Spicy Chicken Masala Curry
There are certain recipes which always remain our favorites and we can never be tired of cooking them over and over again. One such favorite recipe that I cook often and is enjoyed by my family and friends is the Spicy Chicken Masala Curry. This chicken curry recipe is not a fancy one, very simple, straightforward and quick to make. I don’t remember the recipe source, its been there in my recipe files since ages, thought I’d share it.
There are endless variations to the chicken curry and today’s chicken curry is prepared with the same basic ingredients as any normal chicken curry, the only other major ingredient is cashewnut paste. The spice level of the curry is high due to the use of black pepper and chilli powder. But the blending of cashewnut paste with the spices offsets the spicy flavor of the curry and gives this dish its unmistakable, not-too-rich, subtly sweet, warm and spicy flavor.
Spicy Chicken Masala Recipe
Recipe source: From my recipe files
Prep & Cooking Time: 30-35 mts
Serves 4-5 persons
Cuisine: South Indian
.
Marinate:
½ kg chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces
3 tbsp curds
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to suit your spice level)
¼ tsp turmeric pwd
salt to taste
Make a paste:
6-7 cashewnuts
4-5 tbsps milk
Dry roast and make a fine powder:
1” cinnamon
10-12 curry leaves
3 cloves
Rest of the ingredients:
3-4 tbsps oil
2 big onions finely chopped
1 large tomato finely chopped
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp coriander powder
3/4 tsp black pepper powder (adjust to suit your spice level)
¼ tsp cumin powder
coriander leaves for garnish
1 Marinate chicken pieces in chilli powder, turmeric powder, curds and salt for 20 mts.
2 While the chicken pieces are marinating, make a paste of cashewnuts and milk. Keep aside.
3 Dry roast cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves for 1 mt and make a powder of them. Keep aside.
4 Heat 1 1/2 tbsps of oil in a cooking vessel. Add the onions and saute till pink. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute further for another 3-4 minutes on medium heat.
5 Add coriander pwd, cumin pwd, pepper pwd and combine well and fry for another minute.
6 Add the tomatoes and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Combine well and cook till oil separates.Turn off heat. Cool and grind the cooked masala. Keep aside this masala paste.
7 Heat 1 1/2 tbsps oil in a cooking vessel and add the marinated chicken and cook on high flame for 4-5 minutes, reduce heat and cook covered for another 4-5 minutes.
8 Add the ground masala paste, cashewnut paste and ground powder of cinnamon,cloves and curry leaves and combine well. Cook till chicken pieces are soft and you get the desired curry consistency. Adjust salt.
9 Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Note:
Adjust the spices according to your choice. Dont over fry the masala too much or burn it as its the masala paste which gives the chicken its flavor. If you dont have curry leaves on hand, don’t worry. One variation is add a tbsp of coconut paste and juice of half a lemon to the above curry for added flavor.
By sailu • Jun 7th, 2006 • Category: All Recipes, Curries & Gravies, Indian Chicken Recipes, Non-Vegetarian Recipes, South Indian Recipes
Sailu,
Your blog and the photos are gorgeous!!!
I love chicken masala, thanks for the recipe and your advise on variations (I don’t get curry leaves here). I’m going to try it and let you know how mine turns out.
Another question I’m afraid I have to ask you here (sorry I just can’t get to your Jihva’s post)… Is green pea classified as lentil? I want to use it to join the event. Thanks in advance.
Thank you for your kind words on my blog, Gattina.
To answer your question, yes, you can use green pea ..
all legumes and pulses are allowed for JFI- Dal event.
Sailu, the picture looks so tempting. Good one :).
Thank you, Shilpa…:)
Hi Sailu,
Wow, the photo is really amazing. Very professional. Thanks for sharing.
-Nila
Thank you, Nila..:)
Hi,
I am a regular visitor to your blog, I love your food, I am from hyd, but a north indian, born and brought up in Hyderabad, I love spicy andhra food.
I love chicken, I cook it quite often, my DH also loves it a lot, your recipe looks quite tempting, I am going to try this for sure.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Thank you for dropping by and your kind words on my blog, Radha.
