Chicken and Pepper Curry: Chicken Jalfrezi

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Chicken Jalfrezi is basically chicken and pepper curry that you cook in a method similar to stir-fry. It’s one of the most popular menus in Indian/ Pakistani restaurants and a home cook staple in many households.

Chicken and Pepper Curry aka Chicken Jalfrezi

This dry chicken curry is a dish to get creative in using veggies in the curry. And it’s something you cook in a relatively short space of time.

The funny thing about this recipe is that I didn’t know its original name for a long time. Because when I learned it from my sister-in-law, I was only told it was chicken and pepper salan. Years later, after I posted this recipe here, my Pakistani friends told me that this is what they call Chicken Jalfrezi. Oh my…

If you find it in a restaurant or a takeaway/ takeout, the dish will be slightly different. Why did I say that? Because in a restaurant, it usually has more curry gravy, and the pepper will be softly cooked to the point it’s almost mushy. Something that I am not keen on, I don’t know about you.

So, if you like boneless chicken and love pepper or capsicum, as our friends in America call it, and you love spices and curries, this dish is for you. 

Enjoy this curry with flatbread, such as chapati/ roti, naan bread, or pitta bread. And you can also eat it with plain basmati rice. All choices are tasty.

Succulent Chicken and Crunchy Pepper

With this recipe, you don’t cook the chicken for too long to get it succulent. The time you spend the most is making the masala because you don’t have to let the pepper cook for a long time, so you will get a slightly crunchy pepper. 

Of course, you can always cook everything longer if you prefer a soft texture for the chicken and the pepper. 

Easy Ingredients

I base the recipe on the Pakistani way of cooking curries (they call it salan). So I don’t add too many spices. 

Like Pakistani salan (curry), I rely on onion, ginger, garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coarse black pepper, tomatoes, salt, and oil. They’re pretty basic spices that you can get from almost any supermarket.

As for the chicken, I prefer boneless chicken breast. For two reasons. Firstly, because it’s effortless and quick to cook; secondly, my boys are not keen on eating chicken with bones. They often leave so much chicken meat on the bone if given chicken with the bones. 

But you can always choose any chicken you like. 

The only thing I must remind you of is that cooking chicken with bones will take longer. So bear in mind. 

How to Make the Best Chicken and Pepper Curry

The secret of making this chicken curry with peppers is to cook the masala sauce (curry gravy) until it is cooked. Make sure you cook until you see the oil separated from the edges.

So, you make the masala by frying the onion first. Let it cook until it’s light golden and releases aroma.

Then, add the spices, from minced ginger-garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder, coarse black pepper, red chili powder, and salt. Stir-fry it until the spices smell delicious. 

Next, stir the tomatoes in and continue cooking until they become very soft so you can mash them with the back of your wooden spoon. Keep stirring and mashing the tomatoes. Add a little water if the spices look dry. 

When you get a luscious, smooth curry sauce, put the chicken pieces in it. Stir well until all pieces are covered with the spice sauce, and cook further at medium-high heat. 

Keep checking and turning the chicken pieces. 

Put the pan lid on for about 5 minutes to ensure the poultry is cooked. 

You can stir the peppers in once the chicken is cooked, which takes approximately 15-20 minutes. Leave to cook more. Turn the heat off for about 2-3 minutes until the heat is just through the pepper. 

Storing Matter

Leave the curry to completely cool down before storing it in food containers and keeping it in the fridge/ refrigerator. This chicken and pepper curry stays in the fridge for 3-4 days. Just make sure you heat through before serving.

You can also freeze this chicken dish for 2 months. 

When you want to serve it, take the dish out of the freezer the night before serving and leave it in the fridge/ refrigerator overnight. So it will thaw adequately. 

Take care and all the best.

Chicken and Pepper Curry (Chicken Jalfrezi)

4.69 from 22 votes

Chicken Jalfrezi is a classic chicken and pepper curry made using a stir-fry technique. If you like bold flavors and a bit of crunch from fresh vegetables, this is the dish for you.

BY: Devy Dar

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Prep : 15 minutes mins

Cook : 45 minutes mins

Total : 1 hour hr

Servings: 6

Equipment

• Chopping board
• Kitchen knife
• Food chopper
• Cooking pan
• Wooden spoon

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

• 1.5 pounds boneless chicken. I usually use skinless and boneless chicken thighs.
• 2 medium-sized bell peppers.
• 1 brown onions.
• 3 cloves garlic.
• 1- inch ginger
• 1 teaspoons ground cumin.
• 1 teaspoons ground coriander.
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder.
• 1 teaspoons cayenne pepper.
• ½ teaspoons ground or coarse black pepper.
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• ½ can tinned tomatoes see the note.
• 1 cup water.
• ⅓ cup cooking oil.

Instructions

• Clean and cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Set aside.
• Peel and slice the onions. 
• Peel the garlic and ginger then grind them into paste OR chop them as fine as possible. Set aside.
• In your cooking pot, heat the oil then put the chopped onions in. Fry until the onions become light golden. 
• Add in the ginger-garlic paste to the onions. Continue frying for a minute then put all the spices and salt in. Stir well and cook further until you can smell the aroma from the spice. 
• Then put the tomatoes in the spice mixture, give it a stir and cook further with a lid on at low heat. Keep checking and stirring every now and again. Try to mash the tomatoes every time you mix it. 
• When you see the liquid evaporate from your spice mix/ masala, put ½ cup of water in and give it a good stir and mash the tomatoes. Your mixture will look like a thick sauce by now. 
• Give another ½ cup of water to your spice mixture and keep stirring until all blended well. And let it cook further at low heat until the sauce becomes thick and the oil separates from the spice. 
• You can now put your chicken pieces in. Give a good stir until all chicken pieces coated with the sauce. Put the lid on and cook at medium-high heat. 
• Take care of your curry and keep checking and stirring every now and then. 
• The chicken releases quite a bit of juice that it will make your curry very runny. If this happens, you can slightly open the lid and put heat on high. Just make sure you keep checking and stirring so that the chicken won’t get burned.
• When all the liquid evaporates, and the oil separates (again), you can put your peppers pieces in. 
• Give your curry a good stir, put the lid back and let it cook.
• The regular chicken and peppers curry that most people or restaurants make always have softened peppers. Because they cook the peppers until fully and thoroughly cooked. So if you like softened cooked peppers in your curry, you can let your pepper chicken curry to cook for about 10-15 minutes more after you put peppers in. 
• Just make sure you keep checking because the peppers release their juice as well. And that can make your curry a little runny. Although there is nothing wrong with that. It’s just that this pepper chicken curry is supposed to have thick masala and not runny.
• My family and I prefer to have the vegetables crunchy. So I only cook the peppers for about a minute or two after I put them in the pot. I leave that to your personal choice, ok?
• When your chicken and pepper curry are ready, you can enjoy it with chapati/ roti, naan bread, pitta bread, or plain Basmati rice. 

Notes

• You can make this curry with regular chicken as well. For this recipe, you can use one baby chicken, which I sometimes do as well. Just that the cooking time will take longer. 
• If you don’t have canned tomatoes, you can use 2 medium-sized fresh tomatoes. Just chop them into small pieces. 
• The key to cooking Pakistani/ Indian curry is that you have to be patient in making the masala – the cooked spices with tomatoes, etc. Because you really want to get your masala well-cooked until it looks smooth and thick, with the oil separated from the spices. 
• You can substitute cayenne pepper with red chili powder or even paprika. Add more if you prefer the curry to be spicier, or less if you like it milder.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 312kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 440mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g

Devy Dar

Devy founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appétit, and more.