Baked Chicken Curry. An easy, flavorful version of your favorite chicken curry. Chock-full of flavor from aromatic spices and coconut milk, this easy curry recipe is guaranteed to change your dinner game.
There’s more to making a good chicken curry than combining a few spices to achieve the right balance of flavor and taste. In my opinion, chicken needs to be succulent and absorb the flavor from the rich sauce. And that requires more time. I mean, allowing chicken to cook in the sauce for longer period or in short, slow cooking.
So if you really want to make juicy flavorful chicken, you’ll have to look beyond the stove and turn your attention to one of the best slow cookers in your kitchen – oven. The basic idea of this baked chicken curry is creating a wonderful side dish with the slow cooking technique. The best part? While the slow cooker needs at least 4-8 hours of cooking time, baking in the oven drastically reduces the time to 40-45 minutes. Brilliant!
Make Your Own Curry Paste
Just like any good chicken curry recipe, the base flavor comes from the magical combination of aromatic spices. Obviously, store bought curry pastes come to the rescue when you are time-poor. But I highly recommend making your own curry paste from scratch for the best flavorful baked chicken curry. The Indian curry paste I have used in this recipe is a mix of a few very basic spices that you use in Indian cooking. This includes coriander, cumin, black peppercorns, fennel, red chilies, shallot, garlic, ginger, turmeric powder, paprika, tomato paste and white vinegar. Process all the spices to a smooth paste and your curry paste is ready.
Baked Chicken Curry
Start with browning the chicken in a little oil. Make sure both sides are beautifully browned, but you don’t need to cook the chicken completely at this stage. Now, remove the browned chicken from the pan and sauté some chopped onions alongside ginger and garlic. Once the onions are nicely browned, add some chopped tomatoes. Allow the tomatoes to break down and turn mushy.
To the mushy tomatoes, you’ll need to add in curry paste. Give this a quick stir fry to release the aroma and flavor. Now, stir in a little coconut milk and coriander leaves, season with salt, and bring to a boil. At this stage, the sauce and browned chicken can go into the oven for the final stage of cooking this baked chicken curry. I really like to sprinkle some raisins to add a touch of sweetness to the curry. However, it’s totally optional.
Tips To Make The Best Baked Chicken Curry
Make sure you seal the chicken. Whether you use chicken thighs or breasts, make sure you brown the chicken on both sides over medium-high heat. This process is called sealing, and it keeps the chicken moist and succulent.
Feel free to use chicken breasts in place of thighs. Although thighs are the most flavorful part of chicken, you can also use chicken breasts if you like them. But remember the cooking times may vary depending on the size of the chicken breasts.
Substitute with your favorite curry paste. Although I have opted for Indian curry paste for this recipe, you can always use your favorite paste like korma paste, vindaloo paste, or even tandoori paste.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 kg chicken I used chicken breasts
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 inch fresh ginger chopped
- 1 large tomato chopped
- Indian curry paste
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ¼ cup chopped coriander cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- Salt to taste
- Cashew nuts to garnish (optional)
- Coriander cilantro leaves, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare Indian curry paste according to recipe instructions. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 200 C or 400 F. Place an oven safe pan or casserole over medium-high heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add chicken in a single layer. Cook chicken, 3 minutes on each side, until browned. Remove chicken from the pan. Set aside.
- To the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add onions, garlic and ginger. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes or until browned.
- Add tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3-4 minutes or until tomatoes start to break down.
- Add curry paste. Stir fry for a minute. Add coconut milk. Season with salt. Add coriander (cilantro) leaves. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil.
- Add chicken back to the pan. Sprinkle over raisins. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. (Make sure the pan or casserole is oven proof).
- Ideally, the internal temperature of cooked chicken needs to be 165 F or 75 C.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Baked Chicken Recipes:
- Easy Baked Tandoori Chicken
- Baked Chicken 65
- Baked Tandoori Chicken Meatballs
- Indian Baked Chicken with Cilantro (Coriander) Rice Salad
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Alonna Smith says
Hi Rose,
I love your recipes and want to try this one but I can't find the video. Do you keep the skin on the chicken?
Thanks!
Rose Mary George says
Of course you can keep the skin on the chicken if you like. I've used skinless boneless chicken thighs in this recipe. And I'll upload the video asap. Happy cooking!
Nicola says
Hi Nish, could I do this curry in the slow cooker? If so how long should I cook it for?
Rose Mary George says
Yes. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F is reached.
Sinead says
Hello, I used your other recipe to make the curry paste- how much should I add?
Rose Mary George says
I used 3/4 cup, but if you prefer a milder curry, start with 1/2 cup and add to taste
GEORGE HALL says
Can you use yoghurt instead of coconut milk - or just add more water?
Rose Mary George says
yes, yoghurt would be a perfect addition!