Zesty dinner options are always a welcome change from the usual roasted chicken and pasta. I’ve had my fair share of korma and butter chicken curries over the years, but now it’s time to mix things up.
With an array of Indian dishes at our fingertips, choosing just one can be a daunting task. From the classic korma and butter chicken curries to the smoky flavors of tandoori meals and the tender goodness of kebabs, there’s no shortage of options.
Easy Chicken Tikka Masala
Keenly loved by many, chicken tikka masala is a curry that stands out from the rest in terms of its flavor profile and popularity. Its vibrant taste and aroma are what make it a top choice for dinner, offering an experience that’s both satisfying and enjoyable. While its rich blend of spices may suggest a fiery kick, the truth is that it’s not overwhelmingly spicy.
However, if you’re someone who prefers a little extra heat in their meals, adding more chili powder to your recipe can easily achieve this effect. In terms of dietary requirements, chicken tikka masala is also relatively easy to adapt to dairy-free needs. By replacing heavy cream with coconut cream, the dish becomes just as delicious while catering to those with dairy intolerance or preferences.
Easy Chicken Korma
Despite my best intentions to try new dishes, I often find myself gravitating towards the familiar flavors of a creamy, sweet, and mild coconut and ginger sauce when visiting an Indian restaurant. The allure of this comforting condiment is undeniable, but there’s a crucial step in preparing it that must not be overlooked: ensuring the coconut milk is at room temperature before adding it to the dish.
If it’s cold, it may separate or ‘split’, compromising the texture and overall flavor of the sauce.
Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken
Taking inspiration from tikka masala, this butter chicken recipe has some notable differences in terms of ingredients used. Unlike the original dish, this version employs a little more cream and slightly fewer tomatoes to create a distinct flavor profile.
Mughlai Chicken
Just as its unassuming appearance might suggest, Mughlai chicken is a dish that belies its humble looks with an abundance of flavor. It’s characterized by a rich brown onion gravy and the subtle nuttiness of soaked cashews, which contribute to its creamy texture. The addition of heavy cream towards the end of cooking doesn’t compromise the sauce’s consistency, ensuring it remains smooth and velvety.
Kerala Style Spicy Dry Roasted Chicken
Often overlooked in favour of more popular Indian dishes, nadan chicken ularthiyathu is a gem worth discovering. Unlike other recipes that simmer their chicken in a rich sauce, this version takes a dry-cooked approach. As a result, you’ll need to cook the chicken until it’s completely dehydrated before reducing the heat and allowing it to tenderise, releasing its full flavour and aroma.
Chicken Chettinad Recipe
Need a dish that will ignite your taste buds? If korma and butter chicken are too mild for you, then you’ll definitely need to try this incredible spicy chicken recipe. It gets most of its heat from the chilis and peppercorns, so you can easily alter the recipe if you don’t want it as hot or prefer a milder version.
Tandoori Chicken
Keeping the authentic flavors of India intact, tandoori chicken is a meal made by roasting chicken in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. To achieve this delightful dish, you’ll need to prepare skinless legs and thighs that have been marinated in yogurt and an assortment of spices. This ensures the chicken is as tender and flavorful as possible.
Once ready for cooking, cut them to the bone, slicing them about an inch apart over the surface, allowing the marinade to permeate evenly and the chicken to cook faster.
Chicken Shami Kabab Recipe
Vibrant and flavorful, these bite-sized treats are reminiscent of meatballs or mini patties, but with a distinct twist – they’re packed with the bold spices of India, along with chickpeas or dal for added texture and nutrition. Whether served as a simple starter or incorporated into a larger Indian-themed spread, they’re sure to impress, especially when paired with a tangy dollop of mango chutney!
Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs
Generally speaking, a tandoor is an oven designed for dry cooking methods, which explains why tandoori recipes often refer to this technique rather than the specific flavors involved. This unique cooking method ensures that dishes like tandoori chicken are not only infused with aromatic spices but also tenderized and imbued with a distinct smokiness.
Chicken Seekh Kabab Recipe
Highlighting a significant difference between shish kebabs and seekh kebabs is the type of meat used in their preparation. While shish kebabs employ chunks of meat, seekh kebabs rely on ground meat that’s been expertly seasoned and molded around a metal skewer. To compensate for the lean nature of ground chicken, it’s essential to incorporate additional fat sources to prevent dryness and ensure the mixture binds together well.
One simple yet effective approach is by adding plain yogurt to the blend.
Chicken 65
Rest assured, the origins of this dish’s name remain a mystery, but one thing is undeniable: it’s incredibly delicious! The lengthy marination process, which involves bathing the chicken in spiced yogurt for 24 hours, contributes significantly to its mouth-watering flavor. However, the true crowning glory lies in the dry rub that you’ll sprinkle over the cooked chicken at the end of cooking time. Its vibrant colors and profound depth of flavor are a match made in culinary heaven.