Nice to know you enjoy spicy Andhra food. I have a few N. Indian
friends who just love andhra food and let me tell you, I relish North
Indian cuisine..:)
Wow sailu, the recipe looks yummy. I made chicken masala yesterday, I should have waited a day to try yours. I was looking for chicken masala for long time, thanks for sharing this recipe- will try soon:)
Priya, do try it and let me know how it turned out.
Lovely recipe and pictures…..perfect for a dinner ,this weekend !
Thank you, Lera..:)
Sailu,
Wow, your photos are awesome, just awesome, I could taste the curry just by looking at it.
Archana
Thank you, Archana..:)
Super delicious!!! I’m drooling here
:):):)
Sailu,
Once again a great recipe there. How do you manage to take such wonderful pictures ? I have recently tasted chicken and your recipe is motivating me to try cooking a chicken dish myself and eat it again. Kudos to your post!
Still learning how to use the digi cam I have, Nav.
You will love this chicken curry for sure.
Sailu,
Incredible photos! I would really love to try your recipe, where would I get some curds or what would I susbstiture if I cannot find them?
Thank you, Pamela. You can use yogurt. If you dont have either,
then replace it with 2 tbsps of lemon juice.
Sailu: Gorgeous pictures and yummy recipes. They looks perfect and your pictures are peaking day-by-day :). I am going to have guests tomm evening and definitely going to try making this. Let you know how it turned out. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I hope you have a great weekend with your friends and hope you enjoy the chicken curry…:)
A beautiful picture of the chicken masala!Good one Sailu!
Thank you, Sumitha..:)
Sailu, lovely dish.mouth watering..slup..slup..Going to make it this sunday..I was trying to post kadai chicken today..but somehow the blogger is not working..the picture is making me really hungry…Good one …
I saw your Kadai Chicken post just now…it’s an absolutely mouth-watering picture ..:)
Hope you like the chicken curry, Sudha.
Hi Sailu ,another perfect yummy dish from ur kitchen ur family is so lucky to have a excellent cook. In my next trip to India I should surely plan for some classes from u:) ..mee snaps chustunte avi snaps kadu asalu dish akkada petinatu untundi.
Tanuja, your too kind. Drop in anytime..your most welcome..:)
ur pics are getting better day by day sailu..
AWESOME job…..
Thank you, Santhi..:)
Sailu,
I’ve made this chicken masala, it is increditably delicious!!! I can’t believe I’m able to make such a fantastic Indian dish, all because of your great recipe (and very clear instruction)! Thank you so much, Sailu!
But your dish looks really nice, especially that beautiful red oil on the gravy, I don’t know why I can’t get that red oil in mine… can you please advise?
I am so glad you enjoyed the dish, Gattina..:). The red color of the
oil you see is from the chilli pwd used in the dish. It depends on which
brand of chilli pwd or type of red chillis you use. Kashmiri red chillis
give that red color. I dont buy the ready made store bought chilli pwd.
I sun-dry the dry red chillis and then grind them to a fine powder.
Even cumin (jeera), dhania (coriander seeds) and garam masala are all
dry roasted in a pan and then ground into fine powders. None of the
masalas are store-bought, except a few like chole masala or chaat
masala. The flavor of home-made freshly ground masalas are far superior
to branded ones. That has been my experience.
Lovely dish…Andhra chicken…Wow!…feel like flying back to India…that’s a very gorgeous snap.
Thank you, Shynee..:)
This is one of my favorite Indian recipe… I tried it last year in Little India in S’pore and I loved it. I am now making it using the recipe I got from an Indian taxi driver… a very nice and funny guy. I will try your version too. Thanks.
Ciao.
I hope you enjoy this version too, Orchidea..:)
Sailu,
Thanks for explaining the details. I ground my own spice except the chilli, glad that you told me more about it! My knowledge on Indian cusine is extremely skin-deep, I’m so lucky having you here to teach me. Your site is absolutely informative, inspiring, and beautiful!
