Chicken Madras Curry
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Apr 7, 2025 
Our Madras Curry Recipe is an easy chicken curry recipe that has the wonderfully deep flavors of a classic Indian curry, but is ready in less than an hour! Made with spicy Madras curry powder and creamy coconut milk, this zesty dish is perfectly rich and satisfying.
Madras Curry Recipe – Fast and Fabulous!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
When I was younger, I spent three separate summers in India, living and working in a few different villages and cities throughout the region. During these trips, I often had the opportunity to learn many Indian recipes and cooking methods first-hand, and different curries were by far the most commonly made main and side dishes.
Deep, flavorful curries are among my favorite meals to enjoy after a long day. The intense aromatics completely fill the kitchen while cooking and create a wonderful, satisfying warmth both in your home and belly. The outside world seems to melt away once you dig into a delicious bowl of rice completely covered with bright, hot, zesty, and creamy curry!
Chicken Madras Curry has quite an interesting backstory and is among my favorite variations of a traditional yellow curry. This Easy Madras Curry Recipe is a bit spicier than standard yellow curries, and is perfect for those who really enjoy a kick of heat.
Bonus: Start to finish, this recipe is ready in less than an hour, yet still achieves those intricate flavors you crave. You’ll love being able to make this spicy, scrumptious dish even on a busy weeknight.
Ingredients You Need
There is no limit to the different types of curries that can be made, each with its own unique blend of spices and utilizing whatever preferred proteins and produce are available.
- Vegetable Oil or ghee – aka clarified butter
- Red onion – chopped
- Cilantro – chopped
- Garlic Cloves – minced
- Fresh ginger – grated
- Diced tomatoes – canned, or use a tomato puree if you don’t want tomato chunks
- Unsweetened coconut milk – canned
- Madras curry powder – you should be able to find this at your local grocery store, or it is often supplied at Whole Foods. If you can’t find it, you can also order it online!
- Garam masala – get our easy recipe to make your own blend!
- Salt
- Kashmiri chili powder – or cayenne
- Skinless Boneless chicken thighs – cut into 1-inch pieces, or you can use chicken breasts if preferred
- Lemon juice – for finishing
How To Make Madras Curry
Traditional Indian curries often require many different ingredients, cooked in layers over long periods to build those complex flavors we know and love. However, I’ve figured out how to achieve the same depth in a fraction of the time by using a flavorful blend of ground spices and creamy coconut milk to make the best Madras chicken curry!
Find the full Madras Curry Recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Serving Suggestions
This spicy chicken Madras curry recipe is terrific over a heaping scoop of freshly made Basmati Rice with lots of fluffy, crispy naan bread on the side for dipping and sopping up every bit of sauce.
Cool your palate down with a cold glass of iced Authentic Chai Tea, and serve Indian Yogurt Sauce and Kachumber Salad on the side for extra refreshment.
Tips & Variations
- You can use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs, but make sure you don’t overcook the chicken! Chicken breast is more prone to drying out when overcooked. You can also use chicken pieces with the bone in, if you prefer. Cooking time will vary!
- This curry recipe is spicy due to the Madras curry powder along with the Kashmiri chili powder or cayenne pepper. If you are sensitive to spice, only add a dash of cayenne or Kashmiri chili powder and then add more if needed.
- If preferred, you can use strips of beef instead of chicken!
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does that beautiful red color and heat come from?
Most Indian curries consist of a blend of toasted vibrant spices, including fresh curry leaves, turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, and cardamom. They tend to be yellow in color, with just a hint of spice and lots of savoriness.
While the specific spices involved can tend to vary, Madras masala powder punches up the typical curry spice blend by including red chillies or a combination of chili and paprika. The resulting flavor with the added red chili is quite spicy, which works beautifully with creamy coconut milk and fresh herbs.
Both traditional yellow curries and Madras masala curry also tend to include garam masala, which is a mixture of all or some of the following roasted spices: cumin, coriander, green and black cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, fennel, mace, and dried chilies. It’s surprisingly easy to make your own roasted garam malsa blend right at home!
Madras curry originated in southern India and became popular among British colonizers and merchants during the 1600s, but the name “Madras curry” actually didn’t come about until it was introduced to British restaurants in the 1970s. Over the years it has been developed and reimagined in several different ways, with the resulting dish usually consisting of a deep red-colored, rich and spicy sauce.
A Madras curry recipe is typically pretty spicy, but not so spicy that the average person can’t enjoy it! If you are sensitive to spicy foods, Madras curry might not be for you! You can try my butter chicken curry for a mild curry experience instead.
Madras curry is said to have originated in the city of Madras, which is now called Chennai.
