A delicious Indian chicken stew with potatoes, tomatoes and a blend of Indian spices slow cooked for a complete and comforting meal.
If you’re a fan of dishes like Tikka Masala or Butter chicken, you will love this one! It’s flavourful, hearty, warming and spicy and a great “throw everything in a pot and let it cook all afternoon” kind of dish.
The spicy tomato and cream sauce was delicious and plentiful, great for sopping up with the naan bread. I love the addition of potatoes to this dish, too!
This stew has a great combination of spices that work beautifully together. Don’t be intimidated by the long list. They are pretty common spices, so if your spice rack is fairly well-stocked, you’ll be good. The cayenne pepper provides some nice warming heat in this dish. You may want to use the lesser amount of cayenne or leave out altogether if you’re not a fan of heat or if you’re feeding small kids.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Chicken – For best flavour, opt for the bone-in chicken breasts. The bones give great flavour to the stew! You could use boneless chicken breasts however, if you prefer.
Potatoes – Yukon Gold or other yellow-fleshed potatoes are the best choice, as they will hold their shape during cooking.
Cook’s Notes
Serve this stew with a big dollop of plain yogurt, some naan bread and a generous sprinkling of fresh mint (most traditional), cilantro or parsley. Alternately, this would be lovely spooned over warm basmati rice.
I made this dish on the stove-top in my Dutch oven, but you could very easily do it in your slow-cooker. I used a couple of bone-in/skin on chicken breasts and thighs and took the chicken off the bone before adding the potatoes.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs would also work. You’d save the step of taking the chicken off the bone, but I do think the bone and skin probably add nice flavour to this one.
I served this stew up in my cast iron fajita pans. It’s just a fun way to enjoy a meal and they’re also great for fajitas, too :)
Get the Recipe: Indian Chicken Stew with Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 large skin-on/bone-in chicken breasts, (or can use boneless)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 Tablespoons finely grated ginger
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoons cayennne pepper, (depending on how spicy like it or you can omit)
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, (plus a bit more thinning, if necessary)
- 3/4 cup tomato purée
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, (can use a lighter cream)
- 1/2 pound small Yukon Gold potatoes,sliced 1/4" thick, (or small fingerlings, sliced in half lengthwise)
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place skin side down in to the pan. Cook until golden brown without turning, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
- To the same pot, add onion, garlic, and ginger to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is very soft and golden brown, about 8–10 minutes. Add tomato paste, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, coriander, cayenne and cook, stirring often, until tomato paste is beginning to darken, about 4 minutes.
- Add chicken pieces, chicken broth, tomato purée, and cream to pot. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until chicken is almost falling off the bone and liquid is slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 hours. If using bone-in chicken, remove chicken to a plate and carefully remove chicken from the bone and discard skin and bones. Cut or pull chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken pieces to the pot.
- Add potatoes to the pot and cook, partially covered, until potatoes are fork-tender and sauce is thickened, 30-45 minutes. *Check and stir every so often to ensure the sauce hasn't thickened to much and potatoes aren't sticking to the bottom of the pot. If sauce is too thick, thin with a bit more chicken stock.
- To serve, spoon stew into a shallow bowl and place a large dollop of yogurt on one side. Sprinkle with some fresh chopped mint, cilantro or parsley and serve with naan bread on the side. Alternately, spoon stew over some warm basmati rice.
Notes
More Indian Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Delicious!! Great spices, perfect for a rainy day. Followed recipe but put everything in the crockpot after browning the chicken and blooming the spices. We’ll make this again.
So glad you enjoyed it, Robin! Thanks so much :)
Will this recipe freeze well? Or, will it keep if I make it on Wednesday and serve it on Friday?
Hi Holly, I’ve never frozen this stew. Sometimes potatoes suffer a bit from freezing, so that’s the part I would worry a bit about. That said, Wednesday to Friday is a bit long, especially if you are entertaining guests. It just might not be at its best. Of the two options, I’d probably freeze.