I want more people exposing to Indian food, these two days am going to post my photos, and give credit to you (link added). Hope it’s okay to you
Finally, thanks again for telling me more about JIHVA - lentils.
Gattina,
I am so happy to learn that you want more people to get exposed to Indian food..:)
Thank you so much and yes, you can post your pictures of the chicken masala you
cooked. I am curious to see them ..:)
Sailu,
My husband has already asked me when he can have this dish again!
I think Indian (and a few asian) cusine is excellent! I hope many of us while are so busy in making western dishes, still please don’t forget this Oriental gem
Feel so happy when you refer to the chicken curry as an oriental gem.:)
Awesome !!!!….I made this dish for my parents and they liked it so much….Thanks for sharing ..
Padmini, I am so glad your parents liked the chicken curry…:):)
Sailu,
Your dishes really looks amazing
I do the chicken curry as same but I add kasoori methi to bring aromatic flavor.
I loved your capsicum masala rice and I will give a try
Sailu,
It’s awesome. This is second time I made this curry and it’s realy too good.
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the curry, Madhu..:)
Hi
Are you a master chef or house wife? Very chilling photo of chicken.
Am a home maker, a mommy and a foodie to the core..:):)
Hi Sailaja
I have made this recipe 3 times, and each time it turned out delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thank you very much for this recipe i tried it and it was truly fantastic.
As with another comment i could not get the same red colour. I grow my own chillis (cayenne) and grind them but the resulting powder is very pale. I need to find seeds for Kashmiri red chillis but so far have not been able to find them in the regular seed catalogues i use. Do you know where i might find seeds.
I moved to France from England and really miss spicy food so we make it at home as much as possible, many of the seasonings are not easily available in France so we grow them.
Hi! this is Rg. I’m visiting your site for the second time but this is my first comment. Your Chicken masala is absolutely gorgeous and mouth-watering. I’m sure going to give this curry a try this weekend. Will let you know how it turned out. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
hi,
i m happy with the recipe given n it even looks very delicious. But I have a doubt. How can the chicken pieces be cooked without adding water….
Dhanalakshmi, the chicken pieces will leave water during the cooking process and will be cooked till soft in its own water.
Looks very delicious !!! I want to how u powder clove, cinnomon and curry leaves (kadipatta) right. The curry leaves should be fresh or i have to use dried ones. Or once it is roasted it becomes dry.
Jasmine, once the fresh curry leaves are roasted along with the other spices, its becomes crisp and can be easily powdered.
Hi Sailu,
I did try ur Spicy chicken curry yday, but it dod not turn out like ur picture, the curry became very thick & creamy no matter how much water I added, also did not taste so great, can you tell me why ? Thanks, Aruna.
chicken tikka masala curry is absolutely fantasticaly delicious….
Hi salu
I very recently tried ur ulli pokada it was fantastic…
I dont know hw to make fish curry and fish fry and what kind of fish i should use for each type. can u mail me pls. thank u so much
sravanthi
sailu,
i am a novice and your easy-to-cook recipes have made my stay in the kitchen a beautiful experience… thank you
Hi sailaja,
It’s amazing to c the pics. it looks mouthwatering!!!!!!, will soon try this recipe. i”ll surprise my husband by cooking dis recipe on sunday. thank u so much!!!!!! looking forward 4 more recipes!
priya
Hi sailu,
I am not into cooking but i wanted to make a chicken dish for the holiday so my mother could rest for a while. so i browsed and found your recepie. i made it and it came well as you have displayed . I shoud say it tasted beautiful,though it took some time for me to do it because of my inexperience in cooking. please do post more receipe …. tasty ones, Keep up the good work. thank you very much.
thanks sailu….its delicious…. yummyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Hi Sailu
I tried this dish and I have to tell you …. it is awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing your recepie. I love the fact that all the ingredients in your recepies are already there in most of the Indian kitchens. I am going to try your tomato dosa this week. Will let you know how it comes out.
Thanks a lot.
Hi Sailu,
Just like to confirm with u the curds - is it yogurt? Thanks!
