Meera Sodha's Mum's Chicken Curry Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How to increase taste of chicken curry? ›

Another simple way to improve the taste of bland curries is by adding some slightly roasted onions, garlic, ginger. You can toss or caramelize them separately and add them to the curry and simmer for sometime so that it can absorb the flavours.

Slow-cooking your curry can make all the difference. Since onions form the base of most curries, getting them right is crucial. Anjum Anand suggests cooking them slowly, until soft, then increasing the heat to colour them. 'The deeper their colour, the more flavour,' says.

Whether you may be familiar with the differences between curries from various countries, such as Indian versus Japanese curry, and perhaps even know how to make them at home, there's a special flavor enhancer that you may not have thought to add: honey.

The actual sweetness and creaminess of such curries meanwhile, usually comes from fried onions and either cashews and/or dairy products. Instead of (or in addition to) onion, ground coconut may be used. White poppy seeds and/or watermelon seeds are also used in some creamy sauces.

Add more spices: Store-bought curry sauces often lack the depth of flavour that homemade sauces have. To remedy this, you can add more spices like cumin, turmeric, coriander, and garam masala. Use fresh ginger and garlic: Fresh ginger and garlic add a lot of flavour to curries.

You should have a rich, flavoursome sauce, add your RAW chicken into the sauce, keep the heat medium high and seal the chicken in the sauce, stir constantly and create the deep flavour in the chicken.

The terms "chicken curry" and "curry chicken" both refer to the same dish—cooked chicken with a sauce or gravy made with various spices and seasonings, typically including curry powder or a mix of spices.

If you overcook and burn your spices your curries will taste bitter; if you undercook them then they will taste raw and gritty. To cook spices properly you need enough oil in the pan and for it to be at the right temperature.

How do Indian restaurants thicken curry? ›

Use wheat flour, rice flour, or coconut flour plus a fat (like ghee, olive oil, or coconut oil) in equal amounts. Cook both ingredients for a few minutes to cook out the raw flour taste, then add your curry ingredients. Once the whole curry dish comes to a boil, the sauce will thicken.

Indian cuisine has some of the spiciest dishes on the world menu. Most of my cooking class clients ask me the same question. "What makes Indian food spicy?" And the answer to the question is just two words - "Thai green chili" and "Chili powder".

Papain in green papaya tenderizes the meat. Though it makes broiler chickens also tender, there is a danger of over-tenderizing. For broilers, ginger provides enough tenderizing if marinated for 6 hours or more.

A curry mix has a warm, robust spicy taste as a result of combining roasted and grounded coriander seeds, turmeric, cumin and chili peppers. Other spices commonly found within the blend are fenugreek, clove, mustard, black pepper, nutmeg or ginger.

Marinating is good for flavouring and tenderising your chicken at the same time. It's best to marinate your chicken overnight to give the flavours plenty of time to infuse. A faster way to add flavour is to simply brine your chicken in salty water prior to cooking.

Chili flakes or powder: Sprinkle chili flakes or powder directly into the curry and stir well. Start with a small amount and taste before adding more, as you can always add more spice but can't easily remove it once it's added.

Let it cook for as long as possible. Simmering a curry allows time for the flavours to infuse; a long, slow simmering time generally produces the best curry.