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Indian Chicken Curry with Naan Bread

3.14 from 15 votes
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Low
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 3 people
Author: Lorena Salinas from Cravings Journal

Ingredients

For the basmati rice

  • 1 tsp vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 cup basmati rice or long grain rice
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp salt

For the Naan bread

  • 450 g all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp instant yeast or 2 tsp dry yeast ot 4 tsp fresh yeast
  • 150 ml lukewarm milk
  • 150 g natural yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil + more for proofing and cooking
  • 1 egg

To paint the Naan bread

  • 50 g unsalted butter melted
  • 1 garlic clove finely grated or minced
  • 1 tsp salt

For the garam masala

  • 38 g cumin whole
  • 38 g coriander seeds whole
  • 1 tsp cardamom pods
  • 1 tsp black pepper whole
  • 1 small bayleaf
  • 1/2 tsp cloves whole
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick

For the chicken curry

  • 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 1/2 large brown / yellow onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 5 g peeled ginger
  • 2 small tomatoes
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder adjust to your tolerance to spiciness
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 60 ml water
  • 2 chicken breasts in cubes
  • 1 tbsp whipping cream
  • 1 tsp unsalted butter
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander or mint to garnish

Instructions

For the basmati rice

  • Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the rice and mix constantly for a minute.
  • Add the salt and water and mix. When it starts to boil reduce the heat to a minimum and put a lid on the pot.
  • Cook for 15-20min or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove the lid and use a fork to fluff up the rice.

For the Naan bread

  • Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
  • Knead the dough until it's homogeneous and shiny.
  • Drizzle a bit of vegetable or canola oil in a bowl and place the dough inside. Turn it so it gets coated with the oil. This will help prevent it from drying out as it proofs.
  • Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and let the dough proof for one hour or until it has doubled in size.
  • Divide the dough in 6 portions and stretch them to 2-3mm thick using a rolling pin.
  • Preheat a pan on really high heat until it begins to smoke. Paint a bit of vegetable oil on the pan and place a portion of Naan on top. You'll see it puff up and from then give it a couple seconds and turn it around for a few extra seconds.
  • Place the bread in a bowl and cover them with a kitchen cloth so they stay warm. You can paint them with a mix of butter and salt or also add garlic like I did.

For the garam masala

  • Place all the ingredients on a baking tray and into a preheated oven at 180C for 3-5min. We want them to be nice and golden but they also burn pretty fast so keep an eye on them.
  • To grind them up I used a mortar and pestle and did it in 4-5 sections. You could also use a spice grinder or a food processor.
  • If you can't find any of the spices in their whole version you can replace for their ground version. You should still toast them a bit on a pan on low heat and stirring constantly since they are ready really fast.

For the chicken curry

  • Blend the onion, garlic and ginger. Also blend the tomatoes but keep them separate.
  • Place a pot over medium heat and add the oil. Cook the onion purée in there. At first it will release lots of water and you will only have to stir occasionally but as it dries up you need to be more careful because it will start to stick to the bottom of the pot.
  • It's ready when the mix has completely caramelized and it has a brown colour.
  • Add the blended tomatoes and mix constantly until it thickens up and you can clearly see the bottom of the pan when you stir.
  • Add the spices and mix. Then add the chicken and the water and place a lid on the pot. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook the chicken for 10-15min or until nice and tender.
  • Add the cream and butter, mix and correct the salt level. To garnish it would be more traditional to use coriander but I can't stand it so I went for fresh mint.

Notes

*If you're using dry or fresh yeast first mix it in with the warm milk and sugar and let it rest for 10min. If you don't see any bubbles or froth after this it means the yeast is dead and you need to get a new one.
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