Easy Chinese Chicken Curry

This spicy Chinese chicken curry is packed with healthy green beans and carrots. It is also a great meal for batch cooking and making ahead.

I love curries. I really could happily eat curry a few times a week and probably not get tired of it. This time I decided to make a Chinese Chicken Curry which is slightly different from the Indian or Thai curries I usually make but equally delicious.

What I love about homemade curries is that they are so healthy as well as tasty. I used green beans and carrots in this one but you could use any vegetables you wanted. Cauliflower or broccoli would be lovely and so would all the seasonal squash that are around right now.

I used cornflour to coat the chicken in before stir frying it. It's a great way of making sure the chicken stays really moist and tender and also thickens the curry sauce as it reduces too.

If, like me, you struggle to find time to cook every night then one of the best things is that it reheats really well so it can easily last for 2 meals. I try to batch cook as often as I can as it makes life so much easier! If you like batch cooking then do check out my Cook Once Eat Twice recipe collection.

Ingredient notes for Chinese chicken curry

To make this simple Chinese chicken curry you'll need:

• Chicken - I usually use breast meat as my family prefer it but you could use thigh meat instead.
• Cornflour - This is for coating the chicken before frying it. It then helps to thicken the sauce.
• Onion - I use a brown onion but you could use a red one.
• Garlic - I usually use fresh garlic cloves but you could use garlic paste or puree instead.
• Root ginger - I like the vibrancy of using fresh ginger but like the garlic, you can use a paste or puree instead. You could even use ground ginger but add it along with the curry powder.
• Chilli peppers - Use as many as you like depending on how hot they are and how hot you want the curry to be.
• Spices - Turmeric, curry powder and Chinese five spice powder
• Vegetables - I like to add carrot and green beans but you could use any vegetables you like
• Sugar - This adds a little sweetness. You could use honey instead.
• Stock - I usually use chicken stock made from a stock cube for this but vegetable stock is also fine. You can of course use homemade stock or any other kind of chicken or vegetable stock.

How to make Chinese chicken curry

Do check out the recipe card further down the page too. First, you need to slice the chicken into strips and coat in the cornflour. This helps the chicken to stay moist as it cooks and also helps to thicken the sauce.

Heat some oil in a saucepan or wok and fry the chicken till browned. Then take it out of the pan.

Stir fry the onion, chilli peppers, ginger and garlic gently until softened. If the pan seems to dry, add a tablespoon of water and then add the spices. If you don't do this they will burn. Stir the spices into the onion mixture.

You can then return the chicken to the pan along with all the other ingredients (except any vegetables that you might want to stay a little crunchy). Stir well and bring to the boil. Then lower to a simmer, cover and leave for about 20 minutes.

If the curry seems too watery and you want it a little thicker, dissolve a little more cornflour in cold water and stir it into the curry till the sauce thickens.

What can you serve with this Chinese chicken curry?

I usually serve this with plain jasmine rice but you can make some egg fried rice if you want. If you don't have jasmine rice then just use whatever rice you have. I always have basmati rice at home as I cook a lot of Indian curries and that is fine too. You could even serve it over noodles.

How could you adapt this Chinese curry?

As ever, recipes are there to be adapted. You can vary the vegetables in this curry. You could add aubergine (eggplant), courgette (zucchini), mange tout, sugar snap peas or baby sweetcorn. In fact, just use whatever vegetables you like in a curry. Just be aware that you may need to adapt the cooking time for certain vegetables to make sure everything is cooked through.

If you want to make a vegetarian or vegan Chinese curry then replace the chicken with tofu.

If the sauce hasn't reduced as much as you want or you prefer a thicker sauce then add a little more cornflour dissolved in water just before you finish cooking.

What can you do with the leftovers?

Any leftover curry can be kept in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat thoroughly in the microwave or a small saucepan before serving.

Can you freeze it?

Yes of course! This Chinese chicken curry freezes really well. Defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating the next day.

Chinese Chicken Curry

Corina Blum

This spicy Chinese chicken curry is packed with healthy green beans and peppers. It is also a great meal for batch cooking or making ahead.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Curry, Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4

Calories 171 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 200 g chicken breast meat sliced into strips
• 2 tablespoon cornflour
• 1 large onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 piece of ginger finely diced
• 1-2 chilli peppers sliced, depending on how hot you would like it to be
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1.5 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• 1 carrot cut into strips
• 2 handfuls green beans
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 600 ml chicken stock
• Rice

Instructions

 

• Coat the chicken in the cornflour.
• Heat a little oil in a wok or frying pan. Fry the chicken for a couple of minutes until it is sealed on all sides. Take it out of the pan and set aside.
• Add a litle more oil and gently fry the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli pepper for about 5 minutes. Then stir in the spices.
• Cook for about a minute then add the carrots, sugar and stock. Return the chicken to the pan too.  Simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened.  Give it a stir every so often and add any other vegetables after 10 minutes.
• Serve with rice.

Video

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and a guideline only.

Nutrition

Calories: 171kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 15gFat: 3gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 287mgPotassium: 527mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 2690IUVitamin C: 21.4mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 1.8mg

Keyword Chinese chicken curry

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More Chicken Curry Recipes

Curries are among my favourite recipes and I have lots more recipes too. Why not check out my collection of easy homemade curries from scratch? Here are just some of my chicken curries:

You might also like my easy spicy recipes collection!

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