger.
- Tomatoes. I am using fire roasted tomatoes, canned.
- Curry Powder. Try my Homemade Curry Powder recipe, or use your favorite. This recipe works with any general brand, any type of homemade, or any specific curry powder. Experiment to find your favorite.
- Salt and Pepper. To taste.
- Vegetable Oil. For cooking.
- Chicken. Use boneless chicken breast or use chicken thigh, though you can also make this with bone-in chicken. Just be sure to adjust cooking time as needed.
- Chicken Stock. Or water. See the Recipe Notes for other options.
- Vegetable Oil. For cooking. Olive oil is good, or ghee.
- For Serving. Cooked rice, naan, red chili flakes, fresh chopped parsley.
How to Make Chicken Curry - the Recipe Method
Let's make chicken curry! Make your curry paste by pureeing chilies, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, curry power, and salt and pepper in a blender or food processor.
Add a splash of water or stock if needed to loosen it up.
Cook the curry paste for 10 minutes over medium-high heat to develop the flavors, then add the chicken pieces for a quick sear, then the chicken stock.
Simmer the curry dish to cook the chicken through and the sauce thickens to your liking. Simmering thickens the sauce.
Boom! Done! Your homestyle chicken curry is ready to serve. Easy enough to make, isn't it? Serve over rice. Let's spice it up in here, my friends! I hope you love it.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- For a Creamy Chicken Curry, use an equal mix of yogurt or heavy cream and chicken broth instead. You can also use full fat coconut milk for a delicious variation. See my Coconut Curry Chicken recipe.
- You can easily add in your favorite vegetables to make this a fuller dish.
- The curry sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead for quick and easy chicken curry any night of the week. You can also freeze the sauce, so consider making larger batches.
Storage & Leftovers
Leftover chicken curry will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator in a sealed container. You can reheat it in a pot on the stove top to enjoy again.
You can also freeze it for 2-3 months. It's great for freezing.
Heat Factor
Mild to Hot. The heat and spicy factor for this curry is greatly affected by your choice of chilies and curry powder.
Use sweeter peppers and a mild curry powder blend for milder curry.
You can really fire up your curry with a hot curry powder mix, as well as hot peppers, like cayenne peppers, habaneros, scotch bonnet peppers, ghost peppers, or into the superhots.
Try this recipe with this spicy Jamaican Curry Powder or this fiery Vindaloo Curry Powder to really spice it up.
You can also easily add in extra chilies to bring the heat. Spice it up, my chilihead friends! You know you want to.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy this homestyle chicken curry recipe. Let me know if you make it. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you, and if you decided to spice it up!
Cookbook Recommendation
If you enjoy Indian cuisine and Indian curry, check out this cookbook, which helped me adapt this recipe.
- 50 Greatest Curries of India, by Camellia Panjabi (affiliate link, my friends!)
- Also, check out my cookbook - The Spicy Food Lovers' Cookbook, by Mike Hultquist (affiliate link, my friends!)
Recommended Product
- Rani Hot Curry Powder (Amazon affiliate link, my friends!)
Amazon Affiliate links, my friends! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Homestyle Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped
- 2-3 fresh hot red chilies chopped (See Recipe Notes for fresh and dried options)
- 1 large onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- 12 ounces tomatoes chopped (or use 1 can fire roasted)
- 2 tablespoons curry powder See Recipe Notes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breast chopped into bite-sized pieces (or use chicken thigh, or bone-in)
- 1-2 cups chicken stock or water – See Recipe Notes
- For Serving. Cooked rice naan, red chili flakes, fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- To a food processor or blender, add the bell peppers, chilies, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, curry power, and salt and pepper taste. Process to form a paste. Add a few tablespoons of water or stock if needed to loosen it up.
- Heat the oil in large pan or pot to medium heat. Add the curry paste and cook for 10 minutes, stirring a bit.
- Add the chicken pieces and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring.
- Add the chicken stock (1 cup for thicker gravy, 2 cups for thinner sauce) and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken cooks through completely.
- Garnish and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
John Mc says
Made your chili recipe and it came out perfect! Had a great flavor we love spices so I went with 1-1/2 tbs on cumin and 1 tbs cayenne. Aldo just used diced fire roasted tomatoes no crushed and think this is my altime favorite chili recipe, will be making it this chrismas for the family.
Mike H. says
Happy to hear it, John, and Happy Holidays!
Shoshana says
Love your website ! Made the Curry Chicken last night -- Delicious ! Had to make a couple tweaks as i didn't have chicken, so used turkey instead 🙂 Only had dried Anaheim red chiles, so dry toasted them, rehydrated, used 4 and left the seeds in. Came out yummy ! Had some leftover, and it was even hotter after being refrigerated overnight! Looking forward to making more of your wonderful chili-head recipes !!
Thanks 🙂 Shoshana
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Shoshana! Now I'm inspired to make this with turkey!
Kim says
could a different protein work in this recipe? like pork or beef?
live all your recipes Mike
Mike H. says
Yes, Kim, definitely. Should work just fine. And thank you for your support!
Perry says
What happened to the red bell pepper? Does it go into the food processor with the other ingredients?
Mike Hultquist says
Perry, yes, it goes into the initial curry paste. Enjoy!
Ramya says
Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use tofu and vegetable stock i never had chicken curry before perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Mike Hultquist says
Enjoy, Ramya. It's great with tofu.