Chicken Pasanda or Passanda

A chicken pasanda is a relatively mild ‘Mughal’ curry loaded with yoghurt and almond and is one of my absolute favourites.

Chicken Pasanda or Passanda.

My chicken pasanda recipe was born out of a rather disappointing visit to an Indian restaurant in Budapest. A trip of all things, to get a broken tooth fixed.

It was my first visit to a dentist in 25 years and not one that I relished. I have no issue with dentists. I do however have an irrational phobia of injections.

So after I got all fixed up and things had worn off I was given a big boy treat of a night out in the big city as a result of being a ‘brave little soldier’.

My choice for a night out will typically always involve lots of beer. Some loud rock music and a curry.

Rather than go to one of our tried and trusted restaurants I figured we would try somewhere new that had decent reviews.

My wife ordered the chicken pasanda and me the lamb vindaloo. Both dishes I love cooking at home. You can see a slightly sideways glance at a pork vindaloo here or indeed the more familiar beef vindaloo recipe here!

Now whilst I may say our visit was disappointing it was not really that bad my wifes dish was superb. My vindaloo, however, was all a bit meh.

The following morning we got up with a thick head and we were discussing dinner on the 2 1/2 hour drive home.

My wife kept going on about how great her curry was. As a result, about halfway home we veered off the motorway to pick up some chicken and some almonds.

It was time to have my own awesome chicken pasanda curry.

What Is A Pasanda Curry

It is a triumph of a dish, loaded with fragrant spices and a lovely mellow hint of almond and punches of fresh coriander.

The coriander is by no means a garnish on this dish, it is integral to the recipe.

I don’t do garnish, it has no place on a plate of food for me.

Everything on a plate should add something to what I am eating and if it does not, it should not be there.

So if coriander isn’t your thing then maybe consider something like a chicken korma.

Another curry at the milder end of the heat spectrum and in many ways similar to a chicken pasanda.

Is Chicken Pasanda Hot?

In short no!

It is very much one of the mildest curries that I make and that I have eaten.

It is spicy, but the spices used are fragrant spices and not ‘hot’ spices.

We have 

The ingredients are a wonderful foundation for an Indian store cupboard.

The techniques are simple and most importantly there is an overwhelming amount of spices to mess with your mojo!

Give it a try, you’ll love it!

Chicken Pasanda

5 from 5 votes

A chicken pasanda is a relatively mild 'Mughal' curry loaded with yoghurt and almond and is one of my absolute favourites.

COURSE Main Course

CUISINE Anglo Indian, Indian

KEYWORD Chicken Curry Recipe, Chicken Passanda Recipe, Fragrant Curry Recipe

Prep Time5 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Total Time30 minutes

Servings2

Calories489kcal

AuthorBrian Jones

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Cooking oil
• 3 Green Cardamom Pods Bruised with the side of a knife
• 125 g Onion Finely Diced
• 15 g Ginger Grated
• 3 Cloves Garlic Mashed
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 3/4 Tsp Ground Coriander
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Kashmiri Chili Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Turmeric
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 Tbsp Ground Almonds
• 100 g Natural Yoghurt
• 2 Chicken Breasts Skinless cut into 4 large pieces each
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Water
• 10 g Flaked Almonds
• Fresh Coriander Roughly chopped and loads of it

Instructions

• Begin by toasting your almond flakes in a dry pan and set aside for the end of the dish, keep an eye on them it is very easy to burn nuts.
• Now add the cooking oil to the pan over a medium high heat and fry off the cardamom pods for 30 seconds before adding in the onions and cooking until they just start to brown which should take around 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and ginger and cook on for a further 2 minutes.
• It is now spice time, throw in all of the spice powders, cumin, chili, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon and cook out for 30 seconds, stirring continuously.
• Add the chicken and stir to coat in the spicy mix.
• Now finally add the yoghurt, ground almonds, salt and water then reduce the heat to medium and cook out for 15-20 minutes.
• The sauce should thicken nicely and cling to the chicken.
• Finish the dish with the flaked almonds and the coriander

Notes

I favour serving this dish with a plain boiled rice, the subtle fragrant flavours in this dish are easily masked, however a chapati or a naan bread would also work a treat.