A chicken pasanda is a relatively mild curry loaded with yoghurt and almond and it has become one of my absolute favourite curry recipes.
Commonly made with lamb this chicken variant of one of the curries that are a permanent feature on the menus of the British Indian curry houses that inspired my love of Indian food.
This is the perfect place to start for those new to cooking curries at home.
Mild, Creamy & Delicious.
This
My reward for being a brave little soldier was a belly full of beer and a curry. This is a true British treat!
I went for a Vindaloo, which to be honest was a little disappointing. I’d much rather have either my beef vindaloo or pork vindaloo.
My wife ordered a chicken pasanda, sometimes called a passanda and it was fantastic. Yes, we share, don’t you?
Creamy and with a tart edge from the yoghurt but fragrant with spice and just a hint of heat.
It must have been good because I pulled over on the way home to buy the ingredients to begin work on this recipe.
What is a Pasanda Curry?
It is a triumph of a dish, loaded with fragrant spices and a lovely mellow hint of almond and punches of fresh coriander.
It is much more commonly associated with lamb and that is a glorious dish. But lamb is expensive and chicken much more frugal.
As a result, the flavours have been scaled back a little and not work perfectly with the much gentler flavour of chicken.
We have cumin and coriander leading the way on the flavour stakes. This is supported by turmeric and cinnamon.
Then coriander and it is by no means a garnish on this dish, it is integral to the recipe.
So if coriander isn’t your thing then maybe consider something like a chicken korma, another curry at the milder end of the heat spectrum.
This is very much one of the mildest curries that I make.
Serving Suggestions.
As ever with a curry, I very much favour a plain boiled rice as a side dish.
Then I typically add some Indian flatbread.
I usually refrain from my love of naan bread and go with chapati instead.
This is because this is not a particularly “saucy” curry and I much prefer chapati in dishes like this.
But if you wanted something different, Bombay potatoes work wonderfully. Or how about some “real” vegetables in the form of this green bean poriyal?
Chicken Pasanda Recipe
This chicken pasanda curry is creamy and tart from yoghurt and fragrant with cumin and coriander. It is one of the milder and more simple Indian chicken curry recipes and a real treat for all the family!
Ingredients
- 400g (14oz) Chicken Breast
- 1 Tbsp Cooking oil
- 3 Green Cardamom Pods
- 100 g (2/3 Cup) Onion
- 2 Tbsp Grated Ginger
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Ground Coriander
- 1/2 Tsp Ground Kashmiri Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Ground Turmeric
- 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 Tbsp Ground Almonds
- 100 g (1/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp) Full Fat Natural Yoghurt
- 1/4 -1/2 Tsp Salt
- 50 ml (3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Water
- 10 g (2-3 Tbsp) Flaked Almonds
- Fresh Coriander
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion, mash the garlic and grate the ginger.
- Bash the cardamom with the side of a knife to open them up.
- Begin by toasting your almond flakes in a dry pan and set aside for the end of the dish, keep an eye on them it is very easy to burn nuts.
- Now add the cooking oil to the pan over a medium high heat and fry off the cardamom pods for 30 seconds before adding in the onions and cooking until they just start to brown which should take around 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook on for a further 2 minutes.
- It is now spice time, throw in all of the spice powders, cumin, chili, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon and cook out for 30 seconds, stirring continuously.
- Add the chicken and stir to coat in the spicy mix.
- Now finally add the yoghurt, ground almonds, salt and water then reduce the heat to medium and cook out for 15-20 minutes.
- The sauce should thicken nicely and cling to the chicken.
- Finish the dish with the flaked almonds and the coriander
Notes
Using low fat or no-fat yoghurt in this recipe increases the risk of the sauce curdling.
I favour serving this dish with a plain boiled rice, the subtle fragrant flavours in this dish are easily masked, however a chapati or a naan bread would also work a treat.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 530Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 173mgSodium: 546mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 68g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.
Jenny Wood
Saturday 7th of November 2020
Thank you for the recipe, we had it last night. It was very nice plus simple to do. I did add a couple of teaspoons ofhoney at the end because I saw other pasanda recipes seemed to include something sweet. The honey definitely brought out the flavours without making the dish taste sweet
Brian Jones
Thursday 12th of November 2020
Hi Jenny...
Glad you liked it, I noticed a lot of pasanda recipes adding some form of sweetness and tried it and it wasn't for me which is odd as I am rather partial to a bit of sweetness in my curries. But we all like different things and that is why cooking for yourself is pure magic :)
Brian
Colin Sandall
Saturday 6th of June 2020
Tried this today - the first of your recipes I've done and I was very impressed. I like the simplicity of your recipes and even more importantly, the taste - at least as far as this one is concerned. I will definitely be trying some of your other recipes. Cheers!
Colin
Saturday 4th of July 2020
@Brian Jones, Thanks Brian, since then I've also tried the chicken Korma and I enjoyed that too.
Regards.
Colin
Brian Jones
Monday 15th of June 2020
Glad you enjoyed it Colin, I have a real diverse mix of stuff here, I like to think a little bit of something for every taste :)
Jon Hulbert
Tuesday 7th of January 2020
I do something like this with lamb. I always share my food with my dog (who loves curry), so I use peanut or coconut instead of almond.
Brian Jones
Tuesday 7th of January 2020
I love that your dog loves curry, how cool is that!? Pasanda is very much a dish closely associated with lamb and I love it that way but lamb is a difficult meat to source here in the Hungarian countryside.
Liz Boyle
Tuesday 7th of January 2020
I’ve made this before and it was lovely. However thinking of making it for a dinner party and one of the guests is coeliac. Is this gluten free? LizzyMajB
Brian Jones
Tuesday 7th of January 2020
Hey Liz...
I am not a nutritionist so take this as my thoughts rather than a definitive answer!
I believe all of the individual ingredients that are in this recipe are naturally gluten-free, although I would double-check that with a professional if you are at all worried.
But you should always check the packaging of individual ingredients, for instance I am aware the some chilli powders are cut with small amounts of wheat flour to prevent clumping.
Sorry I can not provide more of a definitive answer.
Brian
Andy
Monday 6th of January 2020
Hi,
Before I explain my issue, I'm about as novice as you can get when it comes to cooking. Although I whip up a mean Cheesy beans on toast....
I decided to try out your recipe as we love this curry, however, despite the end result being pleasant enough, it didn't have the distinctive Pasanda taste. This may seem like a stupid and obvious question but could it be down to the fact I couldn't get hold of Kashmiri Chili Powder so used normal Mild chili powder off the supermarket shelf instead?
Thanks!
Andy
Brian Jones
Tuesday 7th of January 2020
Hey Andy... That's a tough old question, I have eaten curries all over the UK, heck all over Europe and the one thing that I have learned is that the flavours and subtleties vary massively.
For me the base flavours of a pasanda are almond and coriander. For me in this recipe they are at the perfect level for the mild flavour of the chicken breast. This is the mildest curry that I cook and it is meant to be that way, you can "however" beef up those flavours by increasing the spices to your personal preference. I scale back the ground almond in my recipe to replace it with toasted almonds on top.
Pasanda is traditionally made with lamb and as such the sauce is a little bolder. But I find that boldness overwhelms the chicken and makes it a lifeless piece of protein, this dish aims to taste of both chicken as well as the curry.
All of my recipes are jumping off points for people to play with, I would however not worry about the mild chilli powder thing though. It will have changed the flavour subtly but not massively.
Have Fun...
Brian