Sometimes simple is best. This is one of those times. Simple chicken curry. Like your mom makes. Well maybe not your mom. But my mom. My mom could cook.
It’s the kind of stuff that everyone who grew up Indian knows. What they remember. What I remember. Comfort food. Family food.
It’s not complicated. Pretty straight forward in fact. And it’s a great intro into the techniques you need to get good at cooking Indian.
This is about cooking Indian like people do in their homes. Straightforward food. Tasty food. Food for every day.
This is my baseline simple chicken curry
The internet is packed with simple Indian chicken curries. Easy chicken curries.
Some of them aren’t so easy. Find exotic ingredients. Toast whole spices. Grind them. Make fancy masalas.
I like those. They aren’t simple. But they are good. Really good. Authentic. I’m for those recipes. But that’s jumping into the deep end.
At the other end there’s the pseudo curries. Mix some garam masala with some yoghurt. Mix it with some chicken. Cook. I don’t like those.
Somewhere in the middle there’s this simple chicken curry. Not the most complicated. But legit. I think. A starting point. A gateway curry. An easy chicken curry.
Get this down and you can make just about any homestyle chicken curry. I’m handing you the keys to tasty town.
This is what they call a staff curry in the UK
There’s a thing. In the UK. The staff curry. What Indian restaurant staff eat. Special. Secret. Shrouded in mystery.
It has secret spices. And chicken on the bone. Dark meat even. Can you even begin to imagine?
I’m going to blow the whistle. Let everyone in on the secret. Are you ready? It’s not as exciting as you hoped.
There is no secret. There is no definitive staff curry. I have no idea why anyone thinks there is. Makes zero sense. There are good chicken curries. Lots of those.
But only one true staff curry? In every restaurant everywhere? That’s a little limiting. I think anyway.
Staff curry is whatever chef feels like cooking for his staff. A big pot of home cooking. A whole lot of delicious.
Like chef’s mom used to make. Well maybe like their mom if she was a professional chef. I’m guessing chef has a few ideas of their own.
And it’s probably not the same every day. Who wants that? Same meal 5 days a week? Year in year out? I’m guessing not. Chef needs to mix things up. Or staff will quit.
Make this simple chicken curry your own
This is a baseline recipe. A foundation. And you can build a lot of dishes on this foundation. Push it in all sorts of directions.
Just like chef does to keep his staff happy. Get the basics down and you can do almost anything.
Want something like a dopiaza? Fry up some big chunks of onion. Toss them in towards the end.
Jalfrezi your thing? Blister up some green peppers. And some onions. Maybe add a 1/2 teaspoon of tandoori masala to the spice mix. Add some cilantro stems along with the green chilies. Maybe a few pieces of tomato right at the end.
Like South Indian? Add some fresh curry leaves in with the whole spices. Some black pepper into the spice mix.
Coconut milk instead of chicken stock. A little tamarind paste at the end to give it some tang.
Or swap out the coriander, cumin and turmeric for some Sri Lankan roasted curry powder. Can you say Ceylon?
Looking to make a madras curry? Replace the coriander, cumin, turmeric and paprika with madras curry powder. Add a tsp of kasoori methi. Some fresh lemon juice at the end.
If you’re feeling adventurous add some Indian pickle. That makes a great addition. A little garlic chili pickle adds complexity. Naga pickle if you like that heat and flavour.
What I’m trying to say is chef isn’t constrained to one recipe. And you shouldn’t be either. Have fun. Get the simple chicken curry down. And then play with it.
Get your Indian mojo
Bloom your spices – There are oil soluble flavour compounds in ground spices. And you want to get those flavour compounds out of the spices and into your mouth. Blooming spices is how you do it.
Fry powdered spices in oil. That’s all there is to it. And if you’re wondering. Yes, this is the smell of Indian restaurants.
Brown your onions – There are no shortcuts here. Think French onion soup. You want brown. Just do this. It’s important.
Bone-in chicken – This is homestyle chicken curry. A braise. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are not good in braises.
I’m still struggling to find something they are good for. Not Indian. Pretty sure about that. Bone-in thighs. Bone-in legs. That’s the business. Try it. It makes a difference.
Make this simple chicken curry
Make this. Even if you’ve been following glebekitchen for years. Even if you’re a Jedi master at restaurant style.
This is worth trying. I like to mix it up. And I’m betting you will too.
I can cook more complicated curries. More elaborate. Look around this blog. There’s no shortage.
