Curry Chicken with Coconut Milk is one of those comforting chicken curry dishes that is a must-try. Adding coconut milk, an everyday chicken curry transforms into a deeply flavorful and irresistible dish. This family-favorite recipe has been loved for years and never fails to impress. If you love bold flavors with a touch of richness, this is a recipe you'll want to make on repeat!
Why you'll love this Curry chicken?
- The addition of coconut milk to the spicy chicken curry adds a rich, creamy flavor that takes this dish to the next level.
- Pairs beautifully with nei choru (easy ghee rice) or a variety of breads like parathas, appams, and pathiri, which soak up the rich, flavorful gravy made with coconut milk, tender chicken, and aromatic spices.
- Tastes even better the next day as the spices deepen and blend perfectly with the coconut milk.
- Perfect for both casual weeknight dinners and special occasions when serving family or guests.
- Serve with Kozhikode biryani, or Mutton biryani Kerala style, or Layered mutton biryani recipe, and finish with a delicious dessert like Kerala rice payasam, pink palada payasam, or Vermicelli payasam.
Ingredients you need
- Chicken cut into small pieces
- Coconut milk, oil, salt
- Onion, Tomatoes, Green chilies, Ginger garlic paste, Coriander leaves, and curry leaves
- Whole Spices: Cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf
- Spice Powders: turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala,
How to make Curry Chicken with Coconut Milk?
This is a very easy recipe to make and comes together with simple ingredients. We begin by marinating the chicken with turmeric and red chili powder. Next, heat the oil, temper the whole spices, and sauté the onions, ginger, garlic, green chilies and tomatoes.
- Step 1: Heat oil and add whole spices.
- Step 2: Add onions, cut lengthwise.
- Step 3: Add crushed ginger garlic and green chilies.
- Step 4: Add spice powders and mix well.
Next, add the dry spice powders turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, and pepper, and sauté. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and cook until they soften. Then add the marinated chicken and mix well.
Pour in hot water, cover, and cook until the chicken is tender and fully cooked. Finally, stir in the creamy coconut milk and finish with garam masala. This final step gives the curry a rich texture and deep, well-rounded flavor.
- Step 5: Add chopped tomatoes and marinated chicken. Add salt and hot water, and cook covered until done.
- Step 6: Add coconut milk, curry leaves, and chopped coriander leaves.
Serve it with Malabar parathas (layered flatbread), Vellappams or Appams (soft rice pancakes), rotis, or steamed rice. It is also an excellent choice when entertaining guests, as it is both comforting and impressive.
Some other chicken dishes to try are Kashmiri Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, or, if you prefer a dry version, do try the chicken 65 dry fry recipe or air fryer chicken tikka.
Useful Tips
- Add a small amount of coconut oil while sautéing the onions to enhance the flavor and give the dish a more authentic taste.
- Pour in hot water while cooking the chicken to help it cook more evenly and stay tender.
- You can use either canned coconut milk or freshly extracted coconut milk from grated coconut, depending on what you have available, as both work well in this recipe.
- Do not forget the garam masala addition in the end for a nice flavor and aroma.
Recipe FAQs
The coconut milk is added in the last step after the chicken is cooked well in the gravy. This helps it maintain the creamy texture and prevents it from curdling.
The curry chicken can be kept refrigerated for 3 to 5 days without losing its freshness; in fact, the flavors deepen over time.
Full-fat coconut milk is preferred over low-fat coconut milk for its creamy texture and flavor; using the latter will make the curry thin.
Related Recipes
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Curry Chicken with Coconut milk
Ingredients
- 8 oz chicken cut into small pieces
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 med onion chopped
- 2 med tomatoes chopped
- 4 green chilies slit
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 4 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp red chilly powder
- 4 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 cup chopped coriander leaves
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt to taste
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken with ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, chilly powder, and salt for about 30 minutes
- In a heavy deep bottom pan heat up the oil
- Add the dry spices cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves
- Add onions and sautèe till it wilts a little
- Add crushed ginger garlic, and green chili paste, and sautee well
- Add the remaining spice powders and tomatoes
- Cook well till until oil floats on the top
- Add the marinated chicken and mix well
- Add salt and about 2 cups of boiling water.
- Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame
- Mix well from time to time
- Add coconut milk and curry leaves when almost cooked
- Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes
- Garnish with coriander leaves and curry leaves
- Curry chicken is ready, serve with rice or parathas.
Notes
- Add a small amount of coconut oil while sautéing the onions to enhance the flavor and give the dish a more authentic taste.
- Pour in hot water while cooking the chicken to help it cook more evenly and stay tender.
- You can use either canned coconut milk or freshly extracted coconut milk from grated coconut, depending on what you have available as both work well in this recipe.
- Do not forget the garam masala addition in the end for a nice flavor and aroma.
This looks so cozy and full of flavor. I love how the coconut milk makes it feel rich and comforting without being too heavy.
A friend of mine sent me this recipe and somehow I found myself cooking curry chicken for the fisrt time. The recipe worked perfectly, it was delish!
Super flavorful and easy to make. We make this often.
This curry turned out so comforting and full of flavor! The coconut milk makes it extra rich without feeling heavy. Such a lovely dish to serve with rice or warm flatbread!
Oh my gosh I need to stop going through your blog! I'm getting SO hungry lol! All of these recipes are AMAZING! I'm on a no meat, no dairy, no gluten 3-week cleanse. Any good recommendations? <3 Big love to you! Xx
Oh dear! That's really tough I wouldn't be able to survive that kind of diet restriction Lol:) . But seriously, cleansing sounds like a great idea and I can imagine looking at these pictures could really be a distraction ! Thank you for liking my recipes .I have to keep thinking of new things to cook for my teenage twins 🙂 Have a good rest of the week !
I found this site https://cookieandkate.com/dairy-free-gluten-free-vegetarian-recipes/ .Hope this helps!
Omg! This looks heavenly. I bet it tastes absolutely delicious. 🙂
Yes Neha, it was super yum ! Thank you so much!
Interesting with coconut milk 👍
Thank you so much Jyo, do try it sometime it has a wonderful flavor!
This looks so yummy! I am like you -love coconut milk!
Thank you so much Sandhya! It was really yum ,Glad to hear you love coconut milk as well 🙂
coconut milk smells strange a bit, but i love it to use when i'm cooking indian dishes 🙂
I used canned coconut milk here in the US which is a little thick but quite okay .Back home we squeeze out the coconut milk from fresh grated coconut for Indian curries and that is even better.
Yes, but here we’ve got only canned too 🤨😫 fresh is always awesome: for taste and for health 💓
We do get coconut in the store here but is a lot of work to break it open, grate , blend and extract milk , other option is frozen grated coconut , however canned coconut milk is best for a fast and easy preparation!
Looking good Chechi!
Thank you so much Deepa and for the recipe as well 🙂