This Chicken Curry is a delicious slow cooked, pulled chicken thigh curry which is low in fat and high on taste!
I have recently become a huge fan of chicken thighs as the price of chicken breast seems to be sky rocketing lately. Plus as well as being far cheaper they are actually tastier and more succulent than breast meat. So becoming bored with roasting thighs with various herbs and spices etc I wanted to find something a bit healthier to do with them.
A few clicks on the computer lead me to Martha Stewart’s recipe for Chicken Curry which was slow cooked and used skinless chicken thigh where the meat was pulled at the end so there were no bones to fiddle with. Her recipe involved putting raw chicken straight into the slow cooker and I knew that the instructions on mine stipulated that only hot food should be put in it from the onset.
Hence I gave Martha’s recipe a complete makeover and also upped the amount of Madras curry powder in it and made the coconut milk with powdered coconut milk to lower the fat content.
I have been meaning to enter Dom’s Random Recipes challenge (Belleau Kitchen) for such a very long time and remember last year taking photos of all my cook books for one of his challenges but time has always worked against me. Then recently on a random recipe challenge the “randomater” wanted me to make something with lobster so I gave up on that month! This month Dom just wanted a healthy recipe (he’s not been a well bunny recently) from the internet or a book so finally after a year I am entering the Random Recipes challenge.
With all the changes I made to the method of this recipe I had no idea if it would work but I’m pleased to say it was really delicious and was enjoyed by myself, my husband and son. My daughter won’t touch chicken thigh meat so the next day with the portion that was left over I made 2 portions of soup by adding some chicken stock and a bit more coconut milk powder – now that’s thrifty!
I’m entering Credit Crunch Munch as all the ingredients in this dish are really inexpensive. This challenge is run by myself and Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and being hosted by Anneli at Delicieux this month. Finally I am also entering my curry into Javelin Warrior’s Cookin w’luv Made with Love Mondays challenge as this dish is made from scratch.
I served my curry with some Mint Raita which I made with Greek yogurt mixed with some freshly chopped mint leaves and chunks of cucumber. I also made a tomato and red onion relish to which I would have added some chopped coriander if I’d had some and then I added a ramekin of mango chutney to the line up. We’ve even been known to serve sliced banana with our curries!
Here’s a step by step guide:
A delicious Chicken Curry that you can enjoy without a guilty conscience!
Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Rapeseed oil
- 1 Kg Chicken thighs skinned
- 2 Onions finely sliced
- 30 g Ginger root finely diced
- 8 Cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp Madras curry powder
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Coriander
- 2 tsp Course salt
- 8 tsp Coconut milk powder mixed with 500mls warm water
- 250 g Frozen peas
- Coriander to garnish optional
Instructions
- In a frying pan brown the chicken thighs in 1 tbsp of oil.
- Place in the slow cooker.
- Then add another tbsp of oil and fry the onion gently for a few minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, salt, cumin, coriander and curry powder.
- Cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, then add the onion mixture to the chicken breasts.
- Cook on high for about 4 hours.
- Then add the peas and cook for a further 20 minutes
- Meanwhile ransfer the chicken to a bowl and shred on a chopping mat.
- Put the chicken back in the slow cooker to heat up and mix with the sauce.
- Serve on a bed of rice and garnish with coriander.
Jacqueline
Just read your Italian chicken, and noticed your discovery of browning not required. Can the chicken thighs & onion go in raw or would you still advise browning both?
Camilla
Hi Jacqueline, good question. The chicken would be cooked if you put it in raw but with curry making you usually fry the spices in oil to release the flavour and also fry the onions. If I was pushed for time I might try substituting curry paste for the curry powder. I can’t give a definitive answer as I haven’t tried cooking this dish from raw.
Ursula Hunt
Chicken curry is great to use the cheaper cuts of meat in
Camilla
Yes thighs are far tastier too:-)
Ursula Hunt
This was our dinner last night and was delicious
Camilla
Aaw that’s lovely to hear, I went through a phase of making this all the time and haven’t had it for a while so really should make it again as it’s so cheap and easy:-)
Marion Weir
Looks delicious
Jane Davies
Looks lovely, I too have become a fan of the thighs, not only are they cheaper but personally I find them tastier than the breast !
