I remember Chetna Makan from The Great British Bake Off, Season 5 (I had to Google that level of detail) and recall her calm demeanour and her interesting flavour twists with everything she baked. I also remember that she seemed to particularly shine on savoury bakes, where she often incorporated ideas from her Indian heritage in beautiful, creative ways.
She works full-time in food now and when I recently came across a chicken curry recipe of hers that she described as 'a foolproof curry that works every single time', I was on it. It's interesting that it's possible to have 100% trust in someone and their food just by watching them on the TV once a week - and it was 2014!
Most recipes take a few tweaks to get them just right, but Chetna was right; this absolutely is foolproof and it has worked beautifully every time I've made it. The recipe is from her book Chetna's 30-minute Indian - Quick and Easy Everyday Meals.
What is Chetna's Foolproof Chicken Curry?
This curry starts by marinating chicken in yoghurt with fragrant garam masala, warming turmeric and a touch of punchy chilli to make the base. A few tomatoes are then cooked down in a heavy pan (it will need a lid) with some cumin and the marinated chicken is tipped in to cook for 15 minutes. A sprinkling of fresh coriander is the final garnish.
What do you need to make this curry?
- natural yoghurt - I used Greek because that's what I had in the fridge
- salt
- garlic - I used 1 large clove and grated it with a microplane (this is the one I have)
- spices - garam masala, ground turmeric, chilli powder, cumin seeds
- chicken thighs - using thighs rather than breasts, delivers less dry meat. Using ready-prepared boneless and skinless thighs, ensures that this dish comes together quickly (ie no fiddly prepping of the meat).
- olive oil
- tomatoes - thinly sliced. I do my slicing as thin as I can manage, so that I don't end up with chunky pieces of tomato skin in the sauce.
- a handful of fresh coriander leaves
Six things that I think you'll love about this foolproof chicken curry
- It is very quick - easily ready in under an hour but still packs plenty of flavour.
- You can get everything ready ahead of time - I marinated the meat in the morning, popped it in the fridge and finished it off that evening for dinner.
- If you're in a rush, you can prepare the chicken in the marinade and use it straight away - it still tastes great and will be moist and tender.
- It's delicious with rice and flatbreads - or both!
- Leftovers warm up beautifully for the next day.
- This is most definitely a great dish for your teenagers to have in their cooking repertoire. My 'still-at-home-teenager' also thought it was a great dish to devour!
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PrintChetna's Foolproof Chicken Curry
This Foolproof Chicken Curry uses chicken thighs marinated in a spicy yoghurt mixture and cooks down with tomatoes in 15 minutes.
The recipe is from the book Chetna's 30-minute Indian - Quick and Easy Everyday Meals.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 servings 1x
- Method: Hob
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 200ml (a scant cup) natural yoghurt - I used Greek
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder
- 1-2 garlic cloves, grated
- 600g (1lb 5 oz) chicken thighs - boneless, skinless, cut into 3cm pieces (for mine that was quarters)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 medium to large tomatoes, thinly sliced (I do my slicing as thin as I can manage, so that I don't end up with chunky pieces of tomato skin in the sauce)
- a handful of fresh coriander leaves
You will also need a heavy pan with a lid.
Instructions
- Combine the yoghurt, salt, garam masala, turmeric, chilli powder and grated garlic in a large bowl.
- Now add the prepared chicken to the yoghurt mixture and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl and store it in the fridge until you are ready to make the curry (maximum 24 hours).
- When you're ready to make the curry, heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Once they start to sizzle, add the tomatoes and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until they start to soften.
- Add the marinated chicken with any excess marinade and mix well, then bring to the boil. Cover and cook over a medium to low heat for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle with the fresh coriander leaves and serve with either rice or flatbreads.
Notes
- If you're in a rush, you can prepare the chicken in the marinade and use it straight away - it still tastes great and will be moist and tender.
