Home > Recipes > Favourite chicken recipes > Indian chicken and chips

Indian chicken and chips

By: Lisa Markwell

Published: 22 Jun 18
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Dunking an Indian-spiced chip into creamy chicken masala curry is surely comfort food at it’s finest. Chips with curry is a staple in parts of the UK, and we can see why.

Journalist and chef Lisa Markwell created this recipe after her experiences working with Action Against Hunger:

“In 2014 I was invited by Action Against Hunger to travel to Rajasthan in India to see the work they were doing while raising money by cycling around the country… Usually we were fuelled by veggie street food, but one day we cycled to a once grand, now slightly tired hotel and had chicken and chips. It was fantastic. Memories of the work Action Against Hunger does in India and of the families we met have stayed with me – as have memories of the food. Chicken and chips is not Indian but I’ve given it a spicy tweak to remind me of that dusty dining room.”

Easy
January 2017

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4-6
Hands-on 1 hour 20 min, oven 1 hour 30 min, plus overnight marinating

Dunking an Indian-spiced chip into creamy chicken masala curry is surely comfort food at it’s finest. Chips with curry is a staple in parts of the UK, and we can see why.

Journalist and chef Lisa Markwell created this recipe after her experiences working with Action Against Hunger:

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 626kcals
Fat: 38.7g (18g saturated)
Protein: 28g
Carbohydrates: 38.1g (6.8g sugars)
Fibre: 6.4g
Salt: 1.1g

For 6

Save recipe

Save

Save recipe Print

Rate

Ingredients

4 British free-range chicken legs
1kg slightly waxy potatoes
Juice ½ lemon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
Vegetable oil for roasting

For the marinade

120ml natural yogurt
60ml lemon juice
2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp each ground coriander, ground cumin and garam masala
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper

For the masala sauce

1 hot green chilli, finely chopped
3cm piece fresh ginger, chopped
400g tin whole tomatoes
75g unsalted butter
2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan for 3-5 minutes, then ground
1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted (as above), then ground
2 tsp garam masala
120ml double cream
120ml single cream
Large bunch fresh coriander

Cook Mode Sticky screen? No thanks! Tap to prevent your screen from going off while cooking.

Method

Begin the day before serving. Mix the marinade ingredients in a glass/ceramic mixing bowl. Make slashes in the chicken legs using a knife, then add them to the bowl, turning to coat with the marinade. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
Peel the potatoes and cut into chunky chips. Add to a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil, then cook until just soft to the point of a knife. Drain, cool and chill overnight in a roasting tray covered with cling film.
When ready to cook, heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Put the chicken and marinade in a roasting tin and roast for 45-50 minutes until cooked. Cool, then discard the skin and strip off the meat in bite-size chunks, putting it in a bowl. Squeeze over the lemon. Leave the oven on.

Take the chips out of the fridge. In a small bowl, mix the cayenne and turmeric with a splash of oil, season and add to the roasting tray with the chips, turning to coat. Roast for 45 minutes, turning occasionally.
Meanwhile, make the masala sauce. In a food processor, blend the chilli and ginger with the tinned tomatoes until smooth. Put a large non-stick pan over a medium-high heat, then melt two-thirds of the butter and fry the chicken chunks, in batches, until buttery and browned. Set aside for a few minutes.
Add the rest of the butter to the pan, then fry the rest of the spices for 1-2 minutes. Add the spiced tomato mixture and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring as it thickens. Add the double and single cream and a good pinch of salt, then stir well.
Return the fried chicken pieces to the pan and mix in. Lower the heat, then simmer for about 10 minutes. Leave to rest for 5 minutes, then garnish with chopped coriander and serve with the piping hot chips.