Welcome to crazy tasty land. Indian hotel style Ceylon chicken curry. For when you feel the need for something that really slams your tastebuds with flavour.
Think Sri Lankan spices. Green chilies. Curry leaves. Coconut. A whole lot of South Indian goodness going on here.
This is restaurant style cooking. Not like your neighbourhood restaurant though. This is posh. High-end. What happens when Indian chefs go looking for a Michelin star.
OK – maybe not a Michelin star. That’s over the top. But I’m betting this is what goes on in serious Indian restaurant kitchens. The ones people line up for. And what goes on in the fanciest restaurants in India.
Indian hotel might not be a style you know
This is a little different. Don’t jump into this recipe assuming you can just use your regular Indian restaurant curry base.
This is not one of those recipes. And for the record. I still love my regular curry base. But I’m really impressed with the results I’m getting with hotel style. With this sledgehammer curry gravy.
This is a new approach. A whole different take on how to cook Indian restaurant style.
Don’t write me off. Don’t run back to what you know. What you believe. Indian hotel curry gravy is a bit of a game changer.
It’s not a lot of boiled onions. It’s a lot of deeply browned onions. And that gets you somewhere completely different. A whole new depth of flavour.
This style is more work up front. But it’s easier to make at dinner time. And it’s way less messy. Some of the techniques are the same. It’s about identical until you get to the curry gravy.
Then it changes completely. You don’t need to add it in batches. It all goes in at once. And you don’t need to fry it hard. It’s already got the Maillard reaction magic built in.
I’d say it’s actually easier. Safer. You are going to get it right the first time. And then every time.
Bottom line. Do this and you will make a delicious Ceylon chicken curry. Seriously tasty.
No need to pre-cook chicken when cooking Indian hotel style
This is my favourite thing about cooking Ceylon chicken curry hotel style. Any chicken curry really done hotel style. You don’t need to pre-cook the chicken. That’s incredible.
I’m not saying that because pre-cooking chicken is extra work. Look around. Glebekitchen is not about cutting corners. It’s about doing what it takes. Always.
I’m talking about not dumping great chicken flavour down the drain. Because that’s what happens when you pre-cook chicken. All those juices are lost. I have always had a big problem with that.
Not any more. The chicken poaches in the curry. The way it was meant to be. All those delicious juices in the sauce.
And in my mouth. Where they belong. Balance in the universe has been restored. I can sleep at night again.
Ceylon chicken curry Indian hotel style
This is my inaugural hotel style recipe here at glebekitchen. The very first one. So I had to go for broke. I wanted wow. Serious wow.
So I’m going with Ceylon chicken curry. I’ve been meaning to make something like this for a long time. And I’m really glad I waited.
Because hotel style drives it completely over the top. It’s different. But if you like South Indian this one is for you.
One thing is certain. This is the first of many.
ceylon chicken curry
Ingredients
The spice mix
- 2 tsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder – Madras curry powder isn’t the same but it will do in a pinch.
- 1 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1/2 tsp kasoor methi
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt – a bit less if you use regular table salt
Ceylon chicken curry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil – any neutral oil works
- 1 2" piece cinnamon bark – also called cassia bark
- 3 green cardamom pods
- 10 curry leaves – no you don’t have to count them. Around 10 is fine.
- 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
- 2 green chilies – jwala type finger hot green chilies cut in half lengthwise, seeded and into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup Indian hotel curry gravy – recipe link below
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs – cut into 3-4 pieces each
- 3 tbsp coconut milk
- 1 tsp tamarind paste Pure tamarind paste – not tamarind sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar or jaggery (optional)
Instructions
Do your prep
- This goes fast. Be ready. Make your spice mix. Get your ingredients out and close to the stove.
Make the Ceylon chicken curry
- Heat the oil in a medium frying pan until it just starts to shimmer.
- Add the green cardamom, cassia bark and curry leaves. Cook about 30 seconds. You want to see little bubbles forming around your whole spices. It you don’t get them right from the start heat your oil a little more next time. What you don’t want to do is panic and crank the heat. You will just wind up burning things in the next step.
- Stir in the garlic ginger paste and green chilies. Cook until the garlic ginger paste stops sputtering.
- Turn your heat to medium low and add your spice mix. This is why you added a full 3 tablespoons of oil at the beginning. You want your spices to fry in the oil. Too little oil and the spices will stick or burn and you will be starting over.
- Gently fry the spices in the oil, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. This is where magic happens. Volatile compounds in the spices will be released into the oil. And that is big flavour.
