Delicious

Use Blend of Spices to Make Richly Flavorful Chicken Curry

By Tomoyo Yamada / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:30 JST, April 20, 2025

Spice restaurant owner and cooking expert Yumiko Kozumi shares a recipe for chicken curry. The incorporation of abundant spices and a rich bone broth make the dish flavorful.

Kozumi has shared many ideas on using spices in everyday dishes. “Let’s use spices we have on hand,” she said.

The curry combines various spices, similar to curries from the Chettinad area of southern India. Dishes from this area feature rich and deep flavors, as it played a significant role in the spice trade, and traders brought rare spices and other ingredients there from various countries, according to Kozumi.

The curry is authentic but unexpectedly easy to make, as all you have to do is to saute chopped onions, chicken and other ingredients, add ground spices, then saute and let simmer. Using chicken on the bone is best, because a broth can be made when simmering. In Sri Lanka and India, people often cut up a whole chicken and use the meat on the bone. Coating the chicken with turmeric removes the smell of the meat and seasons it.

Dry-fry the spices before grinding them with a mill to bring out more of their aroma. It is easier to grind up the red chili pepper and other spices that contain moisture if they are dry-fried in advance. Grind some cashew nuts together with the spices to make the dish taste richer. “In India, cashew nuts are made into a paste and put in curries. You can also use white sesame instead of cashew nuts,” said Kozumi.

Saute the onions and other ingredients and mix with the spices. Since they burn easily, pay close attention and keep the heat at the right level. Add water and boil until the water is reduced by about half and the mixture thickens.

The sweet flavor of onion and mild taste of cashew nuts spread through the mouth, followed by the intense flavor of the spices. The soft and tender chicken pieces have a deep and rich flavor. If you can make curry from scratch, you can brag about it to your friends and family.

Make exotic rice

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Basmati rice seasoned with cardamom and turmeric

You can serve the curry with white rice, but you also can add an exotic touch to the rice. Put Basmati rice, one of the Indica rice varieties, and plenty of water in a pot. When the water comes to boil, add cardamom and turmeric. Cook for about 10 minutes so that the rice will not be cooked through. Drain the water, cover with a lid and leave until it is done. “It is also good with Jasmine rice from Thailand,” Kozumi said.

Chicken curry

Ingredients (serves 2):

400 grams chopped bone-in chicken thigh
1 red chili pepper
10 cashew nuts
¾ of a chopped onion (150 grams)
5 grams grated garlic
5 grams grated ginger
½ of a chopped tomato (70 grams)
Moderate amount of coriander

Spices

⅓ tsp turmeric
2 tsp of coriander seeds
½ tsp each of whole black pepper, cumin seeds, fennel seeds
3 cloves
1 gram Ceylon cinnamon
2 cardamom seeds

Directions:

1. Remove the skin from the chicken and coat the meat with turmeric. Leave for about 20 minutes.

2. Lightly dry-fry the red chili pepper and spices other than turmeric in a frying pan. Let cool slightly and using a spice mill to grind, along with the cashew nuts into a powder.

3. Heat 2⅔ tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pot and saute the chopped onions. Once brown, add garlic, ginger and chicken, and saute the ingredients together.

4. When the ingredients are all coated with the oil and the surface of the chicken turns white, add the tomato and the spice and cashew mixture and stir-fry.

5. When the ingredients are mixed, add 150 milliliters of water to the pot. When the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and cover with a lid. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve the curry on a plate and garnish with coriander.