Chicken Madras Curry From Scratch

This chicken madras curry is an easy and delicious recipe for the spicy British Indian favourite. Tender chicken, tomatoes, chillies and spices in a rich smooth sauce make a great fakeaway dish. Only one pan and no base sauce; even better if made ahead!

Chicken madras

Madras curries are at the spicier end of the British Indian curry scale; but of course with homemade you can adjust the heat to suit your taste, be it a blow your head off searing, or something milder for the chilli wimps!

This make-at-home chicken madras uses a smooth sauce made by whizzing the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli before you cook, which I think works better with that extra heat!

See also

• Chicken jalfrezi is another tomato based curry packed with spices, chilis, peppers, and onions, but normally less spicy than Madras.
• Spiced marinated chicken pieces coated in batter – chicken pakora are a delicious canape, snack or party food.
• Chicken saag is a delicious one pot weeknight dish, combining chicken with spinach
• Recipes for all my best Indian curry recipes

This is a one-pan dish, that doesn’t require a base sauce, making it perfect for weeknight cooking after work, ready in less than 45 minutes with very little hands on time.

If like me you usually cook for two, it is well worth making a bigger batch of this curry. A large quantity tastes better and is much easier to make (it is nigh on impossible to measure less than a quarter of a teaspoon of spices accurately).

Also, most curries are better for having been allowed to rest (or had a spell in the freezer), so cook at least 4 or 6 portions, so you have some to freeze for another day.

What is a Madras curry?

The origins of the name are not clear, but it seems to be derived from a straight association between this hotter curry and the city, now Chennai, in the hotter south of India.

Generally a British Indian restaurant madras curry will have a smooth tomato based sauce, with onion, garlic and ginger and a hefty kick from the chilli.

Some recipes will include tamarind paste, for a richer and more intense flavour, and fenugreek for a hint of bitterness. I don’t worry about either, but you can add some if you like.

You can buy a madras curry power for making your curry, and absolutely if you adore a hot curry, and find a blend you like then go for it. I’ve used base spices from my cupboard as I’ve only got so much room.

Why make chicken madras

• Save time and money with this delicious fakeaway recipe; you know what’s gone into the dish, and you can adjust the spice level to your taste.
  
• No ultra-processed ingredients either!
  
• It’s far less fatty then restaurant take away dishes
  
• There’s no need to make a base sauce in advance,

• It’s great for batch cooking and for feeding a crowd or filling the freezer
  
• Also, batch cooking means there are no half cans of left-over ingredients taking fridge space.

Chicken madras ingredients

• Chicken – Thighs are always my first choice when making a curry or stew with small pieces of chicken. They have more flavour and more fat, so they will not dry out when cooking. They are also cheaper than chicken breast.
  
  This recipe uses filleted thighs. You can either buy them ready-prepared, or remove the skin and bone yourself. Pop both into a bag the freezer for the next time you make chicken stock. .
  
• Onions – A single brown onion or a handful of shallots.

• Spices – turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, chilli, cardamon.

• Garlic and ginger pastes – or a combined one. If you don’t have these use a few cloves of garlic and a piece of fresh ginger root (leftover fresh ginger is best stored in a tub in the freezer).

Prepared garlic and ginger paste
This is central to easy Indian cooking at home, and a massive time saver.

There are large jars available at my local Asian convenience store and it will keep well in the fridge. Depending on the shop you can buy a jar of mixed ginger and garlic, or individual jars of just the one ingredient.

If you don’t cook spicy food on a regular basis portion what’s left into an ice cube tray (I have a dedicated food ice cube tray), freeze and then pop out into a plastic bag or airtight container to store.

• Canned tomatoes – I buy mid-range, mid-priced tinned tomatoes. You don’t need the most expensive, but avoid the cheapest budget range. Mid priced supermarket own brand is perfect here. For a super smooth sauce you can use passata, but I find that the canned tomatoes break down absolutely fine.

• Tomato puree / paste – as with the canned tomatoes you get what you pay for so go for supermarket mid-range.

• Red chilli – the flavour and freshness adds to the dish, and thinly sliced it’s used as a garnish

• Ghee (or oil) – I increasingly use homemade ghee for frying almost anything. A jar will last for ages in the fridge, it adds a lovely nutty toasty flavour,. If you don’t have ghee any flavourless oil will also work.

A note on spices and curry powders

For this sort of homely Indian restaurant food that is so often cited as Britain’s national dish I think you can generally get away with a ready made curry power mix, find one you like from an Indian brand and keep that for anything that calls for a generic curry powder.

Generally you will be adding other spices (generally cumin, coriander, turmeric or more chilli) to fine tune the flavour.