But I come back to this one. Often. Homestyle. Comfort food. Just good simple chicken curry. Give it a try. I think you’ll like it. Chef does. And so does his staff…
simple chicken curry
Ingredients
Spice Mix
- 1 Tbsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2-1 tsp chili powder depending how hot you like it
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp kosher salt to start
Simple Chicken Curry
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil plus one Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 2 inch piece of cinnamon bark or cinnamon stick
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 3 cups onion finely diced. About one really large onion
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste diluted with a couple tablespoons of water
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 1 inch piece of ginger
- 2 plum tomatoes seeded and diced
- 3 green chilis seeded and diced (or 1 jalepeno, seeded and diced)
- 8 chicken thighs bone-in, skinless
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
Instructions
Make the masala
- Make your mix powder. Combine all the ground spices with the salt.
- Use a food processor to finely chop the onion. It takes two seconds and it works way better. You are looking for a really fine dice. Almost a paste.
- Now use your food processor to make a garlic ginger paste. It’s already dirty so this comes for free. Combine the garlic and ginger with a bit of water and whiz until you have a puree. If you have a big food processor you may have to make more to get it to work or use a blender (more dishes though).
- Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon and cardamom and cook about 20-30 seconds. The spices should sizzle.
- Crank up your fan hood to max. Really. Full blast time. Unless you want your house to smell like an Indian restaurant.
- Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly until they take on a golden brown colour. You want them soft. Really soft. Take your time here. Give it 10 minutes at least. It takes as long as it takes and it is important.
- Turn the heat down to medium low. You don’t want your spices to burn. Add the 4th Tbsp of oil and your spice mix. Stir constantly for about a minute. If things start to stick you need more oil. If you really get into trouble toss the tomato paste in and move the pot off the burner. This is called blooming spices. There are oil soluble flavour compounds in spices. This gets them out of the spices, into your oil and then into you mouth. It’s important.
- Add the diluted tomato paste, green chilies and garlic ginger paste.
- Continue to stir and cook another minute. Stir in the chopped plum tomatoes. Cook for two to three minutes.
Make the curry
- Add the skinned chicken thighs and/or drumsticks to the pot, stir and add 1/2 cup of stock or water. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer about 25 minutes – until the chicken is cooked through. The chicken is done when the internal temperature hits around 170-175F.
- Adjust salt to taste. I expect around another 1/2 tsp if you are using kosher salt. Probably none at all if you are using table salt.
Notes
Nutrition
simple chicken curry
Ingredients
Spice Mix
- 1 Tbsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2-1 tsp chili powder depending how hot you like it
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp kosher salt to start
Simple Chicken Curry
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil plus one Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 2 inch piece of cinnamon bark or cinnamon stick
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 3 cups onion finely diced. About one really large onion
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste diluted with a couple tablespoons of water
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 1 inch piece of ginger
- 2 plum tomatoes seeded and diced
- 3 green chilis seeded and diced (or 1 jalepeno, seeded and diced)
- 8 chicken thighs bone-in, skinless
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
Instructions
Make the masala
- Make your mix powder. Combine all the ground spices with the salt.
- Use a food processor to finely chop the onion. It takes two seconds and it works way better. You are looking for a really fine dice. Almost a paste.
- Now use your food processor to make a garlic ginger paste. It’s already dirty so this comes for free. Combine the garlic and ginger with a bit of water and whiz until you have a puree. If you have a big food processor you may have to make more to get it to work or use a blender (more dishes though).
- Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon and cardamom and cook about 20-30 seconds. The spices should sizzle.
- Crank up your fan hood to max. Really. Full blast time. Unless you want your house to smell like an Indian restaurant.
- Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly until they take on a golden brown colour. You want them soft. Really soft. Take your time here. Give it 10 minutes at least. It takes as long as it takes and it is important.
- Turn the heat down to medium low. You don’t want your spices to burn. Add the 4th Tbsp of oil and your spice mix. Stir constantly for about a minute. If things start to stick you need more oil. If you really get into trouble toss the tomato paste in and move the pot off the burner. This is called blooming spices. There are oil soluble flavour compounds in spices. This gets them out of the spices, into your oil and then into you mouth. It’s important.
- Add the diluted tomato paste, green chilies and garlic ginger paste.
- Continue to stir and cook another minute. Stir in the chopped plum tomatoes. Cook for two to three minutes.
Make the curry
- Add the skinned chicken thighs and/or drumsticks to the pot, stir and add 1/2 cup of stock or water. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer about 25 minutes - until the chicken is cooked through. The chicken is done when the internal temperature hits around 170-175F.
- Adjust salt to taste. I expect around another 1/2 tsp if you are using kosher salt. Probably none at all if you are using table salt.
Notes
Nutrition
Delicious on a Tuesday. Worthy of a casual dinner with friends. And easy. Thai turkey burgers. A real crowd pleaser.
In a healthy sort of way. Any night of the week. Nothing not to love here.
Some green chilies. A little shallot. Garlic. Cilantro. And fish sauce. There has to be fish sauce.
On a bun. With a spicy kewpie mayo burger sauce.
A little lettuce. Some tomato. A few strands of red onions. This one gets my diabolically simple badge.
