Meals · Curries

Chicken curry

Name: Chicken curry
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 6 thighs chicken thigh, cut in chunks; 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil; 1 large yellow onions, finely diced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tbsp curry powder; 1 tsp turmeric; 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes; 1 cup coconut milk; 1 tsp salt; 3 handfuls baby spinach; a handful fresh cilantro, chopped; 2 cups white rice

The weeknight curry that got the whole world cooking Indian food: chicken simmered in an onion-tomato masala with coconut milk. One pot, thirty minutes, freezer-proof.

Time: 45 min (15 prep + 30 cook)
Servings: 4
Per serving: 598 kcal
Protein: 35 g

Both directions are legitimate — the score measures fullness per calorie, not virtue. Every version is the same dish, rebalanced.

Ingredients

6 thighs chicken thigh, cut in chunks600 g
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil20 g
1 large yellow onions, finely diced200 g
4 cloves garlic, minced15 g
2 tbsp curry powder14 g
1 tsp turmeric2 g
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin3 g
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes400 g
1 cup coconut milk240 g
1 tsp salt6 g
3 handfuls baby spinach100 g
a handful fresh cilantro, chopped10 g
2 cups white rice400 g

Every ingredient links to its food page — same data, same score, same formula.

Steps

Fry the onion in the oil until genuinely golden, 8–10 minutes. This is the base of every good curry and the step everyone rushes.
Garlic and the dry spices for 60 seconds — blooming them in fat is what turns powder into flavour.
Tomatoes, then the chicken; simmer 15 minutes. Coconut milk and salt; another 5.
Wilt in the spinach, finish with cilantro, serve over rice.

Why this score

moderately filling

No single route carries this one — a moderate amount of protein, volume and fiber.

Three routes to fullness — one is enough

24% of kcal

69% water

12 g/Mcal

What pulls it down

How scores work

Computed on the finished dish, not an average of the parts: 2391 kcal goes into the pot, 2010 g of ingredients comes out as ~1500 g of food → 159 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water, and energy density is the score's biggest lever — so we show the math. Full formula here.

Per

Calories: 159
Protein: (24%); 9 g
Fat: (45%); 8 g
Carbohydrates: (31%); 13 g
of which sugar: 2 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sodium: 300 mg

Percentages are the share of calories from each macronutrient.

Computed from the ingredients' USDA data — nothing typed by hand. Every number is traceable, every score recomputable.

More meals

Photo: AI-generated. Nutrition and score are computed from the ingredients with the published formula — this recipe hasn't been kitchen-tested by us yet.