Want something different? Something that isn’t the same 10 curries you make over and over? Aloo chaat chicken curry is one of the tastiest Indian curries you have never heard of.
Aloo chaat chicken curry doesn’t exist on a menu anywhere that I’m aware of. I made it up. It’s different from the run-of-the-mill curries you see on almost every Indian restaurant menu.
And what makes it special is the chaat masala. That really gives it a distinctive tang. If you’ve never had chaat you have no idea what I’m talking about.
But if you have, you know. I’m loving the chaat masala these days. Different. In a funky, good way.
Aloo chaat chicken curry is a take on Indian street food
Think fried potatoes are tossed in a mix of spices, green chilies and maybe some lemon or lime juice. Sound good? Aloo chaat. Indian street food.
That’s the inspiration here. Takes the flavours of aloo chaat and runs with it. Street food becomes restaurant curry.
The big flavour here comes from the chaat masala. Without it, it’s just another curry with potatoes and chicken. I’m not saying that is a bad thing. I’m saying it can be better. Something special.
Your choice of chaat masala matters. The key ingredient in chaat masala- the one that really makes it – is black salt. It’s important. Gives it the distinctive tang.
Some chaat masalas have it. Some don’t. Not sure why that is. Read the ingredients and make sure the one you get has it. Or you can make chaat masala yourself.
If you can’t find a chaat masala with black salt you can just buy some at your Indian grocer.Black salt is kala namak in Hindi. Just ask for it. It’s cheap. Just add a pinch of it in when you add your chaat masala. Easy fix.
This is cooking Indian restaurant style
It’s a pretty straightforward and follows the Indian restaurant technique exactly. Do yourself a favour and read that post first. There are pictures and a video to help you understand.
Prep your ingredients. Make your curry base. Have some heated and ready to go. Pre-cook your meat. Measure out your ingredients. Put on some old clothes – the curry sputters.
Make this aloo chaat chicken curry as written. Or make it with lamb. That works too. Or use chickpeas. Makes a great potato curry. Lot’s of possibilities.
Restaurant style aloo chaat chicken curry. May not be the most common dish on restaurant menus but it should be.
restaurant style aloo chaat chicken curry
Ingredients
The spice mix
- 2 tsp hot madras curry powder or use indian restaurant mix powder if you don’t have any madras curry powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder or 1/4 tsp cayenne mixed with 3/4 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp kasoor methi – dried fenugreek leaves
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
The curry ingredients
- 3 Tbsp oil
- 1/2 large onion minced
- 1 green chili seeded and minced
- 1 Tbsp garlic/ginger paste – recipe link below
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste with enough water to dilute to the consistency of pasatta
- 15 oz curry base – recipe link below
- 10-12 oz pre-cooked chicken
- 8 small new potatoes – pre-cooked
- 1 1/2 tsp chaat masala powder available at any Indian grocery
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
- Juice of 1/6 lemon – around 1 tsp or so
Instructions
- Make the spice mix.
- Dilute the tomato paste with enough water to get to the consistency of passata.
- Heat your frying pan (don’t use non-stick) briefly over medium heat. Add the oil.
- Add the onions and stir constantly until the edges of the onions start to brown. This takes about a minute or two, depending how hot your pan is. Mix in the green chili and cook another 30 seconds or so.
- Next comes the garlic ginger paste. Add it into the pan and cook it, stirring constantly, until it stops sputtering.
- Turn down the heat and add the spice mix. This is the critical step. Stir it constantly for 30 seconds. If it starts to darken lift the pan off the heat. You want the spice mix to cook in the oil but not burn.
- Turn the heat up to medium high. This is important. The heat is what makes the curry base do its magic. Gives the curry it's Indian restaurant flavour. As you become more comfortable with this technique try pushing it. Add the diluted tomato paste and stir until bubbles form (the oil will likely separate). This takes around 30 seconds to one minute depending on the heat.
- Add 3 oz of curry base. Stir until bubbles form (little craters really), around 30 seconds. Think lively boil. Watch the edges of the pan. The curry can stick here. Sticking is OK. Just scrape it back into the base. Burning is bad.
- Now add 6 oz of curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook until the bubbles form again. This takes 1-2 minutes.
- Add the rest of the curry base and let cook until the bubbles form. Turn the heat down to low and add the chaat masala powder, pre-cooked chicken and potatoes.
- Let the curry simmer for about 5 minutes. If it gets too thick add a bit more curry base. Don’t add water.
- Mix in the lemon juice and coriander leaves.
- Garnish with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro and serve.
Wow, this dish is a real blockbuster. So tasty! I went fancy with precooking chicken and potatoes. Made potatoes the way you describe in your bombay aloo recipe, then cooked in oil with some whole spices. And for the chicken I marinated it and then cooked in the oven. I know you prefer to leave the lemon out of the marinade, but after trying both ways, I think I like how the chicken turns out more when the marinade does have lemon juice after all. So I used lemon juice, garlic-ginger paste, a little bit of medium curry powder and salt for the chicken. In the spice mix I added a little hot chili powder, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida. Didn’t have jwala chiles, so I cut up a jalapeno instead. At the end I added amchur powder because it goes well with everything. I love how complex the flavors turned out.
I feel like even if some restaurant was serving this dish, it wouldn’t be as delicious and I’d end up disappointed. Oh, and I love having both protein and potatoes in one curry!
Wow. That sounds incredible!
Another Glebe Kitchen win. Made this last night (trying to use up the curry base, need room in freezer lol), and it was amazing! I added a bit of extra amchur powder to really kick up the sour for me. Thanks as always. I usually use the chaat masala and amchur in bhindi masala, so I have a lot on hand.
Love that you tweaked it to your taste! I am in love with amchur myself.
Yet another winning curry recipe. As always, the secret is having the ready made curry gravy on hand. I make batches of 10 or so and freeze them, suggest making more when you get down to the last two or so. Fantastic site without any disappointments thus far.
Keep up the great recipes.
Thank you! I always have some curry base in the freezer as well.
I’m making the aloo chaat chicken masala curry.i have already made the curry base.how should I adjust the recipe to suit 6 servings?thanks for a great site Phil.
You can’t just scale the recipe easily. The technique relies on your ability to really get the pan hot when the base is added. Maybe try a big pan. Scale the recipe up 50 percent and make two batches. Keep the first batch warm while you make the second. Or make 3 batches as written. If you haven’t made a restaurant style curry before then making it for guests is pretty bold. Good luck.
This sounds delicious.but you don’t say how to make the curry base
Julie.
There is a link to the curry base recipe in both the description of the dish (the text) and the recipe itself. Can you not see the linked text in a different colour?
A Romain original specialty! I love it! 🙂 I love how every time I learn about a curry from you I learn about a new spice! Something that I would never even pick up or know how to use. 🙂