Yes, yogurt.
Hi Sailu,
I tried your Chicken masala curry yesterday and it came out really good.. I added less cinnamon and cloves and more chilli powder and it was fantastic.. Also, I tried ur Capsicum rice too which came out good..thanks for all the recipes..
Hi Sailu,
This recipe is awesome. This was the best chicken i prepared/had in my life till date. My friends too were licking their fingers and plates in the end. This is a jewel in the crown of Andhra food. Hats off to Hyderabad.
Hi Sailu
I am visiting your site first Time. The photos are awesome.The chicken Masala looks very delicious.i am going to try this for my husband.thank you
I found this recipe by typing “chicken curry leaves” into Google and I’m so glad I did! We cooked it tonight, and man was this tasty! Most of the “Indian food” I try to make comes out… um, somehow Italian?? Not this. I’m really glad I wandered into an Indian store today and finally bought curry leaves for the first time. The authentic taste was well worth the extra effort. Thanks a million, Sailu. I will be cooking this again for certain.
Hi Sailu,
Nice recipe, I am going to try it now. I have been trying to cook a decent biryani for my wife for a long time without any success, until now. My mother gave me the recipe and Boy, was it good? It was very simple as well. Do you guys want to try it. Let me know and I shall share it. Thanks once again.
Sure, Peter, go ahead and share the recipe with us.
Well, here goes..,
Recipe for Biryani.
Ingredients
Lamb - 500 to 750 gms, Onions-4 medium sized, Tomatoes- 2 to 3 small sized, 2 tsp Fresh Ginger Grlic paste,2 tsp Lime juice,1 cup Yogurt,Mint Leaves, Coriander Leaves, Cinamon, Cloves, Cardamom, 2 tsp Chilli powder, 2 tsp Dhanya powder.
Method
Before you start soak rice in water for about 30 mins. Grind Cinamon Cloves and Cardamom into a fine powder.
Use a heavy bottomed vessel to cook the lamb.
Fry chopped onions in 3-4 tsp oil until golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for about 2 mins. Now add the Lamb and some salt(to your taste) and fry for about 10 mins. Separate the oil from the meat and keep it aside. We are going to use the same oil again later. Now add the chopped tomatoes,yoghurt,lime juice, chilli powder,dhanya powder and the ground spices(cinamon,cloves and cardamom). Add a cup of water and cover with a tight lid. Fry well for some time.
In the meanwhile, add a tsp oil and some salt to the soaked rice and boil it in a different vessel and half cook the rice.
Strain the water from the rice and then add it to the meat. DO NOT MIX IT, JUST COVER THE COOKED LAMB WITH THE RICE( The meat at the bottom and the rice on top of it.) Now pour the oil that we separated from the meat earlier over the rice and cover it tightly with a lid and cook it in a very low flame for about 45 mins to 1 hr.
Hope you like it.
And thanks to Sailu.
Peter
Thanks, Peter, for sharing your mother’s biryani recipe .:)
Forgot to add, mix the rice with meat when it is still hot and you are done.
Now another thing I forgot, You got to add the mint after frying the ginger garlic paste. Sorry Sailu, my memory is really poor. I forgot to mention it. I look like a fool now.
This recipe is excellent.
hi sailu,
thanks for the receipe of chicken masala ,
i tried it today and it was really yummy’
thanks once again
Dear Sailu, I tried this recipe tonight, and we enjoyed it. Thank you for posting it.
the dish looks really tempting. first time peeping into your site. happy that i have been to a good cookery site.
It’s awesome. I made this curry 2DAY and it’s really too good
I would like to make your chicken masala, but I do not know what you mean by “curds”. What is this? 3 tbsp of curds. Curds of what? Please advise. Thank You.
Substitute it with yogurt, Amy.
