Homemade Chicken Jalfrezi in a deliciously thick, spicy sauce. I love this for a quick weeknight meal when I’m craving a good curry. Serve it with my quick and easy pilau rice – all ready in 40 minutes.
We love a good curry at home, and you’ll often find me whipping up a quick Thai curry on a busy weeknight, or making a slow cooker curry when we’ve got friends round for dinner. It’s also the number one food I crave when we come back from holiday.
We have so much fun trying all the local cuisines and basically eating everything in sight, but when I get back home, dinner is a saucy curry with lots of rice.
This jalfrezi is a great one to make when you’re craving that spicy-curry kick.
I like to marinate the chicken first with cumin, coriander, turmeric and garam masala. No too long – 10-15 minutes is enough. Then after that, we’re talking 30 minutes from start to finish.
Fry the marinated chicken in a little oil and butter.
Then add in sliced onions, chillies, garlic and ginger before adding the next layer of spices.
We’re using the same spices you used to marinate the chicken (this time to flavour the sauce). We also add in a little salt.
Next in goes chopped peppers, tinned tomatoes, stock and tomato puree. That needs to bubble away for about 10 minutes, then it’s ready to serve.
Lots of spices and a nice kick of heat, with plenty of sauce to soak into the rice.
Speaking of rice – did you know how easy it is to make pilau rice at home? I’ve got the recipe for you here (click on the image to take you to the recipe):
Dish the jalfrezi up with that lovely fragrant Pilau rice, and sprinkle on some red onion and coriander before serving.
What to serve with your curry:
- Homemade Chapati or Garlic Naan
- Saag Aloo from this recipe
- Boiled Rice or Restaurant Style Pilau Rice
- A Fresh Tomato & Onion Salad
- These spicy Lamb Samosa cups make a great starter
- And these Pistachio and White Chocolate Blondies are a great dessert to finish off the meal.
📺 Watch how to make this Chicken Jalfrezi (and the pilau rice too!)
Want to use the Curry Base Gravy Method for this Curry?
Check out the notes section of the recipe card of my Curry Base Gravy to see how I convert this recipe to use a make-ahead curry base.
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Chicken Jalfrezi Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 3 chicken breasts (about 500g/1.1lbs) chopped into bitesized chunks
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large onion peeled and sliced
- 1 red chilli sliced
- 1 green chilli sliced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 green bell pepper sliced
- 400 g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes
- 240 ml (1 cup) chicken stock ensure this is a gluten-free stock if required
- 1 tbsp tomato puree paste for US
To Serve:
- pilau rice or boiled rice
- fresh coriander
- chilli flakes
- sliced red onion
Instructions
- Coat the chicken in the cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala and leave to marinade for 10 minutes, covered in the fridge.3 chicken breasts (about 500g/1.1lbs), 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp garam masala
- Once the chicken has marinated, heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan and add the chicken. Cook on a high heat for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is sealed.1 tbsp sunflower oil, 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- Add the onion to the pan, turn the heat down to low-medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion softens.1 large onion
- Add the red and green chilli, garlic, and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes.1 red chilli, 1 green chilli, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp minced ginger
- Add in the garam masala, turmeric, salt, cumin, and ground coriander. Stir to coat the onions, and cook for a further 2 minutes.1 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp ground coriander
- Add in the red and green pepper, tinned tomatoes, chicken stock, and tomato puree.1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 400 g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes, 240 ml (1 cup) chicken stock, 1 tbsp tomato puree
- Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.
- Stir in the fresh coriander and serve with rice, topped with fresh coriander, a few chilli flakes, and some sliced red onion.pilau rice, fresh coriander, chilli flakes, sliced red onion
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Posted in Sept 2019 updated July 2020 and October 2021 with new hints and tips and for housekeeping reasons.
Just made for 12 just lovely was very nice and all enjoyed
Superb, made with chicken thighs and veg stock, and the gravy would suit veg, prawns etc. Took rather longer than 40 minutes – maybe an hour for me
Delicious curry, not too hot but lovely flavours. My husband loved it. I did make it a couple of days before eating and the flavours has definitely improved. I also used chicken thigh meat.
Great recipe, less faff than other jalfrazi recipes I’ve used and the tastiest. My family loved it. It will be my go to from now on. Would definitely recommend giving it a try.
Delicious! I added spinach for some extra veg (without having to wash another dish haha). It was a huge hit! It will be a regular in our house now. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hey I was just wondering if the nutritional information for this recipe included the rice and if so what portion size of rice is included in the overall macros? Just wondering for the carb content etc. thank you 🙂
I just made this and it tastes amazing. Only slight thing I will do differently next time is slightly less stock as it was a little bit watery and need far longer that 1pm is to thicken up. Definitely as good as my local curry house 😀
Made this yesterday which was my first attempt at making a curry from scratch. Fantastic, thankyou