Last February, I posted a recipe for Butter Chicken. At the time I was trying to embrace my family’s love of Indian food, while still grappling with my dislike for curry. Butter chicken was my “compromise”. Through the year though I would pick at my husband’s chicken curry while dining out here and there and gradually, I started to develop a taste for it. I dare say, a craving for it. A couple of weeks ago, I took the plunge and ordered my own plate of pub style chicken curry at our local haunt and almost licked the bowl clean, it was that good.
It then became my mission to find a recipe for pub-style chicken curry that I could make at home. Not so easy. There really aren’t a lot and of the ones I could find, none looked like the one I fell in love with. I wanted a creamy sauce, nothing too hot – so I came up with this one from a few different recipes, with major inspiration from here. I adjusted quantities slightly to get more flavour on certain things. I think it’s delicious. Let me know what you think.
The Pub Style Chicken Curry is comfort food at it’s finest and makes an excellent Sunday meal. Serve with warm naan bread and allow your guests accolades to flow over you. You’re welcome.
Author’s Note: You can find my favourite Pink Le Creuset Dutch Oven here.
Pub Style Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 split chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4-5 medium carrots chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1-2 Thai red chili peppers finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp mild curry powder
- 2 tsps flour
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tsps minced ginger
- 2 cups hot chicken stock
- 1 cup table cream (18% M.F.)
- 1 tbsp Sweet Mango Chutney
Instructions
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Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat and add chicken pieces.
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Season with kosher salt and pepper.
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Cook until chicken is white on all sides, four to five minutes.
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Add onions, carrots, garlic, and chili pepper.
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Cook over medium heat until onions are softened, another 5 minutes or so.
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Stir in tomato paste and coat vegetables and chicken.
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Toss in curry powder, flour, turmeric, cumin and ginger. Stir until dry.
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Add in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add in cream and once it returns to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Stir in mango chutney just before serving.
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Serve over Basmati rice with Naan bread for dipping.
Recipe Notes
Pleasantville Note: This gets better the next day. So feel free to make a day ahead and re-heat over low heat.
Starky says
January 12, 2013 at 12:55 pmJust thought I’d comment to say that this is currently sat simmering on my stove, pre-prepared for tomorrow’s dinner. It smells delicious!
Candace says
January 18, 2013 at 9:18 amHow did it turn out for you?
Dee brun says
January 18, 2013 at 9:17 amOMG this sounds so good..I love me some Curry..Going to try this..Cheers
Steve Kubien says
April 3, 2013 at 7:59 pmAaaaaand job I know what’s for dinner tomorrow. Thanks Candle!
Christy says
April 24, 2013 at 10:13 pmIs it weird to be drooling over this recipe at 10:15 pm?? Will definitely be trying this out – thanks!
Tasha says
June 3, 2013 at 12:11 amThis sounds delicious! Definitely trying this recipe out!
Hilary says
March 27, 2014 at 11:19 pmI was looking for a curry recipe to serve over fries and found your recipe. I made it for dinner tonight and it was amazing!! My husband went back for thirds, and even my somewhat picky 4 year old ate a decent amount (with the promise of an after-dinner cookie). I left out the Thai chiles to make it more kid friendly and we didn’t miss the heat at all. Thanks for a new addition to our dinner rotation!!
Candace Derickx says
March 28, 2014 at 9:01 amI love so much that you came back to tell me. Nothing makes me smile more. I have to ask, did you serve it over fries? I bet that would be delicious too!
Hilary says
March 28, 2014 at 11:12 pmI did serve it over fries. Our favorite pub near my parents’ house serves curry on fries and I was aiming to duplicate it. I used this recipe for oven fries and the whole meal turned out great: http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/02/25/baked-oven-fries/
Carmen says
May 6, 2015 at 5:34 pmMy boyfriend and I tried this last week and loved it. I lived in the UK for about 6 months between High school and uni and the pub curry became a quick favorite. Ever since I’ve been looking for a recipe for a similar dish but this is the first I’ve tried myself. Your recipe is amazing and like you said it even better the second day. Thanks 🙂
Candace Derickx says
May 11, 2015 at 5:57 pmI’m so glad to hear you liked it. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Angie says
September 18, 2015 at 10:03 pmSo yummy! Just what I needed! Thanks for posting.
Candace Derickx says
September 25, 2015 at 11:29 pmThanks for letting me know you enjoyed it!
Shane says
August 2, 2016 at 10:29 amI’ve made this dish using this recipe twice now and it’s turned out pretty great. Only suggestion for what I’ve found is maybe use about 1/4 cup extra of cream.
Angela Hollingshead says
February 25, 2017 at 12:56 pmI’ve now made this a couple of times. I serve it over rice with a side of fries. Just the recipe I was looking for! Thanks!
Candace Derickx says
February 27, 2017 at 8:31 pmBrilliant! Love the side of fries!
Tim G McHugh says
August 10, 2017 at 1:44 pmAwesome dish thank you.
Tracy Sherwood says
April 7, 2019 at 2:29 pmI have a question about the amount of chicken in this recipe. The boneless skinless chicken breasts that I get are enormous — close to 1 lb. each. I’m assuming you aren’t calling for 4 lbs of chicken in this recipe. What is the approximate weight of chicken that you are going for? Thanks!