Chicken Pathia Sweet & Sour Curry

A chicken pathia or patia is a spicy, sweet & sour curry that has origins in Persia but it is now a favourite in British Indian restaurants.

A dish definitely on the spicier side of curries it features a wonderful balance of flavours too.

It is rare for food bloggers to declare favourites, but this is hands down my favourite recipe on my website, I love this dish!

A Sweet and Sour Indian Curry.

When I lived in the UK there was a phase when a pathia or patia curry was the only thing I ordered from an Indian menu.

Not because I didn’t like or understand the other stuff. But purely and simply because it was my favourite thing on any menu!

As a result, it was only going to be so long before it ended up joining my long list of Indian Curry Recipes here on Krumpli!

As with all phases, they pass but a pathia curry remains one of my favourite dishes. Fabulously spicy and with a distinct sweet and sour vibe.

If you would prefer to avoid the sweet thing then you must check out my Acahri Chicken recipe!

The usual habitat for a pathia curry seems to be a British curry house. Although it is far less well known than the likes of Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Rogan Josh or a Vindaloo.

This fiery sweet and sour number with Gujarati leanings should be shown a lot more love.

The Sweet & Sour Elements.

A traditional Pathia or Patia curry hails from Persia where the sour element of this curry would have been tamarind.

My version sticks with tamarind as the sour element because I love it! It is both sour and earthy, far more complex than lemon or lime juice. But I do add a little lime juice for good measure too!

I use tamarind a lot in cooking but my favourite example that really sings of tamarind is the sauce for these slow roast tamarind and honey duck legs.

I usually cook from a block of tamarind pulp, it is a messy business but a simple job.

You can also buy tamarind concentrate, it is anywhere between 4 and 10 times concentrated. So take a look at the jar if that is what you are using.

This is the bit where I am gonna get all controversial!

I tried all sorts of sweet elements, everything from sugar of all colours to honey, and all the way through to the traditional jaggery to get to my final pathia sauce recipe.

But nothing came close to being quite so good as mango chutney.

Yup, you read that right!

The combination of the sweet fruity flavour, the hint of acidity and complexity of spice worked perfectly.

I got the idea from a British Indian curry called chicken chasni, a dish that hails from Glasgow with a similar sweet vibe.

Naturally, the recipe will change flavour depending on your mango chutney but that is all part of the magic.

I do tend to stick to mild mango chutney, but you can use spicy. Just be sure to bear that in mind when adding chilli to the final dish.

Serving Suggestions.

I almost always sprinkle this with extra chopped chilli peppers.

I like that raw chilli heat alongside the thick sweet and sour sauce. It also means you can increase or decrease the heat for those less in love with chilli heat!

The obvious suggestion for this fantastic sweet and sour curry is naan bread and rice.

However, the thick almost sticky sauce lends itself to be thinner flatbread like chapati or roti.

But it also makes the most incredible filling for a wrap!

Add some crisp lettuce and cucumber and you have the perfect lunch if you ask me. I will often make a little extra and set it aside just for this purpose.