Coconut Chicken Curry Recipe (2024)

A list of ingredients is good, but I also wish recipes were written like this:Trim 2 ½ pounds chicken thighs of excess fat and cut into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces; transfer to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon ground paprika, ½ teaspoon turmeric and 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and use your hands to mix well. ...In a large pot, heat ⅓ cup canola oil over medium-high. Stir in 2 yellow onions, finely diced ... add 4 garlic cloves, minced, and continue to cook ... add 1 (13-ounce) can unsweetened coconut

I also wish that recipe writers were more specific about onions. Yellow onions range widely in size, so cups or ounces or grams would be much appreciated in the interest of following the recipe precisely! Geez!

A Cantonese take on Thai. Very good, very bland. So I doubled & pounded the garlic, grated a 1 1/2" piece of ginger, used 3 tbsp fish sauce, used 2 tbsp of Thai red curry paste (not the cayenne) & 1 full tsp turmeric, added the zest of 1 lime, & sauteed in coconut oil. Also used good chicken stock instead of water, reducing the amount to 1 cup. Served with chopped cilantro & lime wedges. Delicious, though NOT as written.

A friend shared this dish while visiting last year, and it's incredible! So flavorful and tender. Try to stay patient at the end - those recommended 20 minutes for the flavors to meld are key, as are the lime and cilantro for serving. Homemade naan does not go amiss, either. This is a winter household staple for us...best host thank-you gift ever!

I chose this recipe based on Genevieve Ko's "stick to the recipe" recommendation, and because I had eaten at Burma Superstar several years ago and loved it. In searching for parathas to make along side it, I found the ORIGINAL Superstar recipe which included a tablespoon of grated ginger, which I added along with the garlic. The outcome was delicious, but just curious about her "follow the recipe" advice which was NOT done in this case.

This is so good! we loved it! The natural sweetness of the coconut milk balances the cayenne and curry perfectly. Note: I added only 1/2 cup of water in step 3, not 1 1/2, as there was already a great deal of liquid. Even with this subtraction and after simmering for 3/4 hour there was still a LOT of coconut broth - not a problem as it's delicious and great over the leftover rice, but I'm glad I didn't add the full amount of water listed.

I read the article and followed the recipe to the letter. Hard to do! Never realized how much I “cowboy it” while I cook. The results: a complex curry with a beautifully deep sauce. 2 ingredients I had to substitute (and it still came out delicious): I used lite coconut milk (the only option available at my rural grocery store) & Penzy’s curry spice (have no idea if it was madras curry). My only qualm is the sauce is watery & oily, but if you can get past this, you’ll be amply rewarded.

I echo Elle's wish for weight measurements and type of onion specificity. Additionally, if we want to follow this recipe to the letter, it would be helpful to specify the type of paprika. I currently have 5 different paprikas in my cabinet ranging from sharp, to half sharp, to sweet, to smoky, and beyond.

I think steamed broccoli would compliment these flavors, or really any bright green veg: peas, green beans, asparagus. A substantial green salad (cabbage, romaine, chopped carrots, green onions, celery, kohlrabi, etc.) is always a good flavor and texture contrast for a braised meat dish.

We make this since we tried it almost every week - it's that much of a favorite. We use the Madras Curry, the full fat coconut milk and the full amount of cayenne although the first time I made it my husband's stomach was wobbly so I left it out and we STILL Loved it and love it even more now. One of our favorite recipes on the site, and how big the onions are couldn't be less meaningful - I also use as much chicken as I have - sometimes more sometimes less - it doesn't really matter.

Too much liquid and not enough flavor.I don’t know why it calls for 1 1/2 cups of water when the sauce comes out way too diluted. The curry flavor is way to subtle . Would not make again

I have made a similar recipe of theirs and wilted several handfuls of spinach into the stir fry near the end. it does add a little additional moisture, but I find it tastes great!

I wonder if it was watery/oily because you had to use lite coconut milk? It’s very different from full fat. Haven’t done the recipe yet so I’m just guessing.

I almost didn’t make this based on other reviews, but it was unbelievably good. Reminded me of Japanese curry from the curry houses in LA. Couple adjustments:- used light coconut milk that I had in a fridge (12 Oz) and then an additional 4 Oz of regular fat coconut milk. Did not add any additional water- added about 1-2 tsp of grated ginger; and instead of turmeric, I used a lemongrass-turmeric paste I had on hand.::Chef’s kiss::

Way too much water!! Cut down on the added water and this would be delicious!!

This was delicious and so easy. The only change I made was to use half the water suggested based on comments. Will definitely make it again. Next time will probably add some peas or perhaps some spinach.

This is wonderful. I’m not sure WHY it is as good as it is—from other comments I was sure it was going to be bland. It’s not. It’s lovely and it just works. It’s an amazing dish that’s bigger than the sum of its parts, and allows riffing. I used a big thumb of minced ginger with the garlic and subbed smoked hot paprika for regular and skipped the cayenne. While I did have Madras curry powder on hand and recommend it, you could also use simple supermarket curry powder, which is fairly close.

Delicious and easy.

No fish sauceDouble the coconut milk Less waterLess oil

This was absolutely delicious. I cut down the cayenne pepper to about a quarter teaspoon, and forgot to cut up the second onion, oops, but it came out great. Even my kids scarfed it down which is surprising given the cayenne… the only part that I’ll do differently next time is not bringing it to a full boil which I did and made the coconut milk separate from the liquid. This didn’t seem to have a negative effect on the taste, but it did make it look a bit curdled…

1.5x all spices

I was somewhat skeptical given the amount of liquid, but flavors are delicious. I did not follow as written, but not sure why it would call for almost another 2 cups of liquid when it already looked soupy with the coconut milk. Felt like the proportions of meat to liquid were off, but if you stay true to the recipe with the spices you will end up OK. I added thinly sliced carrots, French style green beans, and chicken breast vs thighs. Still soupy, but flavors are great.

Great recipe, with a few tweaks. I use ghee for canola oil. The water is completely unnecessary- it just makes everything really soupy. Also use boneless breasts rather than thighs.

All curries are better the next day! Get wisdom!

Just made this for a crowd. I doubled the recipe, and unfortunately doubled the water....I knew when I was adding it that it was a bad idea as the broth was already plenty thin. No amount of additional simmering was enough to simmer off that water. Other than being soupy it was delicious!!! Will definitely make again and add WAY LESS water. Might add grated ginger too as some readers have suggested.

Also upped fish sauce and cumin to match increase in chicken and broth.

This is a great recipe. Really not complicated. Like all recipes the first time I make them I have to work with the time-temperature advice. Stoves vary, elevations vary, I vary😂. I used a bit more fish sauce, a bit more garlic, and a bit more curry. I liked it a lot and so did others.

Doubled the recipe but also increased the stock ratio as usually I want more broth at the end of a few days worth of food.

Is there any reason not to make this a day ahead, for the flavors to meld?

I felt this needed more curry flavour (perhaps just to my personal preference). I now add about 1 tsp to the chicken marinade and I increase the amount to 1/2 - 1 full tbsp of curry powder while cooking, at the appropriate step. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for more of a curry base to the dish!