- Turn the heat up to medium. Add the Indian hotel curry gravy. Bring to a simmer. Really stir it to get the oil to combine and cook for about a minute. You don’t need it to fry hard like a regular restaurant curry. That’s the beauty of hotel style. You already have that done. No need to make a mess of your stove.
- Add the chicken in an even layer and cover the pan. After about 5 minutes flip the chicken pieces. Tongs are good for this. Can’t beat a good set of restaurant tongs in the kitchen. Cook until the chicken is just done.
- The chicken should take around 8-12 minutes to cook through. It really depends on how large the chicken thigh pieces are. Best bet is to use an instant read thermometer and go for 170F.
- Once the chicken is done, stir in the coconut milk and tamarind paste. Simmer for one minute.
- The texture should be about right at this point. If it’s too thick add a bit of water or chicken stock Not a lot. Probably a couple tablespoons max.
- If it is too thin (chicken throws a fair bit of liquid as it cooks) just let the curry simmer uncovered for a minute or two.
- Taste and decide if you fall in the slightly sweet camp. If you do add the sugar and stir. It will open up the flavours a bit. I like it.
- Serve with rice or Indian flatbread. Or both!
Notes
Nutrition
ceylon chicken curry
Ingredients
The spice mix
- 2 tsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder - Madras curry powder isn’t the same but it will do in a pinch.
- 1 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1/2 tsp kasoor methi
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt - a bit less if you use regular table salt
Ceylon chicken curry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil - any neutral oil works
- 1 2" piece cinnamon bark - also called cassia bark
- 3 green cardamom pods
- 10 curry leaves - no you don’t have to count them. Around 10 is fine.
- 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
- 2 green chilies - jwala type finger hot green chilies cut in half lengthwise, seeded and into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup Indian hotel curry gravy - recipe link below
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs - cut into 3-4 pieces each
- 3 tbsp coconut milk
- 1 tsp tamarind paste Pure tamarind paste - not tamarind sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar or jaggery (optional)
Instructions
Do your prep
- This goes fast. Be ready. Make your spice mix. Get your ingredients out and close to the stove.
Make the Ceylon chicken curry
- Heat the oil in a medium frying pan until it just starts to shimmer.
- Add the green cardamom, cassia bark and curry leaves. Cook about 30 seconds. You want to see little bubbles forming around your whole spices. It you don’t get them right from the start heat your oil a little more next time. What you don’t want to do is panic and crank the heat. You will just wind up burning things in the next step.
- Stir in the garlic ginger paste and green chilies. Cook until the garlic ginger paste stops sputtering.
- Turn your heat to medium low and add your spice mix. This is why you added a full 3 tablespoons of oil at the beginning. You want your spices to fry in the oil. Too little oil and the spices will stick or burn and you will be starting over.
- Gently fry the spices in the oil, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. This is where magic happens. Volatile compounds in the spices will be released into the oil. And that is big flavour.
- Turn the heat up to medium. Add the Indian hotel curry gravy. Bring to a simmer. Really stir it to get the oil to combine and cook for about a minute. You don’t need it to fry hard like a regular restaurant curry. That’s the beauty of hotel style. You already have that done. No need to make a mess of your stove.
- Add the chicken in an even layer and cover the pan. After about 5 minutes flip the chicken pieces. Tongs are good for this. Can’t beat a good set of restaurant tongs in the kitchen. Cook until the chicken is just done.
- The chicken should take around 8-12 minutes to cook through. It really depends on how large the chicken thigh pieces are. Best bet is to use an instant read thermometer and go for 170F.
- Once the chicken is done, stir in the coconut milk and tamarind paste. Simmer for one minute.
- The texture should be about right at this point. If it’s too thick add a bit of water or chicken stock Not a lot. Probably a couple tablespoons max.
- If it is too thin (chicken throws a fair bit of liquid as it cooks) just let the curry simmer uncovered for a minute or two.
- Taste and decide if you fall in the slightly sweet camp. If you do add the sugar and stir. It will open up the flavours a bit. I like it.
- Serve with rice or Indian flatbread. Or both!
Notes
Nutrition
Green chili chicken curry prepared Indian hotel style. Seriously complex flavours brightened by green chilies and fresh tomatoes. If that sounds good, this one could be right for you.
This is Indian restaurant style cooking. But not like you think. It’s not what’s going on at your local takeaway. This is about making the absolute best curry you can.
Don’t let the simplicity of the recipe fool you. The ingredients may be humble. But there is big flavour here. Really big. It will surprise you. In a good way.
Hotel style is a new way to make Indian restaurant curries
If you already cook Indian restaurant style forget what you know. Just for a few minutes.
And read about green chili chicken curry. Prepared Indian hotel style. It’s a whole new way to think about Indian restaurant cooking.
