Creamy Coconut Chicken Curry (can be Made Vegan)

This creamy coconut chicken curry is easy, delicious and versatile. It is a great basic curry recipe that you can add different spice blends, vegetables and even tofu to. Depending what you have on hand this dish can be made vegan in the same amount of time it takes to cook the rice that goes with it.  

This blog post has been updated March 20,2024 with new photos and some improvements to the recipe.

Creamy chicken coconut curry

Every once in a while I like to take on an old recipe on this blog and breathe some new life into it. I do this not only because my food photography has certainly improved but because my cooking has improved. This creamy coconut chicken curry is tastier, easier and more versatile. It has a more complex flavour profile whilst needing very few dishes. If you have some curry paste on hand you won’t even need a cutting board or knife. If you happen to have a micro chopper of some sort you can just throw all your vegetables inside and chop it however fine you want which is great when you want all the flavour but less work.

Once you have this basic curry recipe down you can vary it with different vegetables or curry spice mixes. You can make it with meat, tofu or seitan. You can be totally creative, all you need is to apply some of these basic rules of cooking and you can whip up a variety of curries in no time.   

Creamy Coconut Chicken Curry

Yield: 4 portions Difficulty: 2/5 Time: prep: 10 minutes + cooking time: 20-30 min + time to marinate (optional)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbl flavour neutral oil
• 400 gr chicken breast, cut into strips (use tofu, seitan or omit meat to make it vegan) *
• 100 gr yogurt
• 1 onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetables (bell peppers, chickpeas (can, drained), beans (can, drained), sweet potato, pumpkin, cooked lentils, frozen Asian vegetable mix, spinach)**
• 1 tbl red curry paste (alternative tomato paste)
• curry powder to taste
• 1 can coconut cream
• soy sauce**
• sugar**
• lime juice**
• chili flakes**
• cilantro or parsley, optional
• mungo beans, spring onion, sprouts or fresh chillies, chopped (optional garnish)  

Instructions:

1. For a tender chicken curry marinate the meat with some curry powder, salt, pepper and yogurt and leave it in the fridge for a few hours or over night. 
2. Bring some flavour neutral oil to medium high heat in a wok-like pan and fry the chicken until lightly golden and season with salt.
3. Add the onions and bell peppers  and sauté everything until everything has browned, add small splashes of water to keep the onions from burning if necessary.  You can also use micro chopper to mince the vegetables as fine as you like for a less chunky curry.
4. Lower the heat to medium low and add spices, garlic and curry paste/tomato paste to the pan to roast them carefully for a few minutes. 
5. Add the coconut cream and bring everything to a boil. Add chickpeas, beans, diced sweet potato or pumpkin and cook until hot and the hard vegetables are cooked through.  
6. Depending on what kind of curry powder you use you want to season the curry to taste with salt, sugar, soy sauce and/or lime juice. 
7. When the curry is almost finished you can add fresh spinach and some chopped cilantro. Garnish with some fresh mungo beans, spring onions, sprouts and chilies and serve with some cooked rice, noodles or flatbread (naan).    

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*You can also use some leftover grilled chicken cut into pieces

**Use whatever kind of vegetables you have on hand. You can also add sweet potato or pumpkin puree. You could also roast some vegetables in the oven and serve them on the side. 

***Depending on what kind of curry powder you use, you might need some sugar or soy sauce to counteract some bitterness. Lime juice can add some brightness and cut through the heat of a hot curry powder such as a Thai curry powder.

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There you have an easy recipe for a creamy coconut chicken curry that you don’t have to make with chicken at all. It is a very customisable recipe that I use all the time with different vegetables and curry powders. Different curry spice blends are a weird thing to collect but if I find one I don’t have you know I will take it home. Thai Curry, Madras Curry, Garam Masala – you can use them all. You can also use a variety of curry pastes (red,yellow, green). It makes a quick, healthy and delicious dinner. I hope you enjoyed this recipe and have a great day. Stay safe and wear a mask! 

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