Awesome, delicious, great flavor. I love Indian food and have never found a recipe that gave the spicy delicious Indian flavor I wanted until this recipe. I loved this recipe! The spice profile is perfect- spicy but not hot, flavorful, delicious and just perfect. I plan on using the spice mix here in a chicken pot pie next. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I will be making it again and again……
So glad you enjoyed it, Irene! It’s one of my favourites. Thanks :)
I am so in love with anything and everything Indian style right now. I used the boneless skinless chicken breasts tenders, so cooking didn’t take quite as long. Man alive is this an AMAZING dish! It thickened up beautifully and was so aromatic that my husband said he could smell it as he pulled in the driveway. Thank you for this because it will absolutely be on our rotation from now on.
So glad to hear, Danielle :) Thanks so much!
This has become a household staple. We absolutely LOVE this meal!
So happy you are enjoying it! Thanks so much :)
Wow, thanks for sharing this., I have cooked this recipe 3- or 4 times now and each time I just love it more.
So glad you are enjoying it, Mat :) Thanks so much!
I’ve made this many, many times for friends, and family since I discovered this recipe here 3 years ago. It was the first dish I cooked for my boyfriend. It is so fantastic and I now have so many memories attached to it. So I felt I had to come here to say I absolutely love this recipe! Thank you so much for publishing it!
So glad to hear, Kris and yes, food with memories attached is always the best food :) Thanks so much!
We love this dish. So tasty and warming on a cold night. I’ve never added flour or cornstarch to thicken like some others have. It’s perfect the way it is. We love it with some steamed cauliflower, the two go together perfectly….that yummy sauce 👌🏻
So glad you are enjoying it Kathleen and yes, cauliflower and Indian spices do go so well together! Thanks so much :)
This Indian Spiced Chicken Stew recipe is delicious. I added a bit of the authentic Kikkoman Naturally Brewed Tamari Soy Sauce for an extra flavorful taste. It’s outstanding! Best paired with hot/cold barley tea
So glad to hear :) Thanks!
This was great! Added coconut milk instead of cream (just added a whole can instead of 1/2 cup) and it was divine. I tossed in some frozen peas and kale for a little more green and topped with cilantro. House still smells great the next day. Thank you!
Sounds great, Shannon :) So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!
This is most def a unique recipe and absolutely tasty! I used a slow cooker instead of stove top and came out just as good.
Glad you enjoyed it, Daphanie :) Thanks so much!
Love your site and all of your recipes! When you say tomato puree, would you suggest blended canned tomatoes or plain tomato sauce?
Thanks for the wonderful recipes!
Hi Julia and thanks so much. You could certainly use blended canned tomatoes. Or canned crushed tomatoes. Or passata, which is simply a strained version. I tend to prefer crushed tomatoes, as they are less watery than blended whole tomatoes, but thicker than passata. Hope that helps. Enjoy!
This is soooo good!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Rachelle :) Thanks!
I didn’t have time to put potatoes… I just wanted that heaven as soon as possible on my plate…
That was the first indian inspired recepie I made and I’m completely out of words. I even licked my plate 😋😋😋
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much :)
So glad to hear! Thanks so much :)
Made this for my family members for dinner last night. I used it as a catch all stew for the things in the fridge. DIdn’t have coriander, cayenne or fresh ginger. Used ground ginger instead. Used a canned tomato sauce and coconut milk because there was no cream. Eyeballed the amounts. One huge potato chopped. Also threw in carrots when I sauteed the onions. Used 1 boneless skinless chicken breast that was hanging around. Threw in mushrooms and zucchini 20 minutes before the end. I didn’t stew for 2 hours, probably more like one hour. Served it with rice. The family loved it. It was a great low meat meal that used a bunch of kitchen scraps and ends of veggies. It was easy enough for me to make on a school night. Definitely would make again. Bookmarked!
So glad you enjoyed it, Hannah :) Thanks!
I had this recipe pinned forever, finally made it tonight and it is by far one of my favorite curry dishes. Thanks for this.
Glad to hear, Kelly! Thanks so much :)
The best recipe thankyou
Glad you enjoyed, Jake :) Thanks!
Definitely a keeper. It was fabulous, and the whole family enjoyed!
So glad to hear, Jo-Ann :) Thanks so much!
Made this in the Instant Pot yesterday and it was AMAZING! My adjustments were to not add flour to thicken before cooking (I used corn starch after) and not adding the cream until the end. Next time I’ll brown everything in a separate pan and then add it to the instant pot to prevent sticking.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Kris and good to know it works well in an IP as well :) Thanks!