6 Secret Ingredients To Spice Up Bland Chicken Curry

Have you ever had bland chicken curry?
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If so, then you probably know how disappointing it can be.
Luckily, you will find some easy-to-do tips to make your chicken curry tastes great again.
What is chicken curry?
Chicken curry is a dish of Indian origin that consists of chicken or meat cooked with a sauce made from spices and usually thickened with flour, cream, or coconut milk.
Curries are traditionally served over rice but can also be eaten with naan bread (Indian flatbread).
In addition to being a flavorful way to prepare meat for dinner, chicken curry is also popular for its versatility—it can be made mild-to-medium hot, depending on how much spice you want to add!
When preparing your homemade curry recipe, you can use bone-in, boneless chicken breasts, or chicken thighs.
Common mistakes when making chicken curry
Here are some common mistakes that you might make when making chicken curry and how to avoid them:
- Not use enough spices.
If you’re making chicken curry at home, you can easily control the number of spices in your dish.
Don’t be afraid to add too little! You can always adjust the flavor later on.
- Make sure your sauce isn’t too thick or thin.
The use of the thickening agent will decide the consistency of the curry.
If it’s too thick, add some water or broth.
If it’s too thin, let the chicken simmer in the sauce for a while or add more thickening agents.
- Not cook long enough.
If the chicken is not cooked long enough, it will not be tender and juicy to taste.
Moreover, when the cooking time is too short, the flavors from the seasonings won’t release into the curry.
- Not roast the meat and seasonings before cooking.
Roasting is key to ensuring the curry will end up flavorful.
Why is my chicken curry bland?
There are many reasons why your chicken curry might be bland.
Too much water in the recipe
Adding too much water to the recipe can dilute the taste and reduce its overall spiciness.
You can also use stock or broth instead of water for more flavor, but too much can still result in a flat curry.
Not enough salt
Make sure you add adequate salt while preparing your dish because this adds a lot of flavor to it and makes it taste great.
Not enough salt will make your chicken curry unappealing and hard to eat.
Not enough spices and herbs
Spices are an important part of any Indian or south Asian cuisine, so try including more spices when making chicken curry for yourself or others!
Another thing that can make or break a chicken curry is whether or not you have added fresh herbs like cilantro at the right time during preparation.
Make sure that you do this step carefully if there is any chance that your kitchen guests might want some spiciness from their meal.
Use low-quality ingredients
Although you have seasoned your chicken curry perfectly, the resulting dish can still be disappointing if you use low-grade ingredients.
So it is best to opt for fresh chicken, spices, and herbs for a more flavorful curry.
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6 ways to fix bland chicken curry
If you’ve ever had the unfortunate experience of making chicken curry only to be disappointed by its blandness, we have some great news: your tastebuds are back!
Check out the following tips to fix bland chicken curry:
Add salt
Salt is a key ingredient in chicken curry and can help bring out the flavors of other ingredients.
Salt can be added in varying amounts depending on how salty you want your dish to be—just make sure not to overdo it!
Add a sweetener
There are several options if you want to add a sweetener to your chicken curry.
Honey, maple syrup, and agave nectar are all delicious choices that can help you perk up the flavor of your curry.
You may want to add more of these sweeteners than sugar because they produce more intense flavors than sugar does.
When adding sweeteners to your chicken curry, start with small amounts and keep tasting it until it tastes good to you.
The amount of sweetener needed will depend on personal preferences and the type of curry powder used in your recipe (some curries have less spice than others).
Add spices and herbs
Garam masala, chili powder, cumin, turmeric, and garlic are all good additions to chicken curry.
Ginger can also be added for a spicy kick in the taste buds.
You can also add fresh herbs like cilantro and parsley for a unique flavor.
These ingredients are best added after the dish has been cooked so they don’t get overcooked or lose their flavor.
If you aren’t familiar with these spices, it’s important to taste your curry as it cooks so you know when it is done.
Add dairy
If your curry is bland, adding dairy is an excellent way to fix it.
Doing this can turn your dish into something creamy and rich, with people coming back for seconds.
Cream and ghee are both excellent choices for adding dairy to your chicken curry.
But don’t go crazy on the dairy—you don’t want to make soup out of it!
Just use enough so that the sauce has some body and texture but not so much that there’s too much liquid or fat in the sauce itself.
Add chicken broth
The chicken broth will add flavor and moisture to your chicken curry.
How much you need to add depends on how much curry you’re making, but it’s typically about a quarter cup per pound of chicken.
To make homemade chicken broth, boil the carcass from a roasted or stewed bird with some onion and carrot until all the meat is off the bones.
Strain out any solids, then use them as needed for your curry recipe!
Reduce it
The last way to fix bland chicken curry is to reduce it.
Reducing a sauce means boiling it until much of the water has evaporated, which concentrates and intensifies its flavor.
You can use this technique for thickening sauces and creating gravies.
For example, if you have a thin gravy that needs to be thickened, simply boil it until the sauce reaches your desired consistency and achieves the flavor profile again.
However, don’t burn your curry, so keep the heat low and your eyes on the pot.
Conclusion
We hope that this post has helped you understand how to fix a bland chicken curry.
Remember that it’s essential to start with good ingredients and follow the recipe faithfully, but if your curry still isn’t perfect, there are plenty of ways to tweak it!
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