Vibrant and punchy this red goan chicken curry is definitely a curry to make. Strong and spicy with hints of vinegar and tamarind, it's a delicious and easy curry recipe.
You know me, I love a good curry and can't resist posting one every so often. When I look back at the pictures, they all look fairly similar but trust me, the tastes are quite different.
This Goan chicken curry is one of my favourite recipes from Anjum Anand in Anjum's New Indian. It is strong and spicy with a lovely vinegary flavour. If you love strong tastes then this is the curry for you!
It's not a creamy curry, it's a vibrant punchy chicken curry and those are definitely the type of curries I most enjoy. Some curries are lovely and comforting and perfect for a relaxed family meal. Now, depending on your family, this might suit them. It might not. And however that might sound, it's actually a recommendation!
This red chicken curry is a vibrant dish combining sweet, sour and hot. What makes it individual is definitely the vinegar and the tamarind.
Ingredient notes for red Goan chicken curry
Do check out the recipe card further down the post for more details but to make this curry you'll need to make a paste first and then use the paste as the base for the curry. For the paste you'll need:
- Whole spices - black pepper corns and cloves
- Ground spices - cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon
- Aromatics - red chilli peppers, garlic and ginger. You can use pastes or purees for the ginger and garlic if that's easier for you.
- Tamarind paste - This adds a lovely sweet and sour flavour to the curry. Do try to get some as it won't be the same without it.
- Sugar - A little sugar helps to balance the flavours, especially as there are some quite sour flavours in this curry.
- Salt
- White wine vinegar - Helps to give the curry paste its sour flavour.
For the rest of the dish you'll need:
- Onion - I usually use brown onions but red ones will work too. You can also use shallots.
- Tomatoes - You can use fresh tomatoes or tinned ones.
- Chicken - Thigh or breast meat works. I prefer thigh but it's totally up to you.
- Salt - Just a little bit for seasoning.
Don't be scared of a long ingredients list!
When you look at the list of ingredients for the red Goan spice paste it may look intimidating. The spice paste does have a lot of ingredients in it. However, you just need to put everything in the blender to make the paste. It's that easy. It's actually a pretty easy curry recipe.
What makes this chicken curry distinctly Goan?
It's the vinegar and tamarind again! In the past Goa was colonised by the Portuguese who used vinegar to preserve meat during their voyages. The local Hindus used tamarind as a key flavour. As the two cultures lived side by side they adopted each other's cooking styles and that is how dishes like this are said to have come about.
Can you adapt this curry?
Don't feel you have to stick rigidly to the recipe. You can adapt this to suit your tastes. Always taste the curry as it's cooking and add extra spices, vinegar, tamarind, sugar or salt to suit your tastes.
Feel free to use a different meat too. Pork is often used in Goan curries and this chicken curry can be made with pork instead.
What can you serve with this chicken curry?
Serve your favourite Indian side with this curry. I usually serve it with rice and naan bread. It's also great with some tomato cucumber and onion raita on the side and a veggie curry such as this dry curried okra.
Storing and reheating
Like all curries, this one is just as good to eat the next day, or the day after that! You can keep it in the fridge for up to three days. Or you can freeze the leftovers for up to three months.
Reheat it in the microwave until piping hot or in a saucepan. If you reheat it in a sauce pan you may need to add a little water to stop it going dry. Just keep giving it a stir so it reheats evenly and doesn't burn.
Anjum's New Indian
It's not a new cookery book any longer but when I first got this Indian cookery book by Anjum Anand I worked my way through practically every recipe in the book. There was not one recipe I didn't like! I also love her Indian Food Made Easy book.
Recipe
Red Goan Chicken Curry
Ingredients
Ingredients for the spice paste
- 2 black pepper corns
- 2 red chilli peppers
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoon coriander
- 3 cloves
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric
- 9 cloves garlic
- 15 g root ginger
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoon white wine vinegar Adjust up to 5 if you like a stronger vinegar taste
Ingredients for the Red Goan Chicken Curry
- 1 onion chopped
- 6 tablespoon spice paste see ingredients above
- 4 tomatoes or 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 600 g chicken diced
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- First make the spice paste. Crush the black pepper corns in a pestle and mortar then put all the ingredients for the spice paste in a blender and blitz until you get a smooth paste. Any paste you don't use can be stored in the fridge for about a week.
- Cook the onion in a saucepan for about 10 minutes then add the spice paste and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring. Then add the tomatoes and salt, cover and leave to cook over a low heat for another 8 minutes.
