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Chicken Balti is one of the most popular curries in British Indian Restaurants. It’s a deliciously rich curry with a tomato-based sauce full of flavour from garlic, coriander and spices.

This chicken Balti curry recipe has taken me months to perfect. A traditional Balti uses a base sauce and two stages of frying the spices – which is a little too much effort for the normal home cook! I’ve instead made the steps as straight forward and fuss-free as possible – using ingredients which you can easily find in the supermarket.

The result is amazing! It’s honestly as good as takeaway, with a fraction of the calories and price – win, win!

I love to serve this chicken balti with rice and garlic parathas or naan – just as I’d order if I was getting takeout. I don’t order takeout anymore by the way – cooking curry at home really is better once you perfect it!

Chicken Balti is a medium spiced curry – but you can add or remove chillis depending on your spice preference.

You can make double the batch of this and freeze for a lazy dinner later in the month, or just eat it over a couple of evenings – which I tend to do! Whilst the ingredient list on this recipe is a little longer than my usual, it is much simpler than a traditional restaurant cooking method, but with better results. So it is worth the time!

If you enjoy cooking take-away dishes at home check out my take-away recipes.

How to Cook A Chicken Balti At Home

Scroll down for recipe card and ingredient list.

1. Dice the chicken into equal-sized pieces. I always chose cubes as this is the shape I most associate with a take-away curry, but you might prefer strips.

2. Finely dice the onions, garlic cloves, ginger and chilli. I always do this in my food processor to save time, but you can use a chopping board and knife if you don’t have a food processor.

3. Heat oil in a large, non-stick pan then add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic and chilli

4. Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes

5. Then add in the chicken pieces, and stir to coat in the onion mixture

6. Cook for 7 minutes – until the onions are much browner – like the photo below

7. Then add in the spices

8. Stir to combine and add in the tomato puree

9. Stir to coat everything in the tomato puree, then pour in the tinned tomatoes

10. Again, stir everything, then add in water – bring to a low simmer

11. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through. Then, add in the chopped coriander, garam masala and salt

12. Then, turn off the heat, stir to evenly distribute the coriander and then it’s ready to serve!