Spicy chicken masala curry which I tried this weekend was just mouth watering. I saw the recipe in your website with the image so I just happened to give it a go and it was liked by all. I will surely try some more recipes. If you do conduct any cooking classes I would like to attend. Thanks.
hello sailu garu mi vantalu chala baguntayi chala tasty ga vuntayi
kani english koncham koncham vacchu pls pls meeru easy recipes telugu type chesi na mail cheyyani na email address sneha_bhupati@yahoo.com pls pls sailu garu
Sailu,
EE roju idi try chesanu, I was always a tad hesitant abt using cashews in my cooking as they impart a slightly sweetish flavor that my andhra taste buds take offense to….but I went ahead and used them in this dish today and the result was restaurant style….naa chetiki vanta lo antha talent ledu original ga kaani nijanga chala baga vacchindi..thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed my lunch today…delicious:)
Awesome receipe..i just tried today and came our perfec! Delicious!!
Thanks for the receipe.
Thanks for the receipe.
Its mouth watering. My kids loved it
Next time i will cook when theres a family function.
They’ll love it .
Thanks Sailu garu the receipe is really mouth watering andi I really loved it cooking but I did not added the cashew I dont know how it would had been! Thanks for the receipe sharing with us. I cooked chicken a lot of times but I havent got a one like this thanks a lot. Its helping people like me who stay away from home country in USA and missing the taste of chicken. THANKS a lot
thanks Sailu the spicy chicken masala is so yummy.
Sailu,
I tried you chicken curry and it was awesome! My husband loved it too! Thank you very much for the recipe. I have never been able to make a delicious curry without ready made garam masala before this. This is a great recipe. Grinding the onion, tomato masala after frying is really a great idea cause grinding the onions and tomatoes and then frying them takes too much time and requires more oil. Thanks again.
Shuchu
Hi sailu,
This is really delicious, I tried once though with a little variation of adding cashews and pudina while cooking and it came out so yummy that ‘m going to prepare this again. Thank you so much for a mouth watering recipe.
I have tried and tasted your masala chicken recepie. I have just one word for you-simplicity at its best. Thats actually four words. Keep up the good work sailu.
This looks a wonderful curry - if i made this for around 30 people how what would you suggest for the amounts that i would need especially the spices. Linda - California
Hello Sailu, I’m from the philippines and I need your help. I have a research paper about “Chicken Masala Spicy” and I need some description about it. I hope you can help me. Thanks and more power to you. God Bless.
Sure, Nisa, I’d like to help you. Can you email me at sailusfood@gmail.com?
Hello Shailu garu …mee vantalu chala bavuntayi nenu chala try chesanu kooda. but chicken masala recipe try cheste mee curry anta andam ga raledu enduko ardam kaledu …meeru cheppinatte ingredients use chesanu…meeremaina suggest chestara?…naa curry colour pale ga anipistundi red ga kakunda…
Hi sailu,
I tried this recipe yesterday. It came out well. Its very tasty. I was out of curry leaves so i tried without it. But its delicious. Your pictures are very tempting and nice. I tried ur chetinad chicken. Its very good too.
ok.I’ll try. I also have a problem of Garam Masala suppliers bcuz there here are only few sellers here in the phils.that are selling Garam Masala powder.What should I do?I’ll try to go in your email now. tnx and God Bless.
pic is realy mouth watering
Dear Sailu,
My husband wanted to have a restaurant style curry…
Fortunately landed on your blog… and tried this Spicy Chicken Curry !!!!
It turned out really fantafab..
ThankYou for sharing !
Good Luck to You !!!
Leena
eastern.in/karnataka/kandafood_display-receipe_refid-179-karnatakarecipe-Chicken_Curry.htm
This site has copied this chicken curry pic of yours Sailu.
Thanks for informing me, Sumitha.
hi sailu..can u tell me the calories in this dish..?plz..
I’m not sure. I guess, one serving would be above 400 calories since it is rich.
