Chicken Curry Maharashtrian Style is a Maharashtrian recipe of chicken curry with coconut and has lots of gravy. This is a perfect recipe if you want to make a chicken curry for rice.

This is a very similar recipe to the Mutton Curry Recipe | Maharashtrian Style in this blog, but it slightly differs in the method of cooking.

This chicken curry has a wonderful aroma that comes from the whole spices that are roasted and then blended along with the other ingredients. This is an onion and coconut-based curry. The coconut and onions are first roasted and then blended to get an aromatic masala paste for the curry.

We make this curry too often at home as my family loves to have this with jowar rotis. You can also choose to make this Maharashtrian Style Chicken Curry for rice too because it has more gravy than the other chicken curry recipes.

Spices for Chicken Curry (Maharashtrian Style)

A few Indian spices that are easily available in our kitchen pantry go into the making of this aromatic chicken curry cooked by the people of Maharashtra.

This is basically a recipe that belongs to my house-help who hails from a village near Solapur. She makes this chicken Rassa for us that we throughly relish.

The list of spices could be long enough but let this not disappoint you as these are the common spices that we always have in our masala boxes.

CORIANDER & CUMIN SEEDS – A tablespoon of coriander and a teaspoon of cumin seeds. These are an important ingredient in any Indian curry recipe be it Mughlai, Maharashtrian, or South Indian.

WHOLE GARAM MASALA – Few whole garam masalas such as star anise, black cardamom, mace, cloves, green cardamom, and peppercorns. These render an awesome aroma to the gravy. These spices release their aromas immediately after they touch the hot pan and it is not lost even after the gravy is cooked.

BAY LEAF – We use a bay leaf to cook the gravy and also grind it along with the other ingredients to make the masala paste.

TIL & KHUS KHUS (SESAME & POPPY SEEDS) – These are used in most of the Indian curry recipes, either by its self on in combination. When added to make the masala paste, sesame and poppy seeds give a wonderful texture to the gravy.

FENNEL SEEDS – Though optional, fennel seeds apart from giving a lovely aroma to the curry also aids in digestion. Use a teaspoon if you have it with you or you could skip it too.

Other Ingredients for Chicken Curry

Other than spices we also need a few other ingredients for the Chicken Curry recipe. I have used 500 gms chicken on bone for this recipe and accordingly, we need to make a masala paste for the curry.

To be roasted and then ground into a smooth paste –
- 2 medium onions sliced and roasted in a pan with 1 tbsp of oil
- 1/4 cup dried or fresh coconut, as desired
- All the spices that we have roasted earlier
- 7 to 8 flakes of garlic and a 1-inch piece of ginger
- 1/2 a cup of coriander leaves and 2 slit chillies

Add the ground masala ingredients along with some stock or water that will give you the most aromatic and flavourful Chicken Curry Maharashtrian style.

How to cook Chicken Curry (Maharashtrian style)

Now that we have got all our ingredients ready, let’s begin cooking. Get ready to experience the awesome aromas emitting out of your kitchen. Your entire house, including your neighbour’s, will be filled with the aroma of spices when this curry is cooking.

Heat a pan and add 3 tbsp of any vegetable oil. Then add the whole spices and the bay leaf and fry for a few seconds.

Add in one chopped tomato and cook until the tomato softens.

Now add the ground masala paste and continue to fry for at least 4 to 5 minutes until you see the oil separating. Also, add chilli powder and chicken masala powder for that extra flavour.

Add the chicken pieces, mix well and add water or stock according to the consistency of the gravy you need. I added about 400 -450 ml of water for this curry.

I also added a potato cut into quarters as potatoes in a chicken curry is my family favourite. You could skip potatoes or add them to the curry now.

Cover the vessel and let the chicken cook till done and then garnish with coriander leaves.

Chicken Curry Maharashtrian Style is finally ready to be served.

You can watch the Chicken Curry Video Recipe here

Serving Suggestions

This is basically a Chicken Curry for Rice as it has extra gravy. Steamed rice is the best option but you could also serve it with some jeera rice as well.

This Maharashtrian Style Chicken Curry can also be served with jowar or bajra rotis, this is how the Maharashtrians prefer.

You may also like to serve a sweet dish like Moong Dal Payasam along with the meal.

If you like Chicken Curry then you must also try

South Indian Chicken Curry

East Indian Chicken Curry – Chicken Frithad