Takeaway-style Chinese chicken curry
28 min · 44 g protein · 529 cals / serving
The chip-shop and Chinese-takeaway curry Britain grew up on, made at home: tender chicken, chunky onions, mushrooms, carrot and sweet peas in a glossy, golden, gently spiced sauce of mild curry powder and a pinch of five-spice, over fluffy rice. Ready in under half an hour, cheaper than the takeaway, and it freezes.
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 scant cup jasmine rice, long-grain, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/3 lb chicken breast, in bite-size pieces
- 3 tbsp cornstarch, cornflour, divided
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 2 large onions, in large chunks, layers separated
- 2 cups mushrooms, halved or quartered
- 2 large carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Curry sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 2 tbsp curry powder, mild (Chinese curry powder if you can find it)
- 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups water, hot, from the kettle
- 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce, plus more to taste
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- a pinch white pepper
- 1 1/2 cups cooked frozen green peas
Steps
- Bring the rice and water to a boil in a pan with a lid, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes. Take off the heat and leave covered.
- Toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the cornflour. Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan or wok over high heat and fry the chicken 3–4 minutes, turning, until golden on most sides.
- Add the onion, mushrooms and carrot and stir-fry 3 minutes, until the onion edges soften.
- Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, five-spice and turmeric for 30 seconds. Crumble in the stock cube, add the salt, pour in the hot water, soy sauce, sugar and white pepper and bring to a simmer. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of cornflour with 3 tablespoons of cold water and stir it in; the sauce turns thick and glossy as it bubbles.
- Add the peas and simmer 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (165°F) and the peas are hot. Taste and add a little more soy sauce if it needs it. Serve over the rice. For lunches, spread the rice out to cool quickly and refrigerate it and the curry within an hour; it keeps 3 days, and the curry (without the rice) freezes for 3 months.
Good to know
Why does it taste like the takeaway?
The takeaway sauce is mild curry powder warmed with a little five-spice, a touch of sugar and soy, made glossy with cornflour. Chinese-style curry powder (or a spoon of a takeaway curry paste) gets you closer still.
Can I use chicken thighs?
Yes, boneless thighs are cheaper and stay juicier if the curry is reheated, at about 63 instead of 68. Give them 2 minutes longer.
Chips or rice?
Half-and-half (half rice, half chips) is the chip-shop order. Oven chips made from 500 g of potatoes in a spoon of oil keep it a lighter treat.
Per
- Calories
- 85
- Protein
- (35%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (14%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (51%)
- 11 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 212 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2115 kcal goes into the pot and 2674 g of ingredients comes out as about 2485 g of food: 85 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.