Sometimes you just get lucky
Every now and then I just fall into a recipe. Without trying. Without thinking even. This is one of those times. It just happened.
Tuesday night. Nothing in the fridge. Indian-ish lamb burgers on the brain.
Hit my local grocery store. No ground lamb. No ground pork even.
Lots of ground turkey though. Which makes sense. To me anyway. Who actually wants ground turkey? Turns out I do. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I decided to try. Wasn’t happy about it. Grabbed the turkey. Some brioche buns. And went home without a plan. Sometimes you just need to eat. Can’t always be great.
Thai turkey burgers surprised me
I wasn’t expecting this. Not even a little bit. Don’t think I’ve cooked ground turkey in 10 years. My bad.
First bite. “Huh. This is actually pretty good.”
Third bite. “This is really good. I’m going to have to remember this one.”
Fifth bite. “I’m actually thinking this might be glebekitchen worthy.”
Last bite. “This one is a keeper! I’m doing a Thai turkey burgers blog post.”
So I did. Here it is.
Simple Asian ingredients
This isn’t really Thai. But I have to call it something. Don’t have a better name. Could be Asian turkey burgers. Southeast Asian maybe?
But it could be Thai. If turkey burgers were a thing in Thailand.
That’s the beauty of making stuff up. Freedom to name it. It’s a bit ridiculous I suppose. But food is supposed to be fun. So I’m not super worried about it.
The ingredients could be Thai. Could be Vietnamese as well. Thai turkey burgers. Vietnamese turkey burgers. You choose.
The burger sauce though. Not Thai. Or Vietnamese. It’s a Japanese Indonesian love child.
Turkey isn’t big in Thailand either. You can call me out on that. If you have nothing better to do I guess. But I’ve already said it. So why bother?
I’m kidding. Call me out if you want. I made this up. I called it Thai turkey burgers.
It’s culinary fiction. Rolls of the tongue better than Japan-Indonesian south-east Asian turkey burgers. So I’m going with it.
Turkey. Green chili. Shallots. Cilantro. Fish sauce. Black Pepper. Sambal oelek. And kewpie mayo. Hard to go wrong really.
Don’t fear the fish sauce
I’ve said this many times. Safe bet I’ll say it again. Don’t fear the fish sauce. Please don’t fear the fish sauce.
I get why you might. The name is bad. Mmm… fish sauce. Clearly nobody asked marketing what to call it.
It doesn’t smell great. Kind of nasty actually. Not something you want to put on your ice cream.
It doesn’t even taste good. Straight up anyway. I’ve done fish sauce tastings. Some are better than others. But I’m not rushing to do another tasting any time soon.
I don’t understand it. It’s culinary voodoo. Magic. Somehow fish sauce makes almost everything taste better.
That’s not exactly true. I do understand it. In theory anyway.
Fish sauce is high in glutamates. Glutamates are culinary gold. Key part of umami. Somehow the brain knows. Even when the nose says no. Absolutely fascinating.
It’s also a safe bet you’ve had it. Probably loved it even.
Have you ever eaten at a Thai or Vietnamese restaurant? Yes?
Did you like the food? Yes?
Yes to the first question? You’ve had fish sauce. That’s almost guaranteed. And if you liked the food then you like fish sauce.
Roasted rice powder makes Thai turkey burgers work
Ground turkey is wet. Really wet. Add some fish sauce and it’s too wet to handle. Near impossible to get onto the grill.
I did it the first time. Had to carefully slide the patties from the plate onto the grill. It wasn’t easy. Not at all.
So I made one change from my original Tuesday night epiphany. To make it a little easier to handle. A trick I learned making bun cha.
Toasted rice powder. Sounds exotic. But it isn’t. Dry pan. Few tablespoons of glutinous or jasmine rice. Toast. Cool. Grind.
That’s it. Gentle heat. Rice. Pan. Shake. Until the rice turns a nice golden brown.
Remove the rice from the pan. Let it cool. Grind. I like my spice grinder for this. You could use a mortar and pestle. If you want a workout. I don’t. So I use a grinder.
It doesn’t just make things more manageable. It adds a bit of texture. A hint of flavour. I like it in bun cha . And I like it here.
It isn’t absolutely essential. You can leave it out. If you are really careful with your patties. I’m serious. You have to be really, really careful.
Don’t come crying if you leave it out. And your burgers self destruct. You’ve been warned. Toasted rice powder makes this recipe way easier.
Magic burger sauce
The company with the golden arches has their special sauce. I have mine. Mine is better. I’m just going to call it. And it’s magic. That’s way better than special.
Thousand Islands dressing is not burger sauce. It’s salad dressing. Pretty bad salad dressing. Purists will tell you it isn’t quite thousand islands dressing. I say close enough.
Mine has only two ingredients. Sambal oelek. And kewpie mayo. Might take a little hunting to find them. But they are around.