Dahi Chicken (Yogurt Marinated Chicken Curry)
Most noticeably, yogurt marinades are a common denominator in many of these recipes, as they help break down proteins and infuse flavor into the meat. This dish, however, deviates slightly from that trend by keeping its ingredient list concise. Once the chicken has marinated to perfection, it’s cooked with sliced onions and minced ginger until tender. The finishing touches involve combining all the ingredients in a pan and allowing them to simmer together until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Lehsuni Nimbu Murgh (Garlic Lemon Chicken)
Most noticeably, this dish diverges from its predecessors. The absence of tomato and coconut milk is one notable difference, while the predominant use of garlic and lemon gives it a distinct flavor profile. When preparing the chicken, you will cook it directly within the marinade until the liquid has largely been absorbed or evaporated. To add texture, I prefer to briefly finish cooking the chicken in hot oil after this step.
Quick and Easy Chicken Biryani
Taking centre stage among India’s diverse culinary landscape is Biryani, a dish that boasts an impressive array of variations, with at least 10 distinct types to its name. Its heat level may be pretty spicy, but what sets it apart from other curries is the way it harmoniously blends the rice with the meat and sauce, creating a tender and satisfying experience for the taste buds.
Kalmi Kabab
Complementing the popular seekh kebab’s use of ground chicken, this recipe employs a more straightforward approach with sliced, boneless chicken. While it may require a bit more effort, I firmly believe that these grilled chicken skewers would be an exceptional addition to your next barbecue or outdoor gathering.
Chicken Vindaloo
Hailing from the UK’s culinary scene is a dish so beloved it even made an appearance in a 1998 FIFA World Cup song. This indicates just how deeply ingrained Vindaloo has become in British culture. It’s also worth noting that Vindaloo has earned its reputation as a spicy favorite. If you’re not accustomed to handling intense heat, then this dish may be best avoided.
While it’s technically possible to tone down the level of spiciness by reducing the amount of chilies used, doing so would undoubtedly alter the fundamental character of the dish. In essence, choosing a milder option would yield a different culinary experience altogether.
Chicken Mulligatawny Soup
Bundled up or not, there’s something about the cold winter months that just screams for a steaming bowl of comfort food. This season, ditch the usual bland and uninspiring options like plain chicken and veggie soup and give your taste buds a much-needed wake-up call with this deliciously spiced chicken curry soup instead. The subtle kick of heat will leave you feeling cozy and warm in no time.
Chilli Chicken
Browsing through foodie blogs and social media, one dish that often catches the eye is a perfectly fried piece of chicken. The sizzling sound it makes as it hits the plate is almost audible, and we can almost smell the aroma of spices wafting from it. But what makes this dish truly special is not just the presentation, but also the technique used to achieve that perfect balance between crunch and flavor.
In this case, deep frying is a crucial step, however, since the chicken is lightly coated with corn starch, it’s the ideal amount of crispy coating that enhances the overall taste experience without overpowering it.
Kadai Chicken Recipe
Zestfully seasoned chicken dishes are often synonymous with tender meat that easily falls off the bone. This particular recipe truly shines when it comes to this aspect, delivering an unparalleled level of succulence and flavor. When savored with warm naan, the experience is nothing short of delightful. Ideally, cooking in a wok (in Hindi, Kadai) yields optimal results, but any deep pan with a heavy bottom can also produce satisfactory outcomes.
Palak Chicken
When taking a close look at the recipe for this chicken curry, one of the most noticeable ingredients is the abundance of spinach used. The key to its preparation lies in cooking it alongside the chicken within a creamy sauce made from onion, tomato, and cashews. It’s essential to use fresh spinach, as opposed to frozen, which would introduce an excessive amount of moisture into the dish, ultimately making the curry too watery due to the high water content in frozen spinach.
Chicken Shawarma
Let’s start by understanding the essence of this dish – it’s all about the combination of layered, spiced chicken that’s cooked to perfection on a spit. The unique texture of crispy and juicy meat is achieved as you take each bite, making it an experience unlike any other. For me, the best way to enjoy this dish is in a naan with pickled red onions adding a tangy kick, a dollop of hummus for creaminess, and fresh tomatoes providing natural sweetness.
Chicken Dhansak
Sometimes, a recipe can be more than just delicious – it can also be nutritious and budget-friendly. Such is the case with chicken and lentil curries, which I have come to love. One of the reasons I adore this dish is that lentils are an affordable ingredient that not only adds bulk but also provides a good amount of protein, high-quality fiber, and minimal fat content.
Chicken Saag
Fresh from our kitchen comes another delightful spinach curry, this time enriched with an assortment of deep and leafy greens. A closer examination of the recipe reveals that it requires a considerable amount of spinach, no less than 10 cups, but rest assured, its volume significantly reduces in just minutes, leaving you with a dish packed with nutrients.
Chicken Curry
Reaching out to Indian cuisine for the first time can be intimidating, especially when faced with unfamiliar flavors and ingredients. However, this straightforward chicken curry is an ideal starting point, as it utilizes readily available spices and pantry staples that are easy to find in most supermarkets. Those looking to elevate the dish’s richness can try adding a splash of coconut milk at room temperature towards the end of cooking time.
Laura Hauser is a food writer and editor passionate about authentic, approachable home cooking.
