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Chicken Masala

A spiced chicken curry with onions, tomatoes, and garam masala, simmered in oil or ghee.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,776 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Chicken Masala

Timeabout 50 minutes of cooking

Ingredients

Directions

Make the masala

  1. Heat the oil in a cooking pan and fry the chopped onion until it browns slightly.

  2. Add chilli powder, ginger powder, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and fry the spices for two minutes.

  3. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir for ten minutes or until the butter leaves the spices.

Cook the chicken

  1. Add the chicken cubes and stir them in the masala to coat the pieces.

  2. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook the chicken over low heat for fifteen minutes.

  3. Remove the lid, stir the chicken, and cook for another ten minutes.

  4. When butter starts to separate, add 1/4 cup of water, sprinkle garam masala and thinly chopped coriander leaves, then cover and cook for five to six minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

467Calories
34 gProtein
29 gFat
18 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Coriandernot in our table0
Gheenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Ginger + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Turmeric + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken fillets
Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
Onion
Browns slightly in the oil, adding sweetness and savoury depth to the base.
Chopped tomatoes
Break down into a liquid that forms the sauce and adds acidity and body.
Oil, ghee or melted butter
Carries the spices, helping release their aroma and coat the chicken with fat.
Coriander powder
Adds earthy aroma to the spice base as it is fried.

The step that matters

Frying the spices and tomatoes until the fat separates. Frying ground spices in fat releases their aroma, and cooking the tomatoes down until the fat separates drives off excess water so the sauce thickens rather than tasting raw or watery.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, ghee):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Fennelfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, ghee. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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