I keep medium curry powder for those recipes that call for it (this ones doesn’t) as it adds a general Indian restaurant flavour to the dish, without having to keep and measure out many different spices. Think of it as a base flavour; it’s like adding stock to a soup. You can add the same stock to a variety of soups and they all taste very different depending on the other ingredients.

Garam masala is not the same as ‘curry powder’. It contains some of the sweeter spices and in some recipes it is used at a later stage of cooking. Think of it as a seasoning, like a pinch of salt.

Curry Powder – base flavour – like a stock cube
Garam Masala – seasoning – like a pinch of salt

How to make chicken madras – step by step

Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this chicken madras recipe perfectly every time.

Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.

Step One – Firstly check you have all the spices – as it’s really frustrating to start and find you are missing one.

Peel and quarter the onion, halve the chilli and add the ginger and garlic paste to a small food processor or mini chopper.

Pulse / whizz to chop finely or to a paste as your machine allows.

Step Two – melt the ghee, add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli paste and fry over a medium heat stirring all the time until it starts to turn golden.

Cooking pan – I use a good heavy (but not necessarily expensive) frying pan / skillet, which is non stick and has a well fitting lid. Anything between 23-28cm (9-11″) is perfect.

Step Three – Add the spices and fry for another few minutes, until everything is a deep golden and is fragrant.

Don’t worry about the whole cardamon pods, they will float to the top during cooking and are really easy to remove. I see all sorts of hints and tips for stringing them together etc. It is not necessary.

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces whilst everything else is cooking.

Step Four – Stir in the chicken pieces and fry for another few minutes until they chicken is no longer pink on the outside, and is coated in the spices.

Step Five – Add the canned tomatoes and tomato puree and stir through.

If you are using leftover cooked chicken you will need to add a splash of water at this point.

Give everything a good stir. Cover and allow to simmer on the lowest heat for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Step Six – Check the curry, remove any cardamon pods which have floated to the top, taste and add a little salt to taste. If needed cook for another 10 minutes with the lid ajar to reduce and thicken the sauce.

At the end of cooking I usually stir through a knob of butter to make the sauce richer, and to help meld the spices. This really makes a big difference to the final dish.

If you can rest the curry after cooking and allow it to cool, then reheat to serve it will taste so much better as this gives the flavours time to meld and soften. It is even better kept in the fridge overnight.

Serving suggestion

Garnish the dish before serving with some thinly sliced chillis and coriander leaves. The contrast of the deep red curry and bright green of the coriander looks so appetizing.

Serve the chicken madras with traditional British Indian restaurant side dishes, such as pilau rice or turmeric rice. Flatbreads such as rotis, parathas or naan are other options. A bowl of creamy home made raita helps temper the spices for those who prefer less heat.

Variations

• Make this dish using some leftover cooked or roast chicken. Add to the dish as normal after cooking the spices, and add the tomato and puree immediately. Add a little extra liquid and simmer as per the instructions.
  
• You can add ½ tsp tamarind paste and ¼ tsp ground fenugreek to the spice mixture at the beginning. This with add sourness and bitterness to the dish, for a true restaurant flavour.
  
• You can also make this recipe using lamb or beef chunks, but the cooking time will be longer.
  
• Substituting paneer cheese instead of the chicken give you a vegetarian option

• Adjust the spicing and heat to taste.

Storage

This chicken madras, like most curries, is far better when made in advance and allowed to rest. Then reheat before serving. This gives more time for the flavours to infuse into the meat, and for everything to meld and soften.

Fridge – Allow to cool, and as soon as it is room temperature pack into an airtight container and place in the fridge. It keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Freezer – Cool and pack into an airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge or on the worktop before reheating.

Reheat in a pan on the stove top, or heat in the microwave, making sure it is properly hot all the way through before serving.

Hints and tips

• Take time to fry the spices and chicken properly, so that they are fragrant and the chicken is thoroughly cooked on the outside and well covered in the spice mixture.
  
• Curries lend themselves very well to batch cooking and it is easy to double this recipe up. I find when doubling you don’t always need to double the liquid, so keep some of the liquid from the canned tomatoes back.

• I don’t recommend halving this recipe – the spice quantities become fiddly and a smaller batch is more likely to dry out. It freezes and reheats so well it is the perfect dish to cook once and eat twice.

FAQs

More British Indian restaurant recipes

• My slow cooker beef curry is a tasty and easy recipe that’s ready when you get home

• Chole is meat-free classic that’s so quick easy to make. This chickpea, spinach and tomato curry is as tasty as it is nutritious.

• Chicken dhansak is a delicious lentil based curry with sweet and sour notes in a fruity, subtly spiced sauce.

• Explore all my favourite Indian curries