Yes! This easy curry chicken recipe is already dairy-free if you use oil instead of ghee, so you just need to substitute the chicken with chickpeas and potatoes to create a vegetarian-friendly and vegan-friendly dish.
This recipe for chicken curry is a great dish to add to your make-ahead meal plan. The flavors of the Madras curry will continue to deepen as all of the components sit together.
Keep the leftovers stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. You can either keep leftover rice stored separately to reheat and enjoy with the curry, or quickly make fresh rice when ready to eat.
Because of the coconut milk, I do not recommend freezing leftovers.
Looking for More Delicious Indian-Inspired Recipes?
Check the printable recipe card below for the prep time, total time, and nutritional information.
Madras Curry Recipe with Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- ¼ cup ghee or oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion about half a large onion
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 5-6 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 30 ounces diced tomatoes 2 – 15 ounce cans
- 15 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or cayenne
- 1 ½ – 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Set a large dutch oven (or saucepot) over low heat. Add the ghee, red onion, cilantro, garlic, and ginger. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes until the onions are very soft.
- Meanwhile, cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch pieces.
- Add the Madras curry powder, garam masala, salt, and Kashmiri chili powder. Stir and sauté another 5 minutes.
- Raise the heat to medium. Add the tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir well, then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir the chicken pieces into the sauce. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When ready to serve, stir the lemon juice into the curry. Then spoon over basmati rice and serve with extra cilantro.
I followed the recipe mostly although I had a jar of Madras Curry in the fridge that I wanted to use. I then topped it over a cauliflower mash (cauli mashed with scallion, garlic, salt & red pepper flakes). The result was amazing!! I have to say that the lemon juice at the end totally brings out the fabulous flavour of the madras / chicken mixture.
Thanks so much, totally enjoyed!!
i would like to make this (as I love all of your recipe posts they turn out delicious ) but I’m concerned with the Madras curry My family likes spice but not a lot of heat would you recommend cutting back on the amount of Madras curry?
Hi Maurita!
I personally do not find Madras curry all that spicy. However, if you are concerned, I suggest you add about half upfront, then taste and add more in later if it’s not too much for you.
Absolutely delicious and easy recipe ! Will definitely become a staple in our household! Used jasmine rice instead of basmati!
Loved your recipe instructions on the perfect easy madras chicken curry recipe. Thanks for such amazing words.
Nice, easy to make recipe. Tastes great! I added a cup of sour cream with the coconut milk and tomatoes to make it thicker. I also added cubed potatoes with the chicken cause I love chunks of potatoes in Indian curries. Thanks for the great recipe!
We had some giant shrim in the freezer so I did shrimp instead of chicken this time. This will absolutely be in our line up from now on!
Can I use Paneer and chicken? When should I add the Paneer? At the same time as the chicken or after?
Hi Kathee,
Yes, you can! I would add the paneer about 5 minutes before ready to serve.
Do you drain the diced tomatoes or add the whole can in including the juices?
Hi Emily!
Add both the tomatoes and juices. :)
Hi, I was searching for instant pot chicken curry recipes and came across this one. I see it’s not for the Instant Pot which is a shame, but I’m going to make it anyway and I’ll post a review of it later on. Do you have an instant pot version of this? I tried the search but came up with only this regular recipe. I could try and figure it out myself but I’d probably ruin it!
Hi Avis,
I have not made this in the Instant Pot yet, so I don’t have true “tested” instructions for it. Sorry!
However, based on another IP curry recipe on our site, I would say when you get to step 5, add 1 cup of water to the pot and pressure cook on HIGH for 7 minutes.
If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out! :)
https://www.aspicyperspective.com/perfect-instant-pot-butter-chicken-curry/
Hi, Sorry it took me so long to try this recipe with your suggestions for Instant Pot! I did as you said except I only added 1/2 cup of water as I have a mini instant pot. I did it for 7 minutes, and wasn’t sure about the release time so did it for 5 mins and then quick released. The flavour was lovely, smelled great but the “gravy” part was very thin, very soup-ey. I did try sauteing it and added some heavy cream that I had left over from our Thanksgiving (Canada) not a lot as it already had coconut milk in it. It didn’t do much. Bit like chicken and rice curry soup! Maybe I didn’t need the water? There was liquid from the tomatoes as well? Anyway I’d do it on the stove next time which is the first way I made it and it was pretty good as I recall. Thanks!
I had everything except fresh cilantro and Madras curry powder so used the curry powder I had which was pretty spicy. I used regular onion, too. This was tasty and pretty easy. I don’t see why it wouldn’t freeze; I freeze leftover coconut milk and in fact used it for this.
This is so flavorful! Love how easy it is to make!
This will quickly become a favorite at my house! So delicious!