Looking for an easy, weeknight-friendly curry? This chicken curry is IT. It’s rich, saucy, and perfectly spiced (but not too hot!), is made up of simple ingredients you might already have at home, and comes together in less than an hour. It’s also incredible from beginning to end, starting with a sauté that’ll have you exclaiming “Oh! That smells good!” and finishing with leftovers that might be even better than the main event. Read on for our tips to make this the best it can be, then get ready—this dish is like a warm hug in a meal.
How to make the best chicken curry:
— The curry powder. This powerhouse of a powder (or powderhouse 😉) is the backbone of this dish. If you’re not a curry aficionado (or your spice drawer isn’t expansive), then grabbing the highest-quality spice mix you can is an absolute must. It should contain around 10 spices, all of which will make your curry stand out.
— Make a great base. Processing your ginger/garlic into puree and storing it in the fridge like many Indian households do makes starting your curry extremely convenient and quick during the week (hello meal prep!). Having all these ingredients blended into a paste will also make your sauce taste silky and smooth. Heads up: If your food processor is on the larger side, it might be difficult to blend such a small amount of ingredients, so we included a little water in the instructions to help if you need. Don’t have a food processor? You can use a mortar and pestle, a blender, or just fine chop all your ingredients by hand. The resulting dish won’t be as smooth, but will still be delicious.
Ingredients
- 1large white onion, coarsely chopped
- 1jalapeño, seeded, coarsely chopped
- 1(2 1/2″) piece ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 8cloves garlic, peeled
- 3 Tbsp.vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp.curry powder
- Kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp.tomato paste
- 2 c.tomato puree
- 2/3 c.whole-milk yogurt
- 2 lb.boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp.garam masala
- Basmati rice and chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
Directions
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- Step 1In a food processor, pulse onion until a puree forms. If onions get stuck and don’t process correctly, stir with a spoon, cover, and continue to pulse. Transfer onion puree to a small bowl.
- Step 2In food processor, pulse jalapeño, ginger, garlic, and 1/2 cup water until a paste forms. Transfer to another small bowl; reserve food processor.
- Step 3In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil. Toast curry powder, stirring, until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Add onion puree; season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture loses most of its moisture and becomes a thick paste, about 5 minutes. Add jalapeño mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until paste darkens in color, about 2 minutes more.
- Step 4Return onion mixture to food processor. Add tomato puree and yogurt. Pulse until sauce is smooth. Return to pot, stir in 1 cup water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Step 5Pat chicken dry with paper towels; season all over with salt. Add to pot, cover, and cook, stirring every 5 minutes to ensure nothing sticks to bottom of pot, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165°, about 20 minutes; season with salt, if needed. Sprinkle with garam masala and stir to combine.
- Step 6Divide rice among bowls. Spoon chicken curry over. Top with cilantro.