Dear Shailu
I saw your recipe today by chance. I will definitely try it and let you know the outcome. Was in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Mumbai in 2006. Just loved the food there. Tasted a few versions of lamb masala etc and naan and my friends who were with me went ga ga over indian food. By the way u mentioned u grind spices, I do that too, however mine is not so fine. Do you use some special kind of grinder, I use the normal panasonic dry grinder.
regards
mandy
Mandy, I live in India and I use Sumeet Grinder, the most popular brand here.
what is meant by cumin.what they say in telugu
Jeelakara (telugu) and jeera (hindi)
Hi Sailu,
Recently i saw ur website with nice pictures… I tried this recipe .. it came out very well….. only thing is the red color ….. i didnot get that red color …. but it tastes good …. can u plz explain me how u got that ….
Thanks for this beautiful site…..
kalyani
It depends on the type red chillis/chilli pwd one uses, Kalyani.
HELLO, I NEED SOME HELP PLEASE, HOW CAN I REPLACE THE CURRY LEAFS IF THEY’RE NOT AVAILABLE? IS THERE A REPLACMENT FOR CURRY LEAF?LIKE CAN I USE THE CURRY POWDER INSTEAD -THANK YOU BTW GOOD RECIPE
There is no replacement for curry leaf and please don’t use curry powder in its place.
Hai Sailu, Your presentation gives us temptation!!!! This is a mouth watering dish. so simple preparation but so good in taste.
Hello, i am just a little tiny bit concerned that this is a curry masala and how come we dont use garam masala?
thank you
Hi!!!
My wife has really relished this recipe and has fallen in love with my cooking. I had won her heart 20 yrs back and now her stomach. THANKS!!!
YEZDI
Hi!!!
My wife has really ralished this recipe and has fallen in love with my cooking.I had won her heart 20 yrs. back and now her stomach. THANKS!!!
YEZDI
hi sailu,
how’s you.
back to this site after a long time. whats the difference between yogurt and curd. can you suggest some snacks for my five year old son for his school.
mahi
I’m doing good and hope the same with you. Yogurt and curd mean the same, Mahi. I hope to blog some lunch box recipes and you could check ’snacks’ category in the side bar.
Hi Sailu,
I tried the spicy chicken masala and it came out well..Thanks so much for the recipe..Your blog,writing and pictures are amazing..Keep up ur good work..You are a very good inspiration to me..tc
Hello Sailu,
Looking at the photo, any one would want it to taste and so would i, but do not know how to prepare it. Well i will try it after some time then i will tell you how it tasted.
thank u for nice photo and nice recipe.
WOW!! Great Taste
Dear Sailu,
God bless you for sharing your goodness & talant.
I came to Hyderabad 23 years ago but did not find anyone
who shared their knowledge so openly especially in cooking
& home crafts.
Though I am old now, when ever I visit your blog, I feel tempted
to try out the recipes. I love andhra food & yesterday i tried
your dosa avakai pickle. It was delicious.
Today I am going to try this chicken for my son who is a foodie
& hope to give him a surprise.The picture looks so good.
Keep up your good work of sharing & may god always bless you with a good, happy, peaceful & prosperous life.
Hi Sailu,
I have never tried making an Non veg curries till now. Everytime my mom cooks and i only eat
I wanted to surprise her today so was searching on net and found your recipe.
Thank you so much. It came out very well and very tasty.
My mom found it hard to believe that the first day i cooked some Non veg and it was so tasty
All thanks to your recipe
Your recipe calls for 1″ (the symbol for ‘inch’) cinnamon. I’d love to make this recipe but don’t know what measure you mean by (”).
Bryan, just use a small piece which is one-fourth size of your little finger. It can be a little less than 1″ inch also but too much of cinnamon is not good for the recipe. Hope this helps.
Hi,
This is an amazing receipe…i liked it …its easy and very very tasty.
Thanks
Rabi
this is an amazing recipe.. slightly similar to the one I learnt from my friend’s mom.. and guess the cashew bit wud lend the curry simply delicious..
the recipe and the snap looks great. surely i’ll try it this weekend. Sailu can u give the recipe of perfect hyderabad chicken biryani and for the masala also.
Hi! I’m from Houston, Texas. Wow!the picture looks soo yummy. I’ve always added coconut milk or grated coconut to get that consistency. But, high fat content in coconut always bothers me. I’ll try ur recipe and let u know how it turned out.