New to me, anyway. I actually think it’s really old. I’m guessing this what Indian restaurant cooking used to be. Before it became what it is today.
What it was in the beginning. Somewhere along the way I’m guessing it was simplified. Adapted to scale. To work better in understaffed restaurants.
Indian hotel curry gravy became curry base. Something was found. But something was lost. Until now.
The evolution of curry base
Evolution in cooking is natural. Wonderful in fact. People figure things out. Other people hear about it. Pretty soon it’s the new standard.
Restaurants are all about efficiency. They are businesses. They need to keep costs in check. That’s why I’m pretty sure curry gravy evolved into curry base.
Because it’s less work to make. Keeps labour costs down. And profits up.
Think about it. It’s easy to chuck 100 pounds of onions into a huge pot. Add some water and spices. Boil. And puree. With a giant commercial stick blender.
That takes one guy maybe 3 hours in a restaurant kitchen. And he can make enough to feed an army some really good food.
Indian hotel curry gravy is completely different. It’s about deeply brown onions. Like traditional Indian cooking. But in a way that makes it available on demand. In a restaurant.
It is more work up front. And it doesn’t scale as well. It takes more people to make enough to run a restaurant.
But I’m not running a restaurant. I don’t have to cook for 100. I’m trying to make the best curries I can at home. So I can afford to take the time.
And I only have to do it once every 8 curries. Works out to about 5 minutes a meal. I like that math.
I’m going backwards here. And I’m really happy about it.
This is a new way to make restaurant curry
This is about taking it to another level. Think about a curry base that is specific to a class of curries. This is tailoring the base to the specific style of curry.
And it’s actually easier than using curry base. The first few steps are similar. But there’s no frying the curry base. No splatter everywhere.
I’d still wear old clothes though. Turmeric stains are killer.
Green chili chicken curry gravy
Green chili chicken curry is a big, bold curry. So it uses a big, bold curry gravy .
One with the flavours you’d expect in a madras, jalfrezi or ceylon curry. Sledgehammer base. In your face base.
It’s specialized. And it goes against what I have always said about curry base. But that’s because curry base is one size fits all. So it’s bland by design.
This is about matching the curry gravy to the dish. The right tool for the job. And that job is to get maximum flavour into your mouth.
Green chili chicken curry is a simple but seriously tasty curry done Indian hotel style. So you can judge for yourself. See if something humble can get you hooked.
Because if it does, you know all your favourites will blow you away.
Green chili chicken curry
Equipment
- A skillet with a lid. Or a lid from another pot that fits your skillet. You will need to loosely cover while the chicken cooks.
Ingredients
The spice mix
- 2 tsp Indian restaurant spice mix – recipe link below
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tsp kasoor methi – dried fenugreek leaves
- 1/2 tsp tandoori masala – look for one that isn’t mostly salt
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (or 1/3 tsp of regular fine table salt)
Green chili chicken curry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil – any neutral oil is fine
- 1/2 small onion – coarsely chopped. Shallot works well here if you have some.
- 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste – recipe link below
- 4 green chilies – finger hots also known as jwala, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tbsp cilantro stems – minced
- 1 cup Indian hotel curry base – recipe link below
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs – cut into 3 or 4 pieces each
- 5 cherry tomatoes – cut in half
- 1 tbsp cilantro leaves – finely chopped
Instructions
Do your prep
- Make your spice mix. Have your onions and cilantro chopped. Cut up your green chilies.
Make the green chili chicken curry
- Heat the oil in a medium sized frying pan until the oil just starts to shimmer.
- Add the onions and cook until the onions just start to brown at the edges. This should take around 3 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic ginger paste, cilantro stems and green chilies. Cook until the garlic ginger paste stops sputtering.
- Turn your heat down to medium low and add your spice mix. This is why you added 3 tablespoons of oil. You want to fry your spices in the oil. If you skimp on the oil you risk your spices sticking or burning. If your spices burn here you are starting over.
- Add the Indian hotel curry gravy. Stir it really well to get the oil to combine with the curry gravy. You want everything mixed together at this point. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken thigh pieces in a single layer. Nestle them down into the sauce. Cover and cook about 5 minutes. Remove the cover, flip the chicken and recover. Cook until the chicken is done. Use an instant read thermometer if you have one. You are shooting for an internal temperature of 170F.
- The sauce consistency should be about perfect. The juices from the chicken should be enough but if it looks dry add a couple tablespoons of water and stir to combine.
- Add the cilantro leaves and stir. Then add the tomatoes and simmer just long enough to warm the tomatoes through.
