A delicious Indian Spiced 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! I spied this Indian Spiced Chicken Stew in the latest Bon Apetit and immediately slotted it in for an upcoming meal. We enjoyed it for dinner last night and it was a big hit. 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 also loved the addition of potatoes to this dish (and I wasn’t sure I would). All in all … everyone agreed it’s a keeper!
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 you’re 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.
Cook’s Notes for Indian-spiced Chicken Stew
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 :)
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Indian Spiced Stew with Chicken and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp 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 Tbsp finely grated ginger
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 - 3/4 tsp 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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Recipe Notes
Be sure to read the "Cook's Notes" in the original post, for more tips, options, substitutions and variations for this recipe!
Adapted from Bon Apetit February 2014
Can I use a sub for the cream? Maybe a can of coconut milk or cream?
Hi Patty and sure. Just stir the coconut milk first if using that, and note that you only need 1/2 cup of it.
Hello, I was wondering if I could freeze this after I’ve made it? It sounds delicious but it’s only me and my husband and he’s not huge on leftovers after one day.
Hi Ashley and yes, it should freeze. The only question mark would be the potatoes. The texture might change slightly with freezing, but wouldn’t compromise the enjoyment of the dish.
Made this recently & it was delicious. Used two sweet potatoes & added some spinach. Did cut back on the cayenne pepper as I ended up with multiple sneezes from the fresh turmeric! Wasn’t sure how spicy the dish would be so was cautious. Lovely flavour!
Wasn’t sure what you meant by tomato puree. Had some leftover diced tomatoes so ended up using the immersion blender.
Going into my regular rotation – along with many of your receipes!
Hi Irene and so glad you enjoyed this. It’s a wonderful dish :) As for the tomato puree, I usually use either crushed (canned) tomatoes or jarred Passata, but blending diced works too.
This looks amazing! I was browsing Pinterest looking for dinner ideas and this had to be it! I couldn’t commit to standing by the oven for hours so I’m using a slow cooker. Prepped according to instructions, dumped it into the slow cooker (minus the cream) I love the idea of adding spinach and will add the cream and spinach at the end. We eat a lot of Indian inspired dishes mostly because many are vegitarian. Hubby will enjoy his non-veg meal tonight :)
Thanks Julie. Let me know how it turns out in the slow cooker!
Thank you for delicious recipe! Your pictures looks incredible! We tried this out just this past week and used sweet potatoes instead of potatoes – IT WAS SO GOOD. I’ve had curries all my life and this is seriously top-notch. I loved how tender the chicken was! Our guests from singapore loved it!!!! Will be making this again!!
This is how it turned out (you can check out our blog):
https://sprinkleofvanillasugar.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/indian-spiced-stew-with-chicken-and-sweet-potato-gf-dairy-free-oil-free/
So glad you enjoyed it, Zoe! Looks great and I love your addition of sweet potatoes :)
Hi Jennifer I love your website and this recipe sounds delish! I can’t wait to try it! Do you photograph your own dishes? The photo is gorgeous.
Hi Jane and thanks very much :) And yes, I do all my own photography. It’s always a challenge, but I like a challenge!
I can’t wait to try this! My mouth is already watering!
Can I swap the potatoes for lentils? Also can it be frozen?
Hi Yasmine. Yes, I think lentils would be nice and I think it would freeze pretty well.
Just found your website and love the recipes. I’m very excited to explore them!
Question about garam masala – isn’t it just a combination of the other spices you already have in the recipe? Or is there more to it than that?
Hi Kathryn and thanks very much :) And yes, there is a bit of overlap between garam masala and a few of the other ingredients, but garam masala has a few extra ones, that adds to the flavour profile in a nice way.
Unlike most reviewers I don’t care for Indian food. I made this for guests — and it was fabulous! Everyone loved it – including me! I cut the cayenne pepper in half (glad I did – it was plenty spicy) and I added the cream at the end. Also- I used the dark meat of the chicken. I am convinced it has more flavor and no one seemed to notice! This is a wonderful dish and I will prepare it often!
So glad you enjoyed it, Darlene :) I agree, dark meat chicken definitely has more flavour!