Camilla
Exactly, it’s like turkey breast mince is too dry the thigh meat far tastier!
tiggerific1973
Another one I must make 🙂 x
Camilla
Thank you:-)
Jane Davies
Lovely sounding curry, would defo need the yogurt as I’m not a fan of spicy food 😀
Lynn Fancy
This sounds delicious and something I can do with left over chicken, as my son is vege I tend to get a lot of left over meat that I end up wasting!
Sarah Cooper
Looks absolutely delicious.
Camilla
Thank you:-)
jessica newman
I do love a good curry and this one looks lush
Camilla
Thanks Jessica, it is lovely:-)
Ursula Hunt
used for my left over turkey, thank you
Camilla
Fab:-)
Paul Wilson
Would be great on cold days like today.
Camilla
Ooh thanks for reminding me of this dish, I must make it soon:-)
michelle bennett
Oh that looks yum! My curry always comes out sloppy! Ive never thought about adding yogurt to the side as an accompaniment, will have to do that on our next curry night 😀
Amanda Beamish
I was looking for chicken thigh inspiration, looks like I found it. Need to get some more coriander though first 🙂
Camilla
Great, hope you enjoy it:-)
William Gould
Chicken thighs! Who’d have thought! Must try them soon…
Maddy
After trying thighs in another recipe I wouldn’t go back to breast now- MUCh more expensive and can dry out if you’re not careful
Marion Weir
I love a curry when the weather turns cold. I have never thought of using thighs, I will need to put this on my list 😀
Heather Haigh
I agree, chicken thighs are so moist and flavoursome and much better value than breasts. Great in a curry. Yours sounds very tasty.
Camilla
Thanks:-)
Paul Wilson
Excellent winter warmer, chicken curry.
Tracy Nixon
Great recipe thanks – I am looking to make chicken curry tonight for me and the kids for the Chinese New Year and this recipe sounds lovely!
K Mayers
Chicken is virtually the only meat I eat & I love curry. My wife won’t usually have it though as recipes often use yoghurt – coconut milk is a great idea & she’d go for that. Everything about the recipe is perfect – thank you for this.
Camilla
We love this curry and it’s so frugal too:-)
Tracy Nixon
Great Autumnal recipe – this will warm our cockles!
Camilla
It’s a great recipe, frugal and tasty:-)
Anne Wallwin
chicken curry is favourite!
Heather Haigh
Thanks!
Dan Murphy
Looks delicious, wil definitely be giving this a try!
Camilla
Thanks hope you enjoy it:-)
Paul Wilson
Love a nice chicken curry.
Heather Haigh
I love curry, and chicken is my favourite. Never heard of coconut milk powder – will look out for that.
Camilla
I get mine in the ethnic aisle of Tesco it’s made by Maggi!
Maya Russell
Yogurt is a nice, cooling, accompaniment.
Tracy Nixon
A lovely recipe thanks!
Lisa Williams
I love the addition of peas curry is the perfect vehicle for adding tons of different veg 🙂
Paul Wilson
Can’t beat a nice chicken curry.
tinkertink2010
One of my faves xoxo
Tracy Nixon
Lovely recipe thank you!
Sara Hughes
As winter draws nigh I am turning to such slow cooked recipes, ans have long been a fan of chicken thighs (organic if I can afford them) so look forward to trying this recipe out.
Caroline Burt
This sounds fab, will certainly be giving this ago x
carpathian
looks really yummy 🙂
Sarah Bowen
Delicious!
Annie Costa
Coming from a family of farmers I’ve always rated chicken thighs highly,I’m glad you healthified Martha’s recipe-I’ve been trying to find one and this was just the ticket!
Camilla
Thank you, I hope you enjoy it:-)
Lynda Avery
Chicken thighs have so much flavour and do not go stringy when cooked on a high heat.
Clare Webb
I love using chicken thighs for things and agree they are much tastier!
Lou
You know, I used to always have sliced banana with my curries but haven’t done so for ages. Thanks for reminding me. I must put curry on next week’s menu so I can relive my childhood.
I am already a thigh convert. We buy free range chicken and it is extortionate. We had a whole roast chicken tonight (the leftovers will do us coronation chicken for our sandwiches for next few days and making some chicken stock for minestrone for later in week) but we can really only afford a chicken once every month or so. Sad state of affairs.
Camilla
Glad we weren’t the only ones LOL! Good that you get so many meals out of your chicken. I tried making both Turkey and Chicken Stock but we just didn’t like it and prefer a stock cube oddly enough! I know what you mean about affording things!!
