A simple made-from-scratch slow-cooked spicy chicken curry is delicious and slow cooked to intensify the heat and flavour.
Everyone loves a good take-out curry, but homemade chicken curry is something special. Even more so if you raid that spice cabinet and make everything from scratch.
Served up in the middle of the table with a mountain of rice, some pitta bread and mango chutney and you have a feast that’ll beat anything on that take-out menu!
I make this one in my slow-cooker – but you could also cook it in a dutch oven or oven-proof pan.
I use my Sear and Simmer Slow cooker (<–affiliate link), which I absolutely L-O-V-E because you can place the slow-cooker bowl right on the hob. This means you can sear the meat etc. without having to dirty a frying pan too. If there’s a way to save on washing up you can always count me in.
After a day spent cooking yesterday (grandma had the kids for the day so I managed to photograph four recipes), my kitchen was such a state. In fact it was so bad, I avoided it until this morning.
Two hours, a ton of washing up AND two dishwasher loads later, and the kitchen looks relatively normal again.
Sometimes I really wish I was one of those people who gets a buzz out of cleaning, but that’s just never going to happen. If it was a choice between making a 3 course meal, or doing the washing up, the meal would win every time.
Chris made the jokey suggestion that we just eat off paper plates from now on (and I may have been just a teeny bit tempted).
My totally genius thought was to cover the whole kitchen in 200 layers of clingfilm, thensimply peel a layer off when it starts looking too dirty. I’m not sure how effective that would be in reality, but I think I should patent the idea anyway 🙂
I made this curry first for DIYS.com (check it out for cool crafty/foodie ideas), and I couldn’t wait to share it with you guys too. It uses a fair number of spices as well as 3 teaspoons of HOT chili powder to give you a medium-hot curry. If you want to dial down the heat, just use less or replace with mild chili powder.
If you want to make enough for leftovers, you can double the amounts of everything no problem, If you do this, you may need to stir in a little cornflour slurry at the end to thicken it (1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 2 tbsp cold water).
Any leftovers can be cooled, covered and refrigerated or frozen for a super-quick mid-week meal.
Do you have any kitchen cleaning (or preferably kitchen-mess prevention) hacks? Please send them to me. I so hate cleaning my kitchen…..
Equipment:
In order to make this delicious Slow-cooked spicy chicken curry you will need:
- Slow Cooker/Crockpot.
- A Fying Pan/Skillet if you cant cook directly on the hob with your slow cooker insert.
- A Garlic Press.
- Jug
- A good Kitchen knife.
- Chopping Board.
- Measuring Spoons
- Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them!
- Rice Steamer
The Slow-Cooked Spicy Chicken Curry Recipe:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped
- 3 chicken breasts boneless and skinless diced
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 large piece of ginger about the size of your thumb, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 3 tsp hot chilli powder use less or mild chilli if you don’t like your curry too hot
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- ½ tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 240 ml chicken stock (water plus a stock cube - or bouillon for gluten free - is fine)
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato puree/paste
- 2 tsp sugar this is to counteract the acidity in the tomatoes
- 400 ml can full-fat coconut milk
- Rice chopped coriander (cilantro) and finely chopped chillies
- Preheat your slow cooker to high. Heat the oil in a large pan (or the insert of your slow-cooker if it can go on the hob), add in the onion and cook on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes until softened.
- Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes until just sealed.
Add in the garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, chilli powder, ground coriander, cumin, curry powder, paprika and cinnamon.
- Stir to coat the chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the stock, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar and coconut milk.
- Stir, bring to a gently bubble then pour into your slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.
- Take the lid off and give everything a stir (the oils will have risen to the top, so you can spoon most of it out, or just stir it back in). Sprinkle with coriander (cilantro) and serve with rice.
If you want to cook this in the oven, preheat it to 150c/300f. Place a lid on the pan at step 6, and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours - check and stir once or twice during cooking.
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Nutritional information is per serving, not including rice.
If you have a Slow Cooker/Crockpot. the why not try it some of my other slow cooker recipes like these:
https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/slow-cooked-pork-and-beef-chilli/
https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/healthier-slow-cooked-spicy-beef-curry/
Some of the links in this post are 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 me to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running.
Thomas says
Made this for me and the kids yesterday, went down a treat!
Kez says
I love this curry but am trying to get the calorie count down. Any suggestions for lower calorie replacements for the coconut milk?
Thanks
Shari says
for reducing cleanup, I sometimes use foil to line baking dishes or even shallow pans if a dish wont need stirring. I have a soaking sink/bowl to put everything in to immediately after use no matter when I plan to wash it up. Also on my cooking day I plan it so that the same pots can be just reused for the next step or dish without needing a wash, for example doing all tomatoey stuff in one pan or frying in the same pan but starting from potatoes or mushrooms, then the onions… ending with fish. For drips and drops I wipe them with a sponge as I go along which is easier than when these are hardened after cooking. Hope that helps.
Nicky Corbishley says
Fantasic tips Shari, thankyou. You’re an economical-washing-up queen 😀
Roy says
lobbed in some boiled potatoes that i had left over, this thickened it and added a bit more flavour, not that it tasted poor anyway, just using up some leftovers.
Ross says
This is honestly amazing! Just found your blog Nicky and I’m loving it!
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Ross, so glad you like the recipes 😀
Sharon says
Fantastic curry! We (me, DH and boys aged 4 & 6) all scoffed it without adjusting the spices! I added chickpeas and lentils and just used 2 chicken breasts and it worked fine. Oh and the tip about the cloth between the lid and pot is brilliant!! Thank you. ????
Nicky Corbishley says
Fantastic! So glad you and your family enjoyed it Sharon 🙂
I’m making butter chicken in the slow cooker tonight -yummy!
Kirsty says
Love, love, love this recipe!!! We bought a slow cooker to help us eat better & we were spending £25+ on a takeaway curry a week which usually was cold or subpar & came across yours while looking for SC recipes. My husband (a massive curry fan!) will now ONLY eat this one & it’s saved us a fortune!
Nicky Corbishley says
Love that!! You’ve made my day Kirsty 🙂
I’ve got some more slow cooker recipes planned in the next couple of months, so it’s great to know you’re finding them useful x