One of the best successes I’ve had while cooking — and my first time using a dutch oven. So great, I can’t wait to eat the leftovers. Thank you!
So glad! You’ll get lots of use out of your Dutch oven. Thanks for coming back to let me know :)
OMG my mouth is watering! I have to make this! Thanks Jennifer!
Thanks Ana. Enjoy!
Do you have any suggestions for trying to adapt this recipe to make it in the crockpot instead? Thanks!
Hi Diana, I’m not sure this recipe is ideally suited for a crockpot, but if you wanted to use it, I would brown chicken separately first, then do the simmer portion in the crockpot. As indicated in the recipe though, it simmers partially covered, not covered, so the results will be different if you cook it in a covered crockpot.
I just did some research and it should be fine in the stove. Thank you! I’m excited to try it !
Mine says not recommended for the stove top I believe. I’ll double check. It has an enamel finish on the inside
If you put dutch oven in the oven what would you cook it at?
Hi Hallie. I honestly don’t know. Why do you want to put it in the oven instead of simmering it on top of the stove?
I cannot tell you how often I have revisited this recipe since I discovered it. I LOVE THIS DISH. I make it with the chicken, but more recently I made a veggie version using eggplant and chickpeas. Just as good.. that sauce makes it.
Hi Kelly and yes, that sauce!! Love the idea of a veg version. My daughter is a recent vegetarian so I must try while she is home over Christmas. Happy holidays :)
Making this as we speak with bone in lamb! I’m sure it will be fabulous! Thanks for the recipe.
Sounds delicious, Tamera. Enjoy!
Made this tonight In the slow cooker using chicken thighs – loved it! So easy and a crowd pleases. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed it, Mette :)
I’m looking forward to making this tomorrow. I only have chicken breasts on hand. Do I need to shorten the cooking time?
Hi Ingrid, You don’t mention if they are bone-in, which will affect the cooking time.
This was an absolutely delicious dish! Can’t wait to try it with lamb and add some peas and carrots. Thank you!
This was amazing, thank you very much :)
Just like another commenter, I wondered about the cream. I ended up adding it when I added the potatoes and it was fine, so I’ll just throw it in right at the start in future. I also added some carrots, because I was lazy and didn’t want to cook any other vegetables.
I have a question about Garam Masala. I’ve seen that in certain recipes they advise to add that one at the end and not in the beginning… do you have any knowledge on this issue?
I’ve added it at the beginning like you said and it was amazing. Just wondering.
So glad you enjoyed it, Olivia! As for the Garam Masala, I’ve never heard that. My experience with Indian food is that the spices are often heated (toasted) in the beginning, but that said, maybe Garam Masala is an exception?
Sadly my knowledge of Indian cuisine is merely based on recipes I found online. And I’ve just noticed that some ask for the Garam Masala at the end. And some don’t. I was hoping you might have stumbled upon this as well. Thank you again for the recipe :)
Nom Nom Nom . . . I love Indian food and spices. I can’t wait to try this!! :)
Thanks Brooke. Enjoy!
Hi Jennifer, the best Indian food I ever cooked & ate! It was soooo delicious, that I add it to my favourite recipe book now :)
Thank you for sharing!
Kind regards from Hamburg, Germany
Nadine
So glad you enjoyed it, Nadine! :)
This looks sooo good, I really need to invest in a dutch oven :/
Thanks Ruosi and yes, it’s a great investment :)
This was awesome! I didn’t follow directions, I just tossed it all into the crockpot for the day. This is by far the best Indian recipe I’ve tried to make. So yummy! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
I’m planning on making this, but I was wondering how many pototatoes equal 1/2 pounds?
Hi Chigo. A 1/2 pound of potatoes would be about 1 1/2 medium potatoes. Enjoy!
Made this last night, and oh my gosh it was SOOO good! It made the entire house smell absolutely mouth-watering while it was simmering and when it was done I practically inhaled my portion. I recently moved to a new area and there is a staggering lack of good Indian food around here, so this really hit the spot for me in a big way. Thank you SOOO much for sharing, it was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making it again.
