This rich and unctuous but incredibly easy curry is made in the air fryer from start to finish, and the delicious char you can achieve on chicken with an air fryer is unrivalled (unless you happen to own a tandoor oven!). You’ll need an air fryer cake tin insert for this recipe – one that’s compatible with your air fryer model.
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Yields:
4 serving(s)
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr
Cal/Serv:
312
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN
500g
chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-size pieces
2Tbsp.
medium curry powder
11/2tsp.
sweet smoked paprika
2
garlic cloves, crushed
2
cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
125g
natural yogurt
FOR THE SAUCE
25g
butter, chopped
1
onion, finely chopped
1Tbsp.
tomato purée
500g
passata
1tsp.
caster sugar
200ml
hot chicken stock
TO SERVE
100g
natural yogurt
Small handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Directions
Step 1In a medium non-metallic bowl, mix all the chicken ingredients together with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and chill to marinate for at least 30min, up to 1 day.
Step 2 Preheat air fryer to 200°C. Using tongs, remove the chicken pieces from the marinade bowl, gently shaking off excess marinade, and place in the air fryer basket in an even layer (reserve marinade bowl) and cook for 15min, turning halfway through, until the chicken is lightly charred and cooked through.
Step 3Remove chicken to a plate. Put the butter and onion into an air fryer cake tin insert and cook in the air fryer (no need to clean it first) for 13-15min, stirring halfway, until the onion has softened.
Step 4Add the tomato purée, passata, sugar, stock, cooked chicken (along with any resting juices) and the reserved excess marinade to the onion mixture. Stir, then cook for a further 15min, stirring halfway, until the sauce has slightly reduced. Stir through the remaining 100g yogurt, sprinkle over the coriander and serve.
GH TIP To make your curry without an air fryer, prepare to end of step 1, then arrange chicken on a baking sheet and cook under a preheated grill on high for 20-25min, turning halfway, until lightly charred. Melt butter in medium pan over low hob heat. Add onion and cook for 10min, until softened. Stir in the tomato purée, passata, sugar, stock and grilled chicken and bubble for a further 15min, until the sauce has slightly reduced, stirring regularly. Complete recipe to serve.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
Grace is Good Housekeeping’s Senior Cookery Writer, serving up delicious food and drink content. Grace was trained at Leiths Cookery School and worked as a chef in some of London’s most exciting restaurants before starting at Good Housekeeping. When she isn’t eating and drinking her way through London's restaurants, you’ll find her attending music gigs and binge-watching the newest TV shows.
