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Indian Spiced Chicken Stew

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Indian Spiced Stew with Chicken and Potatoes in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

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 in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

Indian Spiced Chicken Stew

Indian Spiced Stew with Chicken and Potatoes

Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: chicken stew recipes, Indian chicken recipe
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Energy: 529 kcal
Author: Jennifer
You can make this dish ahead and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Perfect for entertaining. Simply re-heat in your Dutch oven, thinning with a bit of chicken broth, if necessary. A wonderfully hearty and Indian-spiced stew with chicken and potatoes in a tomato cream sauce. A perfect cold-weather dish for a lazy weekend meal or make it ahead (up to 3 days ahead!) for entertaining.
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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)
Imperial - Metric

Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

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136 Comments



    • 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.

      Reply

      • 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.

        Reply

  • 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 :)

    Reply

    • Hi Jane and thanks very much :) And yes, I do all my own photography. It’s always a challenge, but I like a challenge!

      Reply

  • 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?

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

I love hearing from you, so if you have a question or something isn't quite clear, I'm happy to help. If you made this recipe, I'd love to know how you liked it ~ Jennifer

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