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
A few notes about the key ingredients …
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.
Recipe tips!
- 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 :)
Making ahead, storing and freezing
This chicken stew could be made ahead and reheated. Refrigerate and rewarm on the stovetop.
Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.
You could freeze this stew for up to 3 months.
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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-inspired 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!
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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!