bottle masala chicken curry

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5 from 21 votes

bottle masala chicken curry

Bottle masala gives this curry its distinctive flavour and complexity.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Servings:

Calories: 441kcal

Author: romain | glebekitchen

Ingredients

The spice mix

3 1/2 tsp bottle masala - there isn't really a substitute
1/2 tsp kasoor methi - dried fenugreek leaves
1/2 tsp kosher salt
pinch asafoetida - if your bottle masala doesn't smell like asafoetida already (optional). Really. Just a pinch. It's potent stuff.

The curry ingredients

3 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp garlic/ginger paste - recipe link below
2 finger hot green chilies - aka jwala. Cut in half lengthwise then into 1 inch pieces
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 - I prefer thighs cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 tsp jaggery or brown sugar
5-6 cherry tomatoes - halved

Instructions

Do your prep - this goes fast

Make the spice mix. Combine all the spice mix ingredients in a small bowl.
Dilute the tomato paste with enough water to get to the consistency of passata.
Prep your chilies and tomatoes. Pre-cook your chicken.

Make bottle masala chicken curry

Heat your frying pan (don't use non-stick) briefly over medium heat. Add the oil.
When the oil starts to shimmer add the garlic ginger paste and green chilies. Cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic ginger paste stops sputtering. Stand back. Wear old clothes. Restaurant style can get messy.
Turn the heat down to medium low and add the spice mix. This step is critical. Stir it constantly for around 30 seconds. If it starts to darken lift the pan off the heat. You want the spice mix to bubble in the oil. That's called blooming spices. Flavour magic happens here. You know the smell of Indian restaurants? This is where it comes from. What you don't want to do is burn the spices. That's a one way trip to starting over. Seriously. There's no coming back. So be a little careful until you get the hang of this.
Turn the heat up to medium high. Add the diluted tomato paste. Stir to combine and cook until little bubbles start to form. This takes around 30 seconds to one minute. You are now in the safe zone. Really hard to burn spices at this point.
High heat is important here. You will be frying the curry base, generating all sorts of wonderful flavour compounds. That's more flavour magic. As you become more comfortable with this technique try pushing it.
Add 3 oz of curry base. Stir until bubbles form, around 30 seconds. Think lively boil meets frying in oil. Watch the edges of the pan. The curry can stick here. Sticking is OK. Just scrape it back into the curry. Burning is bad.
Add 6 oz of curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook/fry until the bubbles form again. This takes 1-2 minutes.
Add the rest of the curry base and let cook until the bubbles form - another minute or two.
Taste. Every bottle masala mix is different. If you find it well balanced go with it. If it is a little tart add the 1/2 tsp of jaggery or brown sugar.
Turn the heat down to low and add the pre-cooked chicken. Stir to combine.
Let the curry simmer for about 5 minutes. If it gets too thick add a bit more curry base.
Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are just warmed through.
Serve with basmati rice or your favourite Indian flatbread. I was working on a keema biryani recipe when I took the pictures. That was too much. Don't do that.

Notes

Bottle masala is worth looking for. If you really can't get it you can try a commercial Kitchen King blend. That is available at every Indian grocer. Just swap out the bottle masala for the 2 1/2 tsp of Kitchen King and 1 tsp of kashmiri chili powder. Don't add the salt and adjust as needed at the end.

Curry base is at the heart of restaurant style cooking. You can't really do this without it.

Homemade garlic ginger paste is a huge improvement over the pre-fab jarred stuff.

If you haven't read about Indian restaurant technique yet, do that before you start cooking.

Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go.

If you are making multiple curries, have your curry base warming in a pot on the stove. If you are just making one, microwave it to warm it up right before you start cooking.

Indian restaurants pre-cook their meat so it's ready for service. This recipe assumes the same. To pre-cook chicken, cut it into large bite sized pieces and simmer it with a bit of curry powder and salt in chicken stock for about 10-15 minutes - until it's barely cooked. Use an instant read thermometer and shoot for 160F for white or 170F for dark. Don't have an instant read thermometer? Think about fixing that. It's invaluable.

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