Mum's chicken curry from Made in India, Cooked in Britain: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen (page 100) by Meera Sodha

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Chapattis (Rotli); Aunty Harsha's naan

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute unsalted butter for ghee, and boneless skinless chicken thighs for chicken legs.

  • will_mxjeiq on March 29, 2026

    This has long been my favorite chicken curry recipe. In fact this whole book is the best Indian curry recipe book I’ve come across

  • Chibblywibbly on March 07, 2026

    Didn't have paste, so just used bigger can of tomatoes and reduced for longer. Delicious and easy.

  • mpo on January 31, 2026

    I echo every review that says this is delicious! I didn’t have yogurt, so I added 1/4 cup of unsweetened soy milk. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, I’ll make this again for sure!

  • JanetNL on December 29, 2025

    This is such an excellent recipe, it's well worth the effort. The spices are wonderful and the ground almonds and yogurt give it a lovely texture. As with my other favourite Indian dishes, I make an extra large batch, freeze it in cubes and vacuum pack them, so I'm not always starting everything from scratch when I make an Indian meal. You may want to add some fresh yogurt or sour cream before serving to bring it back to perfection, but it freezes very well.

  • SKidd on June 24, 2025

    Agreed it’s an easier curry, maybe less depth than some of her other dishes but fast and a nice chicken dish that’s simple enough to make with other dishes,

  • mimisingh on June 12, 2025

    Really good and pretty easy, I think you can omit the almonds to minimal effect. I used boneless thighs. It feels really indulgent

  • aimeekitty on March 26, 2025

    We make this a lot but I feel like it's a bit bland out of the box. At the oil infusing stage I add green and black cardamom pods. I make sure the onions are nicely browned. (also I sometimes add carrots just for more veg.) I don't bother grinding the garlic into a paste and it's fine. At the chicken stage I add in golden raisins and at the end I double the garam masala and add some heavy cream.

  • bernalgirl on February 12, 2025

    Cook the onions a full 25-30 minutes to get them truly golden. I love the layered flavors from the chile-ginger garlic paste and tomatoes. I added carrots, cabbage, and red peppers because I needed more of a 1-pot dinner, and increased the spices by half. The family doctored it with jarred chutney and mango pickle at the table and everyone was more than satisfied.

  • katiesue28 on October 07, 2024

    Absolutely delicious. I think it's really important too cook down the onions until they are golden; this will probably take longer than the time listed in the book. It took me about 25 min, but was so worth it for the richness of the sauce it created. Add salt to taste as you cook to avoid the blandness some have described. I also followed the advice of some and chopped my chicken thighs before cooking, which I'll do again. I loved this topped with dollops of cucumber raita. Make it ASAP!

  • anya_sf on September 05, 2024

    Very tasty. I'm not sure of the difference between tomato passata and puree; I just used puree. I cooked half the quantity of chicken - boneless, skinless thighs cut into chunks - but the full amount of sauce (it isn't super saucy), and added some cauliflower florets and peas. As others have said, add plenty of salt to taste.

  • jenmacgregor18 on August 27, 2024

    Best chicken curry I’ve ever had. Used mix of bone-in and boneless chicken thighs, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. And definitely salt to taste at the end. It needed it. I’m glad that I held back and didn’t add anything extra. This is surprisingly complex for a fairly simple list of ingredients.

  • Delys77 on August 03, 2022

    Indeed, we seasoned a bit at the end with a lovely sel de camargue and it was good. Well balanced dish and quite nice with bone in skinless drumsticks. I would say the sauce is a touch thick early on so cook on low heat to avoid scorching. The sauce does loosen as the chicken cooks down a bit and the end result is a good consistency. Overall a lovely and easy little curry.

  • CaffeineRage on May 07, 2022

    Using a good garam masala is key; It does a lot of heavy lifting in this dish. Oh, and salt. The recipe in the book, which I used, doesn't bring up salt apart from making the chili paste. Might be why a couple of people bring up it being a bit bland. Salt your food!

  • bob.mack on December 12, 2021

    Easy enough and delicious. I went with boneless skinless chicken thighs.

  • damjih on January 28, 2021

    was easy to make I agree, but kind of bland as well

  • mondraussie on January 02, 2021

    Absolutely lovely, only change I made was to brown the chicken first.

  • meginyeg on November 26, 2020

    It was ok. A little bland but I will probably make it again because its quick and easy.

  • meggan on September 16, 2020

    I feel like the curry flavors did not penetrate the chicken enough. Maybe better the next day?

  • katy1729 on August 21, 2019

    Very good - would definitely make again! Made some substitutions as I didn't have everything called for: used about half the amount of fresh ginger, dried chipotle chilli flakes, tinned tomatoes, 0% fat yogurt, ground cinnamon, diced chicken thighs (approx. 400g).

  • Cheri on March 06, 2018

    Again, great recipe. Comforting. Made with boneless chicken thighs. Some spice, little heat. Chopped fresh cilantro a nice addition. Very fresh flavor. Pretty easy for a week night. Recommended.

  • Rutabaga on December 11, 2017

    OK, I finally made this curry, and like the others, I agree that it is very good, especially considering it seems so "basic" on the surface. For my dish, I used chicken drumsticks and a couple of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. My husband prefers boneless meat, but I think the bones really help with the flavor here, so if I have time I would like to try it with chicken legs in the future, then remove the meat from the bones before serving it. But even boneless, skinless thighs would still doubtlessly be delicious.

  • patioweather on October 30, 2017

    Everyone enjoyed this dish, and as the chef I was pleased with how simple it was. Simple enough to be a weeknight dish and it felt fresh and healthy. I used chicken thighs that had the bone and skin, but in the future I would use boneless because everyone seemed to remove their skins.