Sambal oelek is a staple in my house. Indonesian chili sauce. Amazing stuff. Sambal oelek needs to be in your fridge. It is just that good. And it lasts forever.
Kewpie mayo is Japanese mayonnaise. It is not the same as Hellmann’s. Not a subtle difference either. Another good one for your fridge.
Kewpie mayo isn’t cheap. But it is special. Magic even. I think it’s worth the splurge. Try it once to see for yourself.
It’s in major grocery stores here. Ask. You may be pleasantly surprised. Worst case pretty much any Asian grocer will have it.
Pork works too
Pork works in this recipe. Really well. And it is more believable. Thai pork burgers. That could actually exist. Somewhere.
Bankok is a big place. With a lot of street food. I bet somebody must be making it.
It works for all the reasons pork works in Thai cuisine. Or whatever part of Southeast Asia is right for this recipe.
Not so far from bun cha really. In burger form.
And I googled bun cha burger. There is a place in Hanoi. So maybe I’ll do a post on Vietnamese pork burgers.
And FWIW I think the guy in Hanoi is a genius.
Sometimes tasty is hiding in plain sight
Never thought I’d do a turkey burger post. Never thought I’d be excited by a turkey burger. I cannot remember even wanting to eat a turkey burger.
It’s low fat. Not my favourite thing. It says extra lean on the package. Really not my favourite thing.
And yet here it is. I’m still scratching my head a bit. Somehow it works. Works well even. Pretty happy to have fallen into this one.
Easy enough for a Tuesday night. Delicious. Semi-healthy. And pretty inexpensive. That’s a winner in my books. Hopefully it’s a winner in your books too.
thai turkey burgers
Equipment
- You need a BBQ for this – charcoal is better
Ingredients
Flavouring paste
- 1/4 cup green chili – seeded. Finger hot (jwala) or even jalapeno, coarsely chopped. You don’t want to use a small Thai green chili here. You won’t get enough green chili flavour (or it will be really spicy if you add more)
- 1/2 cup cilantro – leaves and stems, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup shallot – coarsely chopped.
Magic burger sauce
- 6 tbsp kewpie mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp sambal oelek
Thai turkey burgers
- 2 lb ground turkey
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper – coarse. I like butcher’s grind for this.
- 3-4 tbsp toasted rice powder – see notes. You can buy this but it’s really easy to make.
- salt when it hits the grill to taste
- 6 burger buns – I like brioche (not sweet) buns for this
Instructions
Do your prep
- Coarsely chop the green chili and shallot.
- Combine the chopped green chili, shallot, garlic and cilantro sprigs in a small food processor and process until finely chopped. You can use a knife for this as well. Just make sure everything is super finely chopped.
- Prepare your garnishes. Slice some tomatoes (2 per burger unless the tomatoes are really big. Thinly slice some red onion. Wash the lettuce.
- Light your barbecue. You want it set up for high, indirect heat.
Make the magic burger sauce
- Combine the kewpie mayonnaise and sambal oelek. Mix thoroughly. The easiest special sauce of all time is ready to go.
Prep the turkey burgers
- Combine the ground turkey, fish sauce, chopped chili/shallot/cilantro/garlic mixture, black pepper and two tablespoon of toasted rice powder. Mix with your hands. Yes. Your hands. They are without a doubt the best cooking tool you own.
- This is where you need to make a judgement call. You want the turkey mixture to hold together. Try making a patty. If it is too wet add more toasted rice powder. You want it just dry enough to hold together from the plate to the grill if you use both hands to move it and are careful. I find 3 tbsp to be about the minimum for the ground turkey I get here.
- Once you are happy with the texture of your turkey mixture form it into 6 equal patties and transfer to a plate.
Grill the Thai turkey burgers
- Place the burgers over indirect heat. That means build the fire on one side and put the burgers on the other side. Use both hands to move the patties. Be careful. Salt liberally. That’s important. Don’t go overboard on the healthy thing.
- Cover the grill. Cook for about 7-8 minutes. Once they are firm enough to move flip them carefully. Season the second side with salt. Cook another 5 minutes. They should be fairly firm at this point (internal temperature around 130F). Note that 130F is not the target final temperature. This is just an indication they should be firm enough to handle.
- Move the patties to the direct heat zone. Cook them for thirty seconds to one minute. You want them to colour up. You don’t want them to burn. Once they are browned to your satisfaction flip them and cook them for about as long as you did on the first side.
- Return the burgers to the indirect zone and cook until they reach an internal temperature of 160F.
Assemble the Thai turkey burgers
- Toast your buns. Smear the special sauce onto both sides of each bun. Put the burger on the bottom and top with the tomatoes then the onions and finally the lettuce. A little salt and pepper on the tomatoes is a nice touch. Enjoy!
