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 ½ 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
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.
Paula Suddards says
Another winner. I have cooked this a couple of times now, so tasty. The pilau rice adds another layer of flavour and just elevates the curry to something special. Highly recommended.
I am gradually working my way through all the recipes on the website, yet to be disappointed.
Keeley Robinson says
Eating this recipe as I type! Its SO tasty. Made with chicken thighs though 😁
Emma says
Thank you so much. We've been in Crete for over 2yrs and hubby has missed a "proper" jalfrezi. The jars were just not enough. I made this for the first time last night and he loved it. I Will be making it again
Tony says
A very tasty change from my normal Jalfrezi recipe.
Elizabeth says
This recipe was great and very helpful! I really wanted to surprise my husband for our anniversary by making him something special.
Chicken Jalfrezi is his favorite curry, and he used to get it a lot back home in England. He hadn't eaten it at all since moving here to the US over 2 years ago. Curry doesn't seem to be popular where I live and I was hoping to make something he has been missing, but I didn't even know where to start. I had never even eaten this before, and was unsure how it should even smell or taste, so although I love cooking I was a bit intimidated because of all the spices I've never used before. I had never made curry before in my life.
I followed the directions aside from using chicken thighs in place of breast, as recommend by someone online. Next time I am going to make it with chicken breast though. It did take me much longer than expected, partially because the garam masala was lost in the mail and never arrived so I had to attempt to make my own. Both the curry and the rice turned out well though and I will be making it again, as well as trying more of your recipes. Thanks again!!
Chris Corbishley says
Thank you so much Elizabeth for your lovely comment. Nicky and I are so pleased that you enjoyed the curry.
Happy anniversary to you and your husband.
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
Elizabeth says
Wow thank you so much! It was a good anniversary, especially thanks to the dinner 🙂 I just made another one of your recipes tonight! I love your recipes 🙂 I will be making the chicken jalfrezi again soon and then some others next- I’m bookmarking a bunch of them! 😛 Thank you so much again!
Michele says
Great recipe, thanks. Using it on a regular basis for our Saturday night curry fix.
Teresa says
Both the curry and the rice are amazing. So authentic. Will definitely be trying your other curry recipes. Thank you!!
Brian johnson says
Cooked this curry 1st time ever cooking found it really. easy to do and tasted great no more takeaways in my house excellent.
Lisa says
I made this over the weekend and oh my it was gorgeous- my husband is extremely fussy about his curry and this got his approval so we’ll definitely be cooking this again
Cepta Hanley says
Fabulous. Perfect for the home cook. Thank you
Julie says
I only cooked the Pilau Rice part of the recipe, and as I proudly walked to the dining room table, I realized there was no salt added to the rice during the rice recipe steps... Safe to say the rice was not as good as it could / should have been.
Francheska says
Amazing myself and my partner loved it it went down a treat with my family!
Lisa Kelly says
This recipe looks SENSATIONAL - I'm making it asap. My question is what "sides" do you serve with this? I think I spy a bowl in the background of one of the images with tomatoes, onions, coriander and something else. I would love to know what you serve alongside.
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Lisa, yes, I think that was a little salad of chopped baby red tomatoes, baby green tomatoes, red onion and fresh coriander. A little bit of natural yogurt on the side with a sprinkling of dried or fresh mint is also lovely 🙂
Rosemary Barnden says
Absolutely fabulous recipe. The only variation that I made was the protein. I used left over roast lamb and just rubbed the dry spices over the meat and left in the fridge for a few hours. Otherwise I did exactly as per recipe which is unusual for me! I made the rice to the letter as well and it was perfect. I've made many curries and paid for and eaten many more and this was right up there with the very best. Well worth the little bit of effort to follow each step. I've put the recipe that I printed out, now covered in splatters, lovingly into my recipe file with a hand written annotation at the top 'The best curry that I've ever made'.
Andy Slate says
Made this last night, excellent instructions combined with the video meant even I couldn't stuff it up. Tasted delicious, will definitely be making again and I'll try some of your side dishes next time too.