Coconut chicken curry recipe – a quick and easy chicken curry recipe with coconut, onions, tomatoes, and spices. Perfect weekend Indian chicken recipe.
I rarely make chicken curry but when I do, I usually go for the easy options – either this coconut chicken curry recipe or my popular chicken curry with coconut milk, one of the highest pinned recipes from Edible Garden on Pinterest!
Coconut based curries are my first love, partly because I am from Kerala and, you know, we love our coconut but also because they are just so versatile. You can serve this with rice, dosa, appam, chapati, you name it!
When I make this coconut chicken curry and it turns out really good, I am secretly glad TH is vegetarian and I get to keep the leftovers for a few days and add a bit to my meals. There, I said it. I am a bit evil.
Moving on.
If you are a newbie cook and want an easy chicken curry, this could be it. It involves grinding but you can use a spice jar, blender, chopper, whatever you have in hand, to quickly grind the coconut and the rest is really simple. I often buy pre-cubed chicken breast and the coconut chicken curry is ready in under 30 mins. Total win.
As with any easy and basic recipes I share, the proportions and key spices used here are all my own take so adapt and make it your own. Even though I say so myself, if you follow the recipe, you will still be left with a delicious coconut chicken curry.
More Indian chicken recipes:
Coconut Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 grams chicken breast cubed
For marinade:
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste preferably fresh
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder gives more colour without the heat
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
For the curry
- 1/4 cup grated coconut fresh or frozen, thawed
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 star anise
- A small piece of cinnamon
- 3-4 cardamom pods
- 1 cup finely chopped onions
- 2-3 green chillies adjust to taste
- 1-2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
- A few curry leaves optional
- 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
- Salt as needed
Instructions
- Clean and place the chicken pieces in a bowl
- Add the ingredients for the marinade and sprinkle was as needed
- Mix well and set aside
- In a pan, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds, star anise, cardamom pods, and cinnamon
- Roast for a minute or until the spices crackle and turn fragrant
- Add the chopped onions and green chillies and saute until light golden brown
- Now add the coriander powder and fry for 2 minutes
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and curry leaves (if using)
- Cook until the tomatoes turn soft and mushy without adding any water
- In the meantime, dry roast the coconut unlight lightly browned. This step is optional, you can just grind the coconut as is and add to the curry, but I like to do it to bring out the coconut flavour a bit more
- Grind the coconut with enough water to make a smooth paste
- Now add the marinated chicken pieces to the onion tomato mixture along with the ground coconut paste
- Mix well, add a cup of water, and cook covered on low flame for 10-15 mins or until the chicken pieces are tender
- Once done, uncover, add more water if needed for more gravy, add salt as required, garnish with coriander leaves and mix again
- Serve hot with rice or any other main as you prefer
- All done!
Step by Step Coconut Chicken Curry Recipe
Clean and place the chicken pieces in a bowl. Add the ingredients for the marinade and sprinkle was as needed
Mix well and set aside
In a pan, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds, star anise, cardamom pods, and cinnamon. Roast for a minute or until the spices crackle and turn fragrant
Add the chopped onions and sliced green chillies and saute until light golden brown
Now add the coriander powder and fry for 2 minutes
Then add the chopped tomatoes and curry leaves (if using)
Cook until the tomatoes turn soft and mushy, without adding any water
In the meantime, dry roast the coconut unlight lightly browned. This step is optional, you can just grind the coconut as is and add to the curry, but I like to do it to bring out the coconut flavour a bit more. Grind the coconut with enough water to make a smooth paste
Now add the marinated chicken pieces to the onion tomato mixture along with the ground coconut paste and 1-2 cups water (depending on how much gravy you want your curry to have)
Mix well and cook covered on low flame for 10-15 mins or until the chicken pieces are tender
Once done, uncover, add more water if needed for more gravy, add salt as required, garnish with coriander leaves and mix again
Serve hot with rice or any other main as you prefer. All done!
Notes:
Adjust all spices to your preference. Remember that any curry recipe is very subjective and you need to do some tasting and trial and error as you go along to get the preferred taste.
If your tomatoes are not sour, you can add 1-2 tbsp lemon juice to the curry
Marinating the chicken is optional and you can add those spices + ginger garlic when adding the coriander powder to get a more roasted flavour. I like the meat to be more flavourful so tend to prefer preparing coconut chicken curry this way
If you want your curry to have a lot of gravy, add more coconut, thin down with more water, and make sure you add enough spices and salt to make up for that
For coconut chicken curry recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu, Malay, Spanish, French etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar
Victoria Zasikowski
Just made this and we liked it a lot! I added a tbps of coconut oil and served it with some leftover rice that I fried up in coconut oil with shallots and some bruised cardamom. Yum!
Archana
Instant chicken curry with delicious flavor, not too spicy also. Thanks for d recipe
Namitha
Hi nags…. I love your website.. I have been trying your recipes for a few yrs now and everything I’ve baked and cooked from your recipes and It has all turned out so good. Last week I bakedyour pound cake and it was so good I am baking again for my son’s b day. Tonite our dinner is going to be your coconut chicken curry. Thank u for your blog.
nags
Thank you thank you!:)
Jill
looks delicious! and seems pretty easy to make, I def have to bookmark this!
Amanda | Chew Town
I am loving the simplicity of this chicken curry… it actually feels like I could make it on a regular basis as a midweek meal. I love the ground coconut paste idea!!
nags
thanks amanda, glad you like the coconut chicken curry recipe
himanshu
very easy to make .. time saving and also awesome taste
nags
thank you
Sabrina
Yum, this looks great! Love the addition of shredded coconut!
nags
thank you sabrina 🙂