If you're not familiar with this chicken pathia curry recipe, it's a deliciously hot, sweet and sour dish with a tomato base sauce. Even if you're not a fan of heat, it's a very popular dish in British Indian restaurants that's easy to make at home!
Note: this recipe is pronounced as a chicken patia curry with a silent "h".
If you asked me what my favourite recipe is, it is chicken curry. Every time. But this takeaway dish has travelled and changed over the years from Persia to India and now Britain's Indian menu.
Pathia curries are made with a non-creamy tomato-base. Word on the street is that it was developed to entice UK customers who love a chicken sweet and sour curry sold in Chinese restaurants.
The UK version resulted in a sweeter and milder than a traditional pathia, but I'll talk you through how you can control the heat to your personal preference.
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✔️ Why You'll Love This Great Recipe
Here are a handful of reasons why we think you'll love this homemade chicken curry:
- Easy Indian cooking for beginners
- Uses a good mix of pantry staple spices
- A perfect balance of sweet and sour
- Budget friendly and cheaper than eating out
- Great Friday night treat for the whole family
- Reduce the total time with leftover rotisserie chicken
- No red food colouring needed
🛒 Ingredient Notes
Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.
Chicken breasts - diced into bite-size pieces. Note, you might find it cheaper to buy pre-diced chicken than breasts
Garlic clove - this is grated or minced garlic
Onions - coarsely grated, but you could shred them in a food processor or very slice or dice for a smooth pathia sauce
Ginger - this is freshly grated or ginger paste. Alternatively, you can use 1 tablespoon of ground ginger
Bay leaf - for a smooth, warming taste
Vegetable oil - or ghee (clarified butter) if you can find it in your local grocery store
Spices - medium curry powder (or use garam masala), mild chilli powder, paprika, cumin powder, ground coriander powder, turmeric powder, ground fenugreek (or swap for fenugreek leaves AKA kasuri methi)
Tamarind paste - or tamarind pulp, which is the star of this sweet and sour sauce. If you can't find it, you can replicate this sour element with lime juice and sugar
Brown sugar - or mango chutney for a sweet taste to balance the sour taste
Tomato puree - or tomato concentrate for an extra tomatoey taste
Red or green chillies - I use 2 for an extra kick, but you could use 1 or just a pinch of red chill powder or flakes for a milder taste
Chicken stock - this helps cook the chicken and vegetables but also takes the sharpness away from the tomatoes
Canned tomatoes - for the tomato base
Lime juice - or lemon juice for acidity
📋 Instructions
Here are my step-by-step instructions on how to make my chicken pathia recipe. Also, you can follow along with the video above for an extra helping hand:
1. First, add the oil to the pan.
Then fry the shredded onions, ginger, and garlic paste over high heat while stirring for about 5 minutes until softened.
2. Next, add the diced chicken breasts and cover while cooking for 8 minutes over medium heat until cooked through.
If you find it catching on the bottom of the pan, add a splash of water
3. Now add all of the spices, salt, sugar, and tamarind concentrate.
Stir while cooking for a minute to release the flavours.
4. Add the tomato paste, canned chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and sliced chillies and stock.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a rolling simmer for 10-12 minutes until thickened.
Then stir in the lime juice and serve with fresh chopped coriander and rice.
👩🍳 Substitutions
Depending on your dietary needs, here are a few simple swaps you can make to the main ingredients:
- Oil - if you don't want to use as much oil, you can swap for low-calorie cooking oil spray to help weight loss,
- Chicken - for a meat-free option, swap for Quorn chicken pieces, other use other meats such as fish, prawn (shrimp), etc
- Tamarind - swap for more brown sugar and juice of a lime for the most authentic flavour you can, or a dash of white wine vinegar
- Chillies - for less heat, use 1, or a small pinch of chilli flakes
- Chicken stock - use gluten free stock if needed, or a vegetable stock to pair with a plant based meat
- Brown sugar - swap for a sweetener version or reduce and add a pinch of cinnamon powder
⚖️ Variations
Here are a few different ways you can enhance and personalise this recipe for next time:
- Extra veggies - bulk up with extra vegetables such as peas, diced red or green pepper, spinach leaves, mushrooms etc
- Deluxe - crush some seeds from a green cardamom pod for a sweeter taste
- Creamy - if you miss a creamy curry, a good idea would be to stir in some coconut milk powder, or swap the stock for coconut milk and add a stock cube instead. Or stir in some natural yogurt at the end
- Kid friendly - the only thing I would do is omit the chillies as the rest of the dish is mild
🔪 Equipment
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- Chopping knife
- Chopping knife
- Measuring spoons
- garlic press
- Measuring jug
- Weighing scales
- frying pan
- Spatula
- Cheese grater or food processor
❄️ Storage
Storing - we prefer eating this recipe freshly cooked, but it can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Freezing - cool to room temperature and again, store in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Reheating - If you want to eat the next day, defrost in the fridge if required and microwave until piping hot, or on the hob or stove.