Lesley Bain
Sounds gorgeous we will be having this next week…maybe with a bit less spice as my wee ones love a curry but it has to be very mild. A great use of cheaper cuts of chicken….and a great meal for adapting to use leftover veg etc 🙂 x
Camilla
I do hope you enjoy it. We have the opposite here I had to make it a bit hotter for my boys the last time I made it.
claire toplis
Good idea to turn it into soup very frugal.
Camilla
Thanks Claire, waste not want not:-)
Maria @ Feisty Tapas
I have become a big fan of chicken thigh fillets too, so much cheaper as you say. I hardly ever buy chicken breasts now, unless they are on offer I’d rather just buy thighs or a whole chicken. I have only recently started cooking curry (I am Spanish, curries are a recent discovery for me), I really like the sound of this
Camilla
Thanks for dropping by:-) We had this curry again this week as the boys in my family love it! I find my thighs for £1.99 so it’s a really cheap meal.
Carriecakes
Just wanted to say a massive thank-you for your delicious recipes! My husband has taken note of some of the things he wants to try out (think this ones first!) The pictures are also superb! 🙂
Camilla
Aah thank you so much that’s really made my day, hope you enjoy the curry:-)
Javelin Warrior
Wonderful use of chicken thighs, Camilla! The shredding must make the chicken so tender… I’ve also never seen powdered coconut milk before, so I’m going to have to look for that. A wonderful way to avoid something from a can…
Camilla
Thanks Mark. They were so much nicer off the bone so will do this again with other thigh dishes. Hope you find some powdered coconut milk, I had no idea so many people didn’t know about it!
Jacqueline @How to be a Gourmand
What a fabulous idea! I too have just taken delivery of a batch of chicken thighs but I don’t have a slow cooker ;-(.
I guess I could still slow cook them in a casserole dish. What do you think Camilla?
Camilla
I’d just google a similar dish in a casserole and cook in the oven or hob for a similar amount of time if you don’t have a slow cooker. You should get one, mine was a really cheap basic one and it’s so nice to leave something to cook all day and then voila a lovely succulent meal appears later:-)
Dom
chicken thighs are simply the best piece of the chicken… so much flavour and they love a long cook or a short cook… I am a huge fan. plus i’m a huge fan of this glorious happy dish, it looks so beautiful and I bet the flavours were simply gorgeous… thank you so much for entering random recipes, it’s adorable to have you on board!
Camilla
Thank you for such an eloquent appraisal Dom, glad to be on board finally:-)
Dawn @ Words Of Deliciousness
This sounds like an excellent dish. I am a big fan of chicken thighs.
Camilla
Thank you:-)
DANIELLE VEDMORE
Ooooh lokks yummy. I love chicken thighs – just hate seperating the flesh from the skin and the bones! I also didnt know about coconut milk powder! Bet it saves a fortune! xoxo
Camilla
Thank you and glad to be an information service too LOL:-) xxx
Angela
I’m a big fan of chicken thighs but find that so many people don’t eat the ‘dark’ meat from a chicken. Don’t know what they’re missing I say. Love your pictures BTW.
Camilla
Thank Angela. I’ve just started my chicken thigh journey. Thanks for compliment on pictures:-)
Jen @ BlueKitchenBakes
Looks pretty good, I always use chicken thighs now as they are so much cheaper and taste better too. I usually cook them whole but don’t bother picking the bones out before serving, though I imagine that with kids it’s probably a good idea to do that.
Thanks for the tip on coconut milk powder too, I had no idea such a product existed.
Camilla
Thanks Jen. I’m surprised you don’t know about Coconut Milk Powder, I buy the Maggi brand in Tesco:-)
Jen @ BlueKitchenBakes
Excellent, I will have a look for it next time I go shopping. I tend to use creamed coconut dissolved in water as tinned coconut milk seems to be really expensive most of the time.
Anneli (Delicieux)
I am a huge fan of chicken thighs over breasts. They really are so much more flavoursome. And in the slow cooker they are just sublime, falling off the bone, extra juicy and yummy. Your curry is right up my alley and looks great. Definitely one I am bookmarking for my family. Thanks – great entry for Credit Crunch Munch x
Camilla
Hi Anneli, I found your comment in my Spam so hope I’ve never missed any others, must check it now somehow but there were 700 here! I hope your family enjoy the curry, my daughter isn’t a curry fan so it’s just the 3 of us on it but you can’t please all tastes in our family!