So glad you enjoyed it, Alice. I am in love with this combination of spices, too and yes, the aroma when it’s cooking :)
This recipe is amazing. I look for Indian recipes that remind me of home, and none has ever quite hit the mark until this one. I have shared it with anyone who will care to listen and they have in turn made it and found it to be a smashing success. I don’t know what the magical twist is, because I’ve made a half dozen other curry recipes with the same basic list of ingredients, but somehow, this just sings. It is phenomenal.
Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, M. One of my favourites!
Hi Jennifer,
Can you use thighs instead of breasts (and without skin) or is it better to use with skin on and how many thighs would you use to replace breasts or same for same, many thanks going to cook this for 20 this weekend loving the reviews from everyone. Many thanks
Hi Karen, a couple of things to consider. First, the skin (and bones) does add some flavour to this stew, so skinless and/or boneless will mean less flavour in the end. As for thighs vs breasts, the only concern I would have is removing the chicken from the bones. It’s quite easy with breasts, but not so much with thighs. More bones :) It’s also dark meat, which can sometimes be nice as it is more moist, but it’s not so much a factor in a stew like this. Is there a reason you don’t want to use chicken breasts? Breasts would still be my first choice here, for the reasons mentioned.
This was dinner tonight, and will be again very soon. I had plenty of sauce left over, so will make a veggie version for lunch. We like cardamom, so added just a pinch. Perfect antidote to a single-digit winter night! Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it, Moni and yes, perfect for this cold weather!
Delicious! The spice combination was perfect. Using skin-on, bone-in chicken is a must for providing that special depth of flavor. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it, Claire. I think skin-on/bone-in is definitely the way to go with this one, too. A bit more work, but worth it.
My husband loved this recipe. Said it was better than our local Indian restaurant. There was a lot of sauce so I added extra chicken. I had food in the panty that I thought would go nicely with the stew so I added that as well.
I used 4 frozen skinless chicken breasts. (Was planning to use 2 potatoes but one was bad so only used one. It was right amount of potato.). I added slivered carrots at same time as potatoes. Added drained can of chickpeas and green peas at end along with some leftover cubed tofu. The sauce was spicy enough so I didn’t need to add extra spices even though I added a lot of extra ingredients. Thanks so much for posting.
Glad you enjoyed it, Tracy :)
Trying to avoid cream (dairy) in this house. Do you think coconut milk would work instead?
Hi Jocelyn. Definitely coconut milk would work (though I would use the coconut cream for thickness)
I originally made this dish back in March and had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed it. I was looking for something to prepare with drumsticks and thighs yesterday and this was a perfect choice for a chilly day and to welcome the new year.
Such a delicious, fragrant dish and so easy to put together – this will definitely make another appearance or two over the winter months.
Happy New Year, Jennifer.
Happy New Year to you as well, FoodElf! I love this dish for the exact reasons you do. Perfect comfort food for these winter months.
My husband just about fainted when I told him I was going to make this soon! This looks incredible! :)
Thanks Natalie. We all loved this one. Enjoy!
This looks amazing – going to try it tonight! Just a quick question- do you have any tips for how to convert the recipe for a slow cooker? Thanks!
Hi Tristan, I’ve never tried it, but I would brown the chicken and veg separately and then put it all in to the slow cooker and allow to simmer away in there. Hope that helps!
Hi Jennifer
How long do you simmer in the slow cooker for?
Hi Bozena. I have never actually cooked this recipe in the slow cooker, but if I had to guess, I would suggest whatever setting maintains a steady simmer and then cook it for 2-3 hours. I’m afraid I’m not really slow-cooker savvy. To my way of thinking, it’s just as easy to simmer it on the stovetop :)
Thank you for sharing this recipe. The flavors were so rich and wonderful. I added fresh green beans from my garden to get a bit of veg in the mix. My friends loved this. Thank you again!
Thanks for coming back and letting me know, Danielle. We really enjoy it, too. Love the addition of green beans, especially garden fresh ones!
Not listed in the ingredients, but listed in the directions is TOMATO PURÉE. I didn’t have any so I used Crushed Tomatoes. The dish was still good, though I used too much Crushed Tomatoes, Jennifer, could you please clarify?
