This easy homemade chicken patia curry is really simple to make and delicious with rice or Indian breads. With a spicy sweet and sour tomato based sauce, it's an addictive curry that the whole family will love!
My family love this chicken patia curry. It's got so much flavour, packed with many of the usual Indian curry spices plus brown sugar to add sweetness and tamarind for sourness. I also like to bump up the sour vibe with a squeeze of lemon when serving. Of course, that's totally up to you.
If you love trying to recreate your favourite Indian curry house recipes then this chicken patia is definitely one that's worth trying. Making it yourself rather than ordering a takeaway or eating out is so much more economical too.
If you haven't cooked many curries before then don't be put off. It's a really easy recipe and can easily be made ahead of time and reheated when you're ready to serve. In fact, like many curries, if you make this a day in advance, the flavours get even better the next day!
What ingredients do you need for chicken patia?
To make this easy chicken patia you'll need:
- Onion - I usually use a brown onion but red onions are fine too.
- Root ginger - Use fresh root ginger if you have it and grate if first. Alternatively you can use a paste or puree.
- Garlic - Fresh crushed garlic is fine and so is a paste or puree
- Chilli peppers - The heat levels of chilli peppers you get in the supermarket can vary so much so use your judgement when deciding how many to use. I usually add two for this chicken patia curry.
- Ground spices - Coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, turmeric and fenugreek
- Tamarind puree
- Tomato puree
- Brown sugar - Patia is a sweet curry and gets its sweetness from the brown sugar. If you have jaggary you could use that too.
- Tomatoes - You can use fresh tomatoes or replace them with tinned tomatoes. I blend them before adding them to get a smoother curry sauce.
- Chicken - Use diced breast or thighs. My family prefer breast meat.
- Lemon - The lemon is totally optional but I love adding an extra squeeze of lemon juice when serving.
How do you make chicken patia?
As I said earlier, chicken patia is a curry that is really easily achievable from scratch at home. It doesn't take too long to cook either.
First, heat some oil in a large pan and cook the onions till soft. Then add the ginger, garlic and chilli peppers. Once they have softened a little add the ground spices and a little water.
Cook, while stirring for a minute before adding the tomatoes, tamarind and sugar.
Heat through and taste to check the sweet and sourness. It's easy at this point to add extra tamarind or sugar if you think it needs it.
Add the chicken and simmer for 20 minutes until cooked through.
What can you serve with chicken patia?
I like to serve this chicken patia curry with rice, and naan breads. If I'm organised I might make a vegetable curry to serve on the side such as this dry curried okra. Bombay potatoes are also lovely as a side dish.
I always have some yogurt or a raita on the table too. You could also make a kachumber salad to add some freshness.
Can you adapt the recipe?
You can definitely adapt the recipe. If you don't have tamarind then add lemon juice to the curry instead. I like to stir the lemon juice in at the end though.
Most of the spices in this curry are ones you'll have in the cupboard if you are used to preparing curries. They are definitely worth getting if you want to cook more curries in the future. The fenugreek is slightly less used and if you don't have it you can just miss it out. The curry will still be delicious.
Can you replace the chicken?
Yes, you can replace the chicken with paneer, prawns or lamb. If you replace it with lamb you may need to cook it for longer though, depending on what cut of lamb you use.
If you use prawns they will cook much more quickly than chicken so simmer the sauce for longer before you add the prawns.
If I add paneer I usually simmer it for about 10 minutes.
Storing and reheating
Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for up to three days in a covered container. Reheat in a saucepan or in the microwave. Like with lots of curries, this chicken patia tastes even better when the flavours have had some time to develop by sitting in the fridge!
Can you freeze it?
Yes, it will keep well in an airtight container in the freezer for at least three months. Defrost it overnight in the fridge and then reheat in a saucepan or in the microwave.
More curry recipes
If you like this chicken patia then do check out this post all about making homemade curries from scratch like these ones:
Recipe
Chicken Patia Curry
Equipment
- Stick blender
Ingredients
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 tablespoon root ginger grated
- 5 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 chilli peppers Finely diced. Use more or less depending on how hot they are and your heat tolerance
- 2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek
- 2 teaspoon tamarind puree
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar I used soft brown sugar
- 4 tomatoes or 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 500 g chicken diced
- 1 lemon to serve
Instructions
- Heat some oil in a saucepan. Gently fry the onion for about 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the ginger, garlic and chilli peppers.
- Stir in the ground spices plus a little water to stop the pan from being too dry.
- Dice and blend the tomatoes with a stick blender so you get a smoother sauce.
- Add the blended tomatoes plus the tamarind, tomato puree and brown sugar. Stir and heat through. Taste and add extra tamarind or sugar if necessary.
- Add the chicken and simmer for 20 minutes till the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve with rice and lemon wedges.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Do let me know if you make this easy chicken patia or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.
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