I fell in love with Indian food last year and have craved it ever since. I’ve experimented here and there but it’s still completely uncharted territory to me. I recently discovered the show Spice Goddess on the Cooking Channel and I watch it whenever I get a few spare minutes.
Last week I saw her make this Chicken South Indian Style and was totally inspired. Sure, I didn’t have *any* of the spices called for in the recipe, nor did I have time to go hunt them down, but cooking is all about improvising. My yellow jasmine rice is one of my all-time favorite recipes that I’ve ever made for the blog, so I decided to use a similar mix of spices for this recipe.
And of course, there is the jasmine rice. So simple, so aromatic, SO important. This dish just wouldn’t be the same without the jasmine rice. It’s worth hunting down if your local market doesn’t have it. Ethnic markets or major supermarkets with well stocked ethnic aisles should carry jasmine rice in large, 5 lb. bags, which will be a fraction of the cost of the small “gourmet” rice brands. Check the bottom shelf, it’s usually hiding there.
Turmeric Chicken
Turmeric Chicken
Servings 6Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.22)
- 1/2 red onion ($0.65)
- 2 inches fresh ginger ($0.30)
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic ($0.24)
- 1/2 Tbsp turmeric ($0.07)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1 whole bay leaf ($0.15)
- 2 lb. chicken, breast or thigh ($3.98)
- 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes ($1.17)
- 1 13.5oz. can coconut milk ($2.15)
- salt & pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro (optional) ($0.20)
- 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice ($0.88)
Instructions
- Combine the jasmine rice with 3 cups of cold water in a medium pot. Place a lid on top and bring up to a boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a rolling boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed until you are ready to serve it.
- Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger using a small cheese grater. Saute all three in a large pot over medium heat with 2 Tbsp. of olive oil.
- When the onions have softened, add the turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and red pepper. Saute for 2 minutes. Dice the chicken and add to the pot. Saute until cooked through (7-10 minutes).
- Add the can of tomatoes and the bay leaf. Place a lid on top and let simmer for 30 minutes. Turn the heat off and stir in the coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve the stewed chicken mixture over a heaping portion of rice. Sprinkle fresh cilantro on top if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
Step By Step Photos
Star the rice first and it will be done by the time the chicken is cooked. Combine 2 cups of rice with 3 cups of water. Place a lid on top and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let simmer for 30 minutes. Turn the heat off after 30 minutes and let it sit undisturbed until you’re ready to serve.
Dice the onion, mince the garlic (if using fresh), and grate the ginger with a cheese grater. You can peel the ginger with either a spoon or a vegetable peeler.
Saute the onion, garlic, and ginger in a large pot over medium heat with olive oil.
This is the mix of spices that I used: bay leaf, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Super aromatic and delicious.
Add all of the spices except the bay leaf and saute for about 2 minutes.
Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes and add it to the pot. You can use either chicken breast or chicken thighs.
Saute until the chicken is cooked through (about 7-10 minutes).
Now it’s time to add some liquid and let it simmer. I always forget the coconut milk curdles like cow’s milk so I made the mistake of adding them both at once.
I would suggest only adding the tomatoes at this point and waiting to add the coconut milk at the end. I added both – oops. So, add the tomatoes and bay leaf, place a lid on top, turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer for about 30 minutes.
After it’s simmered a while, turn the heat off and then stir in the coconut milk. Because mine had been simmering in an acidic solution, it had curdled. It doesn’t taste bad, it just has an undesirable appearance. Finally, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Fluff the rice just before serving.
Spoon the chicken along with a good amount of sauce over the rice. Top with fresh cilantro if desired.
Guaranteed to make your house smell good or your money back!
…wait, no, never mind.
Oh, I have a request! If it’s not too much trouble, can you add Pinterest buttons to your recipes? When I try to share them on Pinterest, the photos don’t show the dishes :( so I’ve been using the generic budget cover photo with the eggs.. which doesn’t make for a very appealing pin … Love ya!!!
Beth, I will try this! I fell in love with Indian food as well. Not lamb, though, blech! I’m really thanking God for your blog, missy!! SO awesome!
It was bland! Had to douse it with salt, but was wonderful once I got flavor back after coconut milk was added in.
Was fun to try a new dish, but as usually happens to me, the picture looks tastier than the final product. Nonetheless, When my wife and her sister walked in the house, they commented on the nice smell, so there is hope. I will give it another whirl in the future.
I also love Indian food! This looks delicious! Oh, and your blog ROCKS! Why not eat good food and stay on budget!? I have been planning out my family’s meals monthly and most of the recipes are from your site. Thank you SO SO much for all the hard work and dedication you put into this site! It’s the best!
found it slightly runny. might put coconut milk at the beginning. but still really great! was my first attempt at indian food. defnitely will make again.
Very delicious! Was out of cinnamon, added curry instead, added coconut milk at the same time as diced tomatoes. It still was soooo good. Next time will try to do exactly as recipe says, I am sure it will be very Delicious.
I added curry and coriander myself, it doesn’t matter if you add coconut milk at the beginning let simmer to allow the sauce to thicken up. Mine was so delicious.
This was so good, thank you for the recipe! I portioned it all out into tupperwares to take for lunch for the week, it’s perfect!
Made this last night. It was sooo good. Thanks for posting!
Fantastic! It was easy, delicious and perfect for our date night in! I will be making it many times again!
Really amazing recipe, just finished making it 20 minutes ago. Dad’s going to love some nice warm dinner. Couldn’t thank you enough for this!
A bit dissapointed. It smelled wonderful while it was cooking and i tasted it and it was great but then at the end i added the coconut milk and it must have absorbed all the flavor because the whole thing was extremely bland! I had to douse it in salt to give it any flavor. Not sure if i did something wrong but wint be making this again
That’s a really great recipe. This got me aproximately 2 hours to prepare since I’m a newbie haha. The taste was awesome. Looking forward to see any new recipes. :D
Thank you
I replaced the turmeric with cardamom (necessity, not really choice) and it turned out quite nicely. The aroma through the house is amazing. Excellent dish.
Chicken breasts covered in a deliciously thick lemon, turmeric and onion sauce for a splash of summer citrus.