💡Pro Tips
- If you find grating onions laborious, use a food processor to speed things up
- If you can't find tamarind concentrate instead of brown sugar and lime juice for a more authentic flavour
- If you don't want to add as much sugar, I recommend using less ground fenugreek as it is naturally bitter
- For a fresher taste, use fresh tomatoes off the vine for a juicy curry (not salad tomatoes)
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
Indian sides - why not team up with an onion bhaji, samosa, tandoori chicken bites, and more
Rice: using white or brown rice, cook some turmeric rice by cooking with a teaspoon of turmeric. or try cauliflower rice for a low carb option
Indian breads: serve with a great side of homemade chapati or one of the many different naan breads you might like to try
Poppadoms: great for dipping into the curry for some crunch alongside an Indian pickle tray with mango chutney, lime pickle, yogurt mint sauce, cucumber raita, etc
Crunchy salad: I love the free salads that usually come with our takeaways. A great one is shredded lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, and a wedge of lemon
Vegetables: enjoy with a side of steamed or sauteed mixed vegetables.
Potatoes: serve on top of a baked potato, or a side of Bombay potatoes
❓ FAQ
Chicken pathia can be a mild, medium or hot curry, depending on how much chilli you add.
Chicken pathia and chicken tikka masala both have a tomato base but with different levels of sweet and sour due to the tamarind paste in pathia.
Tamarind paste is tangy from the tamarind fruit for a sweet and sour flavour in chicken pathia. If it isn't available in your local supermarket, you can substitute it with more lime or white wine vinegar for acidity and brown sugar.
Yes, chicken pathia is great cooked in the slow cooker, but I do recommend cooking the onion paste in oil first, then using half the amount of stock as it won't reduce down in the pot.
➕ More Indian Recipes
Looking for some more Indian cuisine like this tasty curry? Why not check out these new recipes:
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📖 Recipe
Chicken Pathia Curry Recipe {Restaurant Style}
Equipment
- Cheese grater or food processor
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon Vegetable oil or ghee
- 600 g Chicken breasts (4) uncooked and diced (about 4)
- 2 Onions grated
- 3 Garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Ginger grated or a paste
- 2 tablespoon Medium curry powder or garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Mild chilli powder or hot if preferred
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- ¾ teaspoon Ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon Ground turmeric
- ⅓ teaspoon Ground fenugreek Or less if using less sugar
- 1 & ⅔ teaspoon Tamarind paste
- 1 & ½ tablespoon Brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Bay leaf or 2
- 2 tablespoon Tomato puree
- 2 small Red chilies sliced, or 1 for less heat
- 240 ml Chicken stock (1 cup)
- 400 g Canned tomatoes (14 oz)
- ½ Lime juice only
- Fresh Coriander garnish
Instructions
- First, add the oil to the pan.Then fry the shredded onions, ginger, and garlic paste while stirring for about 5 minutes until softened.
- Next, add the diced chicken breasts and cover while cooking for 8 minutes until cooked through.
- Now add all of the spices, salt, sugar, and tamarind concentrate.Stir while cooking for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the tomato paste, canned chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, sliced chillies and stock.Bring to a boil, then reduce to a rolling simmer for 10-12 minutes until thickened.Then stir in the lime juice and serve with fresh chopped coriander and rice.
Disclaimer
*This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World. Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/. Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.
Video
Notes
- If you find grating onions laborious, use a food processor to speed things up
- If you can't find tamarind concentrate instead of brown sugar and lime juice for a more authentic flavour
- If you don't want to add as much sugar, I recommend using less ground fenugreek as it is naturally bitter
- For a fresher taste, use fresh tomatoes off the vine for a juicy curry (not salad tomatoes)
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