Its time for a quick chicken curry!! A one pan meal, prepared and cooked in under 30 minutes with all the taste and flavour of an Indian take away.
Chicken and almond Curry
Sometime the body craves a good old British curry and our tummies will not be satisfied with anything less.
With takeaways and curry houses all over the place, its no hardship to pop out and fulfil that need to gorge on a rich lamb rogan josh or creamy chicken korma. And of course there's always plenty of room for popadums, and samosa, and naan bread. . . and you can't just get one type can you - - you have to try the peshwari naan and the chilli naan and ooh what about a coriander naan 🙄
It can all get out of control very quickly. Trust me I know - I have been there, I have walked the dark path of shame the next morning with a slight garlic hangover and huge bloated belly.
So, what to do?? Obviously you know I'm going to tell that you can make it yourself. And homemade curry is one of the most satisfying things to eat, once you've gone to the effort of making it! My usual chicken tikka curry, although fantastic, does take a while to make and does including the making of your own tikka paste. Likewise for my super authentic Thai green curry with Thai green curry paste, Thai red curry with Thai red curry paste and Massaman curry with Massaman curry paste. All very nice, and great if you have the whole day to cook and you're after a romantic dinner recipe for a cosy night in. But not great when its late and you need a curry - right now.
The point of this recipe was to create a tasty authentic curry dish, with minimal ingredients and time, but maximum flavour and enjoyment. The fact that this can also be thrown into one pan really saves on time and washing up. I do like a one pan meal and even like to make my own fish biryani rice dish in the tradition dum way (steaming everything in one pot).
Easy chicken curry ingredients
So here they are - the basic ingredients needed to make a great, simple, healthy and super quick chicken curry
- Chicken breast
- Bell pepper
- Tinned tomatoes
- Curry powder
- Ground almonds
- Garlic
- Juice of half a lemon
- Fresh coriander
- Flaked almonds
No coconut milk, or yogurt or cream or lashings of oil. This is curry, at its best, without the overload of fat and calories.
How to make quick chicken curry
To make this dish, all you need to do is pop everything into one big pan. - I promise its that straight forward. I usually start by sprinkling the raw chicken with the curry powder and adding a bit of seasoning.
The chicken is then quickly fried off in a hot griddle pan with the addition of fresh coriander stalks. The griddle pan really speeds up the cooking process and is what makes this recipe 'super quick'.
Once the chicken is browned off and cooked through, everything else is added to the pan - in no particular order. Then stirred and simmered for a few minutes - so it looks like this ↓
YUMMY!!
How do I make my chicken curry sauce thicker?
The griddle pan is also really useful for helping to create a nice thick sauce, as it quickly evaporates away any excess water from the tinned tomatoes.
And thats it - done - serve up, top with yogurt and toasted, flaked almonds (optional!!) and tuck in!
I personally find this chicken curry to be fantastic on its own, particularly if its mid week and I'm trying to eat healthily. However, a bit of rice or roti bread will help make this a truly, great Indian feast.
Other chicken recipes you can make in a hurry
- Cajun chicken pasta
- Sesame seed chicken
- Dragon chicken
- Sweet and sour chicken
- Chicken and Leek recipe
- Homemade chicken noodle soup
- Chicken pesto pasta
- Italian Chicken Cacciatore
- Spicy chicken soup
- Paprika chicken wraps
- Chicken satay
📖 Recipe
Quick Chicken and Almond Curry
Ingredients
- 400 g Chicken breast diced fat trimmed off
- 30 g fresh coriander separate the stems from the leaves
- 2 teaspoon medium curry powder
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- Sea salt and Black pepper
- Half tablespoon olive/coconut oil
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes plus 1 can refilled with water
- 20 g ground almonds
- 100 g orange bell pepper roughly chopped
- juice of half a lemon
Optional:
- 1 tablespoon fat free Greek Yogurt
- 10 g Toasted almond flakes
Equipment:
- Griddle pan
Instructions
- For best and quickest results use a large griddle pan for cooking. Food items will cook a lot quicker using this method so remember to check and stir regularly.
- 1.Firstly prepare the fresh coriander by separating the stems from the leaves. Place the leaves to one side for later. Finely chop the stems and also place to one side.
- 2.Next dice the chicken into 2cm cubes and place in a large bowl. Add the curry powder, coriander stems, crushed garlic, salt and pepper and mix well to fully coat in the seasoning.
- 3.Place the griddle pan on a medium-high heat and add the oil. Then add the seasoned chicken to the griddle pan and fry off evenly, using a wooden spoon to stir and turn the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked and a golden brown colour on all sides, add the bell pepper, tinned tomatoes, ground almonds, and stir well. Refill the tomato can with tap water and place to one side.
- 4.Bring the curry to a gently simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes. Place a lid over the pan during this time, if you have one. Check regularly and gradually add the water from the tomato can if the sauce begins to get too dry.
- 5.Add the lemon juice, stir and remove from the heat.
- 6.Taste and add more seasoning or lemon juice if desired.
- 7.Finally, roughly chop the coriander leaves and add to the curry before serving.
- Serve in bowls topped with yogurt and flaked almonds.
- NB: If cooking up a large batch the curry can be transferred to sealable containers and frozen for up to 3 months.
Rachael
Made this last night and have to say it was one of the best tasting homemade curries I have come across. I did use hot curry powder rather than medium but otherwise all ingredients as you recommend. Thank you.
Debbie
Hi Rachael, thanks so much for your lovely words and for taking the time to comment. It really means a lot. So glad that you enjoyed the recipe 😀 Ben likes things super spicy - which is why it's nice to make your own and adapt to your own tastes 🙂
Corina
I love how easy this curry is Debbie! Definitely a great midweek meal and so much the better that it's great the next day too. I like that it's got some ground almonds in to give it some thickness and some extra almond flavour too. That's something I'd like to try and thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Monika
I love the healthy aspect of this delicious curry. I completely agree that great taste can be achieved without heavy cream or lashings of oil. Thank you for bringing this fabulous recipe to #CookBlogShare:)
Debbie
Thanks Monika!! Yes and sometimes the cream and oil can all be too much and ruin the dish!! Nothing worse than and sickly, overfilling curry that you get half way through and then have to leave 😱
Monika
Completely agree, that's why your curry is so much better than any takeout:)
joskitchenlarder
Love how nice and healthy and uncomplicated your curry is. One single spice and you are on your way. Sounds like a perfect midweek dinner. 🙂 x
Debbie
Yes definitely Jo! I always have curry powder in the cupboard and i find I use it in quite a lot of dishes - such a useful spice 😀
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
I love quick and this looks fabulous! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner link party!
Debbie
Thanks Helen and thanks for hosting
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
I know EXACTLY what you mean by garlic hangover: in fact, I've had them wake me up in the middle of the night! I love that this curry is so light and healthy. AND it's so quick and easy to make that I'll definitely be giving it a try on a weeknight!
Debbie
hahaha - its horrible isn't it 🙂 Thanks so much - hope you do get to give it go 😀