Easy Indo Chinese Chicken Curry with Onions and Bell Peppers
Love curry? You've come to the right place! This delicious one pot marinated boneless chicken recipe is pan cooked with Indian spices and herbs. It's an Indian Chinese recipe that is made with pantry essential ingredients.
Easy weeknight meals never tasted so good! This Indo Chinese Chicken Curry recipe is inspired by a local restaurant we ate at growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas. Pair it with an appetizer like Vegetarian Manchow Soup.
Craving an Indian curry instead? Give my World's Easiest and Best Butter Chicken Masala a try!
Indo Chinese Chicken Curry
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Why You'll Love It
- Quick and healthy
- Tasty with brown rice or white rice.
- Family Friendly
Ingredients
- oil
- garlic
- ginger
- curry powder
- chicken broth or bouillon
- white pepper powder
- onion
- bell pepper
- chili powder
- salt
- boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- corn starch
- soy sauce
- toasted sesame oil
- baking soda
Instructions
Cut and Marinate the chicken by cutting it into small chunks or thin slices. Add a pinch of baking soda, toasted sesame seed oil, and soy sauce. Then set it aside while you prep the other ingredients.
Cook the chicken in a wide pan or wok on high heat with a generous amount of oil until golden brown. Be sure not to over crowd the pan. I recommend working in small batches and place the cooked chicken in a covered bowl until all of the chicken has been cooked.
Add peppers and onions to the wok and cook until slightly translucent (a quick few seconds)
Add the additional ingredients such as curry powder, ginger, and garlic.
Combine it well until heated through.
Serve it with white rice and a side of greens.
Variations
- SPICY- Add chinese chilli powder, red chilli powder, green chillies, or chilli sauce
- VEGETARIAN- Use paneer or tofu
- SOY FREE- Use coconut aminos as an alternative
Substitutions
- VEGETABLES- Onions and bell peppers are my go-to but you can also use zucchini, carrots, bok choy stems, and mushrooms. I do not recommend broccoli or cauliflower in this recipe.
- CORN STARCH- Substitute with tapioca starch or arrowroot powder
- CHICKEN- Use paneer or tofu instead
Serve it with...
- Manchow Soup
- White Rice
- Paneer Chili
- Steamed Green Beans or Chinese Greens
FAQ
When flavors from India and China combine, IndoChinese is formed. This particular cuisine is popular in India and can be found throughout the country as either street food or restaurant dining. Most IndoChinese dishes are vegetarian.
A chicken based dish that includes curry powder, garlic, and ginger. The mixture of flavors from China and India make this an Indo Chinese Dish.
Paneer is used in a lot of Indian Dishes as a replacement to chicken. If you want to make it vegan, then consider using only vegetables and tofu.
My replacement for corn starch is tapioca starch. It binds well with chicken and tastes great in this recipe. Arrowroot powder can also be used.
A pinch of baking soda will do the trick every time. You can try Arm and Hammer Baking Soda, which is also used for baking.
If you are just starting out to make chicken or have a hard time making chicken tender, then I highly recommend cooking with boneless skinless chicken thighs versus chicken breast.
For this particular recipe I used what I find at my local Indian Grocery Store, but Costco also sells curry powder in bulk containers and I suggest buying that.
My short answer, they are both different.They both are packed with different spices. For one, Curry Powder has turmeric and Garam Masala does not.
Top Tip
- Make it in one pot and add extra broth to get more gravy
- Do not add salt until the end
- Corn starch is needed for this recipe to help thicken the delicious sauce
📖 Recipe
Indo Chinese Chicken Curry with Onions and Bell Peppers
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 3 boneless skinless, chicken breasts or thighs chopped into small pieces
- 3 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- pinch baking soda
CHICKEN CURRY SAUCE
- 3 tablespoon peanut, corn, or grapeseed oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated/blended
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced
- 1 bell pepper, sliced (can use any color or a mix)
- chili powder (optional)
- salt
Instructions
- Combine the chicken, corn starch, baking soda, sesame oil, and soy sauce and set it aside while you prep the other ingredients.
- In a large heavy bottom pan heat some oil and cook the chicken in small batches. Remove the chicken from the pan. If cooking in small batches: place the cooked chicken in a bowl and cover it with foil while you cook multiple batches.
- Add the garlic, ginger, onions and bell peppers to the chicken and cook for about a minute on high heat.
- Add the curry powder, white pepper powder, and chicken broth to the pan.
- Cover and cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat until the dish is well combined. Add red chili powder or chili oil, if you would like, at this point.
- Add salt only after taste testing.
- Serve with Instant Pot cooked jasmine white rice.
Heather says
I have made this recipe 4 times now and each time we forget how much we like it. I have some left over steak from last night and was wondering if you've ever made this recipe with beef before?
The Curry Mommy says
Hi! I have never tried it with steak. Let me know how it turns out :).
Lina P says
We loved this recipe! It was much easier than I thought it was going to be so I plan on making again with tofu for my parents this weekend.