Creamy cashews add a velvety richness to this flavorful Indian Chicken Curry – pair with homemade naan bread for the perfect meal!
Guess who’s back? BACK AGAIN.
It’s 30 Minute Mondays, ya’ll.
Tell a friend.
Let’s talk about this Creamy Cashew Indian Chicken Curry.
You guys. So good.
When a friend and I were in San Francisco, we walked past a little hole-in-the-wall Indian place and she mentioned that she had never had Indian food before.
Like, whaaaaa???
Needless to say, I took her over to the restaurant for lunch and she tried butter chicken and naan. It was good for her and she liked it.
It maybe wasn’t the *best* Indian food I’ve had, but it was still pretty darn good. Since I’ve been home, I’ve been on a bit of an Indian food kick.
I made this Korma recipe the other night, then decided that it was way too complicated and I needed to come up with something that better utilized my blender and could be cooked in less than 30 minutes.
I’m lazy and I know you are, too.
Here’s the game plan to get this done in 30 minutes:
(If you’re serving this with rice, you’ll want to start cooking it first! Here’s my favorite method.)
- Minutes 1-3: Heat up your griddle pan and season the chicken.
- Minutes 3-5: Begin cooking the chicken. Start blending the sauce ingredients and transfer the puree to a hot, oiled saucepan.
- Minutes 5-15: Simmer the sauce and stir in the spices, flip the chicken, and cream the cashews in your blender.
- Minutes 15-20: Add the cashew mixture, coconut milk, and yogurt into the sauce.
- Minutes 20-25: Cut up the cooked chicken and transfer it to the saucepan.
- Minutes 25-30: Simmer the chicken in the sauce; once it’s warm, dinner is ready!
You may also love my Chicken Biryani Recipe!
Creamy Cashew Indian Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless - skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2″ thickness
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the Cashew Curry Sauce
- 1 white onion - halved
- 2 medium tomatoes - halved
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup water
- 14 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt - NOT nonfat!
Instructions
- Place the chicken, 2 teaspoons curry powder, 2 teaspoons garam masala, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a zipper-close bag. Press out the excess air, seal the bag, and massage the spices into the chicken.
- Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat; once hot, place the chicken breasts on the pan. Cook 6-8 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- While the chicken is cooking, place the onion and tomato in the bowl of a blender and process until pureed. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add the onion-tomato mixture and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the spices and sugar.
- Place the cashews and water into the same blender bowl and puree. Transfer the mixture to the saucepan, and add the coconut milk and yogurt. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes over medium.
- Turn the heat down to low and add the cooked chicken pieces. Simmer for 5 minutes until warmed through.
- Serve with basmati rice and warm naan bread.
Nutrition
Soooo good! Just make sure you add salt to taste to really highlight all the flavors.
I can’t wait to try this. I regularly use FF plain greek yogurt and would prefer it to keep the calorie count down. Is there a specific reason you tell us NOT to use it?
Vonnie
Hi Vonnie,
You can use fat free plain Greek yogurt, but you might not like the resulting watered down flavor. Check out what Bon Appetit has to say about it here: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/full-fat-yogurt-is-the-only-yogurt-worth-buying
– Linda
Yasssssss finally!!!!! This sauce is one of the curry flavors I’ve been trying to find a recipe for!!!! Ahhh it’s so good!
I do agree with the person who said the onion was too raw, but I just let it cook a little longer. No biggie.
I couldn’t be bothered to dig out the blender so I just smashed the cashews (I used roasted/salted) with a meat mallet and then let them soak in the specified water.
I had cooked chicken already so I used that, but next time I’ll make the chicken as directed so it has more of the yummy flavors.
I had to hold myself back from eating the sauce as a soup, all by itself. It was THAT GOOD.