  • KarinaFrancis on March 20, 2017

    Oh yes, this was as good as they say, absolutely delicious! Nowhere near as hard as I thought a curry would be. My sauce wasn't as vibrant as the photo but I might have added a little too much yoghurt.

  • hsteel on March 08, 2017

    This was a wonderful curry. Subtle, which is what I like. I used bone in chicken thighs, which meant I had to skim the fat off. Then I shredded the meat. I also left out the almonds (lazy!). Definitely will make this again.

  • Rinshin on February 24, 2017

    Like other reviewers, I thought this was wonderful tasting curry without having all kinds of herbs/spices that often defeats my attempt in making some of the Indian based recipes. The author uses spices often found in well-equipped American kitchen ie cumin powder, whole cumin, turmeric, cinnamon sticks, and garam masala. I'm still not sure what tomato passata is so used what I had on hand which was equal amount of tomato pesto (basically very concentrated tomato sauce) and 2 cut up fresh tomatoes. I also added 4 handful of fresh spinach leaves at the end and cooked for 3-4 min. I did cook the sauce much longer than the recipe - about 2 1/2 hours (very low simmer) with cover on and found it perfectly cooked. Although I used skinless/boneless chicken thighs I think this would also be good using paneer or tofu pieces.

  • Frogcake on November 17, 2016

    Delicious. I used veal in place of chicken. So easy and so tasty. Will make this again.

  • Melanie on November 10, 2016

    Joining the chorus of praise for this curry. I used quartered chicken thighs and skipped the ground almonds. Served with rice, cucumber / yoghurt raita and steamed veg.

  • pistachiopeas on October 20, 2016

    M made this for dinner using left boneless skinless thighs that he left whole. Very tasty and warming. Notes for next time: cut chicken into pieces, add more chile, and don't worry if you don't have ground almonds because they don't seem to add much.

  • raybun on September 28, 2016

    Great curry recipe! I made it over the weekend when I had more time and reheated it during the week for a delicious,quick meal. I used boneless thighs which I'll cut into smaller pieces next time so the meat can absorb more of the amazing flavours. As others have mentioned it is mild, my 8yr old devoured it and asked for more. I've ordered the book and am looking forward to more delicious meals.

  • chawkins on July 27, 2016

    I will join the chorus to sing the praise for this curry. Simple and yet have complex flavor. The only thing I'll do different is to break the chicken leg quarters into thighs and legs, so the curry flavor can penetrate into the pieces more or cook it in the instant pot.

  • Astrid5555 on July 05, 2016

    I can only repeat what everyone else already mentioned, this curry is exceptional! The kids even wanted an additional bowl of rice just with sauce, which is the true star of this recipe. Used boneless, skinless chicken thighs which made it a real weeknight friendly recipe.

  • Barb_N on June 15, 2016

    Another note in the chorus of praises- very complex tasting sauce without hundreds of spices. I used bone in thighs but I felt the sauce needed extra cooking time to break down the onions anyway.

  • nadiam1000 on June 09, 2016

    Made this a couple of times to great success. Flavors are well balanced with some heat, but not too spicy. I used boneless chicken thighs; second time I cut into pieces. delicious with basmati rice

  • westminstr on May 04, 2016

    Like everyone else, I really liked this. I used boneless skinless thighs cut into pieces. I made most of the sauce ahead of time and added the chicken on the night of. However, I found that the curry improved with an overnight rest, so in future I would make it entirely in advance and just reheat for a quick weeknight dinner. I don't usually like leftover chicken thighs but these were great. Both kids refused to touch it. However with the leftovers E tried and liked it.

  • TrishaCP on April 19, 2016

    Just as wonderful as everyone says. The sauce is very flavorful and rich-tasting. I agree this is by far the best chicken curry that I have ever made.

  • FJT on April 06, 2016

    Fantastic flavour for very little effort. I second blintz's comment about making the sauce in advance and just adding the chicken 30 minutes before you want to serve the meal - makes it a really easy weeknight dinner. Next time I will go for a hotter chilli as I like my curries with a bit more heat to them but otherwise it's a really nice curry and I will definitely make it again.

  • blintz on April 04, 2016

    Everyone here was exactly right. This is a wonderful curry. Everyone came back for thirds! I made it with boneless , skinless thighs and I cut them into bite-size pieces before cooking. Not a hard recipe to make, but lots of complex flavors. Next time I'll try for a bit more heat. I used two fat jalapenos but I seeded them, and that was probably a mistake. Served with store bought naan and a quick cucumber raita. Also, you could make the sauce in the afternoon or the night before and then add the chicken 1/2 hour before dinner is served. That way it would be a very easy weeknight meal.

  • stockholm28 on March 20, 2016

    This was delicious and I really liked that it used whole chicken thighs as that saved prep time. She calls for 800g of boneless, skinless thighs and I only used about 600g. I thought that amount was fine. This is a good weeknight dish.

  • lilham on August 25, 2015

    Agree with others that this is one of the best curries I've ever eaten. This is in my regular rotation and I've made it again and again.

  • Breadcrumbs on June 14, 2015

    p. 100 - Exceptional. I agree with the prior reviewer, simply the best chicken curry I’ve ever made and definitely one of the best we’ve eaten. This truly is a remarkable dish. Creamy without the richness of butter chicken, you don’t want one drop of this sauce to go to waste…and it didn’t. What wasn’t atop our chicken was scooped up with naan. Photo here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/1016061?commentId=9600106#9600106

  • Pigeoncottagekitchen on March 20, 2015

    Quite simply one of the nicest chicken curries I have ever made and eaten. A firm favourite.

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