Make curry night effortless with this easy Indian restaurant style cooked chicken for curry dishes, perfect for adding to takeaway style curries.
Whether it’s a fiery South Indian garlic chilli, a creamy korma, or a sweet & sour pathia, every great chicken curry starts with delicious chicken. So, with the curry pan sizzling and poppadoms piled high, this cooked chicken for curry dishes recipe makes life easy. Great to prepare ahead, store in the fridge or freezer and match with your favourite sauces, rice and breads.
The beauty of preparing this cooked chicken in advance is that it just makes life so easy. As soon as you’ve picked up a fresh pack of chicken breasts, you can cook them straight away at their best, then store the cooked curry chicken ready for when you need it. It’s great for preventing waste too, as you can take just as many chicken pieces as you want for your curry dish.
Ingredients For Chicken For Curry Dishes
This recipe uses boneless chicken breast pieces, simmered in a mix of oil, water and spices. Cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves are all used to give the chicken pieces a mild aromatic flavour. It’s subtle and delicious, making the chicken ideal for use in a variety of curry dishes.
How To Make Chicken For Curry Dishes
It’s so easy to make this Indian restaurant style chicken for curry dishes. First, oil and water are mixed with spices and cooked together in a pot for a few minutes to create an aromatic and flavour filled stock. Next, chicken breast pieces are added and simmered until just cooked through and deliciously tender. After being set aside to cool, the chicken for curry dishes is ready to use in your favourite Indian restaurant style curry sauces.
Step 1: Spices
In a pot, add 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, 2 green cardamom pods, crushed, 2 cloves, 1/4 cinnamon stick or cassia bark, 1 Indian bay leaf (Taj Patta), 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon beetroot powder (optional, for colour), Pinch dried fenugreek leaves (methi), 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 50 millilitres vegetable oil and 200 millilitres water. Mix briefly, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Cook Chicken
Add 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, about 150g each, diced, and simmer for about 10-12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool, leaving the chicken in the liquid as it cools.
Step 3: Cool & Store
Strain the chicken from the spiced stock. The cooked chicken is now ready to add to Indian curry sauces as desired, or set aside in the fridge or freezer until needed.
I hope you’ll try this Indian restaurant style chicken for curry dishes. If you do, let me know in the comments how it went!
Chicken For Curry Dishes Recipe Tips
- Storage: Indian restaurant style cooked chicken keeps well in a sealed food safe container in the fridge for up to two days or in the freezer for up to one month.
- Batch Cook: You can double or triple this recipe in a larger pot. With your freezer stocked with cooked chicken and curry broth, you can cook an Indian restaurant style curry anytime!
Chicken For Curry Dishes (Indian Restaurant Style)
Equipment
- 1 pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 green cardamom pods, crushed
- 2 cloves
- 1/4 cinnamon stick or cassia bark
- 1 Indian bay leaf (Tej Patta)
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon beetroot powder (optional, for colour)
- Pinch dried fenugreek leaves (methi)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 50 millilitres vegetable oil
- 200 millilitres water
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, about 300g total weight
Instructions
- In a pot, add 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, 2 green cardamom pods, crushed, 2 cloves, 1/4 cinnamon stick or cassia bark, 1 Indian bay leaf (Tej Patta), 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon beetroot powder (optional, for colour), Pinch dried fenugreek leaves (methi), 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 50 millilitres vegetable oil and 200 millilitres water. Mix briefly, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, about 300g total weight, and simmer for about 10-12 minutes, until the chicken pieces are cooked through. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool, leaving the chicken pieces in the liquid as it cools.
- Strain the chicken from the spiced stock. The cooked chicken is now ready to add to Indian curry sauces as desired, or set aside in the fridge or freezer until needed.
Chicken For Curry Dishes Recipe FAQ
What is chicken for curry dishes?
Chicken for curry dishes is a way to precook chicken breast pieces, ready to add to your favourite Indian takeaway style curry sauces. The chicken is lightly spiced and cooked ahead of time, just like your Indian takeaway chef might do in preparation for service in the restaurant. After being cooked until tender, the chicken is set aside to cool, ready to be paired with patia sauce, korma sauce, South Indian garlic chilli sauce and much more!
Is this the same as chicken tikka / tandoori chicken?
Whilst some of the spices used to flavour the chicken are the same, Indian restaurant chicken tikka and tandoori chicken pieces are cooked in a tandoor oven that offers a uniquely delicious char and smoky flavour to cooked meats. Whilst it’s unlikely you have access to a clay tandoor oven, you can make your own tandoori chicken at home with good results.