Hi Laura. Just checked the recipe. Sorry. It was there, just a formatting error, so it was tacked on to the end of the chicken broth line. I’ve fixed it to display on it’s own line now, as it should. Thanks for the heads up.
I tried this tonight and the comment I got from my partner was that this was one of my top 10 dinners ever :-)
I admit I’m a bit careless and sometimes I forget to buy some ingredients when I plan meals :-)
I realised when I started that I had forgotten to buy potatoes but had sweet potatoes so I used them instead. I also didn’t have tomato paste so I used Umame Paste instead. And this was absolutely delicious. I’m already planning to use this recipe next time I invite people over for dinner!
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe…
So glad you and your husband enjoyed it, Ida. I would think the sweet potatoes would be very good with this dish!
This turned out so good! Thanks so much for posting. We all really enjoyed it!
Glad to hear, Elizabeth. We’ll be making again here, for sure.
This looks delicious. Love the savory combination of flavors.
Thanks Zana. Great flavours in this one!
I’m always looking for great make-ahead meals, and this looks incredible. Thanks!
It kept really well. We had leftovers the next night and it was just as good.
My husband and I made this tonight with turkey, and we absolutely loved it! Amazing flavor!
Must have been nice with turkey, too. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve been meaning to make this too – glad you beat me to it! Perfect comfort food for the last of the frigid winter days – we are headed for record breaking cold this weekend. Eeep!
This would definitely warm you up, Renee. Stay warm and hoping that cold isn’t blowing this way ;)
Can you make this and all the dishes in a slow cooker or pressure cooker? Cause this looks good.
Hi Sherri, I suppose this dish could be made in a slow cooker. I would probably still brown the chicken and spices separately, then add it all into the slow cooker for the simmer part. Not sure what you mean by “all the dishes”. I’m not sure all dishes are suited for a slow cooker. It’s just a different method of cooking, that really only suits dishes that are meant for a covered, low and slow cook and of course, not all are.
Looks yummy! Quick question, the instructions list veg. oil AND butter, but only veg. oil is listed in the ingredients?
Sorry Wendy. Fixed that. I thought I used half butter/half oil, so I wrote that in the instructions. Should be just veg oil, though, as that’s what I used. I’ve fixed the instructions.
Looks yummy do you think any vegetables could be added and if so which would you recommend
Hi Rosemarie, I think carrots would be nice in this. I’d just add when the potatoes are added. If you wanted more, maybe stir a bit of spinach in right at the end.
Mmm, I noticed this one in Bon Appetit as well, so glad to know that it’s as delicious as it looks!
It was very good. Had the leftovers tonight and just as nice 2nd day. Don’t know if you saw my comment to Sophie, but if you make from the magazine, I suggest a lot less broth than as printed. I used only 3 cups and it was perfect.
Wow, this looks so delicious! I absolutely love Indian food and was looking for more recipes to make in my new Dutch oven and this seems perfect. I’m just wondering – when the cream cooks for that long (nearly 2 hours total), it doesn’t get all.. “grainy”? I often (in Indian recipes), add the cream towards the very end. Will it stay smooth and not turn icky cooking for so long?
Hi Julia. I wondered the same thing as I poured it in knowing it was going to bubble away for several hours. Surprisingly, not icky and not grainy at the end of the cooking. Not sure why, but it was all good in the end.
Ah I bookmarked this one in the magazine, too! So glad to hear it got rave reviews in your house! Love all the flavors from such simple ingredients. Your naan looks amazing, too!
Thanks Sophie. Yes, highly recommend. My version has a lot less broth than the magazine version. Adjusted downward based on comments on the recipe on the BA website. Worked out perfectly. Also, I didn’t use the cardamom. I’m not a fan.
What a comforting and flavorful stew, I love the aromatics!
Thanks Laura. It smelled great cooking all afternoon.
This sounds wonderful! I love these flavors. Thanks for the dinner idea!
Thanks Carrie. This really hit the spot last night. Looking forward to the left-overs, too!