- Remove the lid and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken. If you feel it needs it because there isn't much sauce then add about 200ml of boiling water from the kettle. Put the lid on and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid and let the sauce reduce little.
- Serve with Indian bread or rice.
Notes
Nutrition
More Curry Recipes
I love curries! They are amongst my favourite recipes and as our kids love curries too, I make one almost every week so do check out my collection of easy homemade curry recipes. Why not try one of these recipes?
- Jamie Oliver's Favourite Chicken Curry
- Burmese Chicken Curry
- Chicken curry with pickling spices
- Nutty roasted romanesco curry
- Dry curried okra
Keep in touch
Do let me know if you make this red Goan chicken curry or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.
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Gordon Tansey
Hi Corina
Thanks for the recipe - and the spice paste was very easy to make. It also allowed me to heat it up or down to suit the other diners.
Once the paste made, was one of the easiest curries to make. Very popular and had a unique taste compared to the mainstream curries.
Fantastic!!!
Corina Blum
Hi Gordon, Thank you for letting me know and I'm so happy that you and the other diners enjoyed this.
Sisley White
I've started making more curries and this is definitely going on the list to make this weekend x
Corina Blum
Oh good! I do hope you like it!
Janice
This looks wonderful, I have tamarind paste and am never quite sure what to do with it, so this is an ideal recipe for me, thank you.
Corina Blum
I'm so pleased you like it Janice! I'm often not quite sure what to do with tamarind paste either except put it in curries!
Jenny Walters
I love the fact that you are such an expert Corina! You certainly know how to cook a curry! I have never had a Goan Curry before and to be honest am a real wimp where heat is concerned. But this sounds perfect for my husband. He is very passionate about them and this one is right up his street.
Corina Blum
Aww thanks Jenny! I don't think of my self as an expert at all but I do love curries. It's funny though, I'd probably only eaten about one or two curries in my life before I started going out with my husband, although that was about 15 years ago now! He's the one who got be into liking spicy food.
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
I have never cooked Goan curry before but it's definitely time to change that now! It sounds amazing Corina! I'm usually one for slightly creamier curries but am really intrigued by this one (especially the addition of vinegar) and definitely not putt off by the long list of ingredients 😉 Will be trying it out soon!
Corina Blum
I'm so pleased you like the sound of it Jo! This one is really tasty and the vinegar definitely gives it some extra flavour.
Hannah
This looks incredible - I love a good curry more than anything else, and this sounds like the perfect one for me!
Corina Blum
Thanks Hannah! I'm so pleased you like it - we're always happy with a good curry too.
Anna | Once Upon A Food Blog
This looks like a great 'date night' meal - my husband would love it. And I love making a curry paste to cook with, for some reason I find it really satisfying.
Corina Blum
I love a curry paste too! I don't always make one if I'm just cooking a really quick midweek curry but I love the way it makes the sauce.
Helen - Cooking with my kids
This sounds delicious. I love making our own curries as we can adjust the spice to suit my and my kids aversion to too much spice!
Corina Blum
I have got very used to making all our curries a lot milder too! My husband and I just have to add extra fresh chillies or pickles to spice things up a bit more. I'm sure my overall tolerance to chillies has gone down since having children.
Choclette
You absolutely need a long ingredient list for a good curry. This looks very tasty indeed and takes me straight back to childhood when my aunt did the best chicken curry ever! Of course I've not had one now for a very very long time, so I expect yours is probably even better 😀
Corina Blum
I'm sure you could adapt this to make it with veggies instead of chicken! We never had curries when I was growing up as we always had more traditional British food.
Jacqui Bellefontaine
another delicious sounding curry from you Corina. I not a big curry fan myself (im a chilli wimp although I argue i like spicy food just not too hot) but my boys are so I have to make them every so often and this sounds like one they would love. Thank you for sharing on #CookBlogShare.
Corina Blum
I'm sure they would love it! The tamarind and vinegar make it really tasty.
Juliana
Corina, what a delicious chicken dish...I just need a bowl of white rice to go with it...so tasty 🙂
Reeni
This sounds like something I would love with the tamarind in it! I can't get enough of it. The amount of spices is incredible - delicious!
pigpigscorner
I love curries but the long list of ingredients always scares me..haha.
Katerina
Another one dish I should add to my repertoire. It looks so tasty and the yellow color is astonishing.
Joanne
I love finding new and authentic curry recipes! This one sounds packed with flavor...so delicious!