Recipe for Curry Leaf Chicken

After eating curry leaf chicken in a restaurant in Bangalore, my entire family became a fan of this dish. The hero of the dish is, of course, curry leaves. It gives its unique flavour to this dish, making it stand apart from the chicken dishes made with tomato onion gravy.

The curry plant is a native plant from Asia and is known to have many health benefits. It is full of antioxidants, is said to be great for hair and skin, and helps regulate blood sugar levels. Since Curry leaves grow extensively in India, this ingredient has found its way into many Indian recipes, especially those originating in the southern part of the country.

In Germany, it is not too easy to find fresh leaves. Since curry leaves grow best in warm and dry conditions, with 6-8 hours of direct sunlight, they are usually brought to Germany from warmer countries like Italy and Greece, where the grown plants are protected under specialized conditions during winter. Given these constraints, fresh leaves are usually hard to find. In my city, I mostly get dry curry leaves, which I buy and store in an air-tight jar so that I can use them for as long as I can. If you have access to fresh curry leaves, please use them in the recipe. If you don’t get them, go ahead with the dry leaves, just as I did 🙂

Now, let’s start with the recipe for Curry leaf chicken.

Ingredients needed for Curry Leaf Chicken:

1. Chicken breast: 600 gm ( washed and cut into cubes)
2. Curry leaves: 2 cups (for the gravy) + 5-6 used in the initial frying
3. Onions: 2 big ( finely chopped)
4. Finely chopped ginger and garlic: 1 tablespoon
5. Ghee: 2 tablespoon
6. Salt: To taste
7. Turmeric Powder: 1 teaspoon
8. Red Chili Powder: 1 teaspoon
9. Coriander Powder: 1 tablespoon
10. Garam Masala: 1 teaspoon
11. Cumin Powder: 1/2 teaspoon
12. Chana Dal: 2 tablespoons
13. Grated Coconut: 2 tablespoons
14. Dry Red chillies: 3-4 ( depending on how hot you want the dish to be)
15. Cashews and almonds: 8-10 ( soaked and then turned into a paste)
16. Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
17. Cloves:3-4
18. Bay leaves:: 1-2
19. Green chillies: 2
20. 5-6 Cashews + 2-3 green chilies + 1 teaspoon ghee for ‘Tadka’
21. Fresh chopped Coriander leaves: For garnishing
22. Water: About 2 cups

Method for making Curry Leaf Chicken:

1. In a pan, dry roast chana dal on low to medium heat. After a few minutes, add dry red chillies when the chana dal changes colour. Roast further. Then add grated coconut and curry leaves (2 cups). Roast everything together in low to medium heat, ensuring nothing burns ( constant mixing with a spatula would help).
   
   
   
2. Take it out and grind it into a powder after the mixture cools.
   
   
   
3. In the same pan, fry cumin seeds in ghee. Add cloves and bay leaves.
   
   
   
4. Then add finely chopped onions and a few(5-6) curry leaves and fry till the onions become translucent.
   
   
   
5. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, and salt, and fry for a minute more.
   
   
   
6. Then add chicken and dry roast for 2-3 minutes.
   
   
   
7. Now add the ground powder ( made in step 2).
   
   
   
8. Dry roast for 1-2 minutes. Then add water and close the lid and cook for 5 minutes more.
   
   
   
9. Once the chicken is completely cooked, turn off the heat and add the cashew-almond paste.
   
   
   
10. In the end, take a small pan with one teaspoon of ghee. Fry fresh green chillies, curry leaves, and cashews. This is called Tadka. Put this tadka on the chicken curry, garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
    
    

Serve with rice, roti, or paratha.

About Ingredient sourcing in Germany:

While you will get some of the ingredients needed for this recipe from a German Supermarket, you can get all the ingredients from any Indian shop near you or the online store of Spicelands. They are a big store in Frankfurt, delivering all across Germany.

Alternatively, you can even buy these ingredients from amazon.de. Links are given below:

Chicken Breast: https://amzn.to/3W72BtA
Curry Leaves: https://amzn.to/3MvAam8
Onion:  https://amzn.to/41A3k7W
Ginger:  https://amzn.to/3pxq4Ia
Garlic: https://amzn.to/42wXmWy
Ghee: https://amzn.to/3BtQ9ut
Salt: https://amzn.to/3ACstDM
Turmeric Powder: https://amzn.to/3M6pCrX
Red Chilli Powder: https://amzn.to/3o1N6Xj
Coriander Powder: https://amzn.to/3OcRKww
Garam Masala Powder: https://amzn.to/3IdiSYd
Chana Dal: https://amzn.to/3BKOVLL
Coconut: https://amzn.to/3Ic6EPu
Dry Red Chillies: https://amzn.to/3O8CMrf
Cashews: https://amzn.to/3W6NC2Q
Almonds: https://amzn.to/3W48Dvb
Cumin Seeds: https://amzn.to/41EPjWD
Cloves: https://amzn.to/3W5MRHe
Bay leaves: https://amzn.to/42CoUdl
Coriander Leaves: https://amzn.to/3AZWU76

Equipment needed for the recipe:

Pan: https://amzn.to/44V92Ek
Cutting Board: https://amzn.to/3n9IXjM
Knife Set (includes a bread knife): https://amzn.to/3Lg64Bj

Check out the recipe in printable format here:

Please note that this article contains affiliate links. If you buy using these links, I receive a small commission. This has no effect on the price for you.

Check out other recipes from my kitchen here.

For information about identifying and understanding products in German supermarkets, click here.

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