Chicken Jalfrezi
Chicken with Peppers
-
Heat
-
Serves
-
Dietary Info
-
Prep 20 mins
-
Cook 40 mins
A spicy dish cooked with chicken in a tomato sauce that's finished with a garam masala fry of big chunky onions and peppers.
Hari says
This isn't something we would eat at home, but it is one of those restaurant favourites that everyone wants to cook. Jalfrezi really refers to the cooking style rather than the dish. Broken down it translates to 'jal' or 'jaldi' which means quick and 'frezi', which is to fry.
So it's a quick fry dish that is made with a fresh, simple tomato sauce and cooking it yourself means you can make it much healthier than the oily take aways. I like it because it has personality, it's big and bold, it doesn't take much cooking, but boy it really packs a punch!
- Ingredients
- Method
- 8 chicken thighs, cut into chunks
Tomato gravy
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 chillies, chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt (optional)
Jalfrezi fry
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, cut into chunks
- 1 red pepper, cut into chunks
- 1 green pepper, cut into chunks
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 2 chillies, chopped
- 1 tsp garam masala
Method
- Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, chilli and garlic and fry until lightly browned.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and turmeric then cook so the tomatoes break down to make a lovely thick sauce.
- Add the chicken and stir to coat the pieces. Reduce the heat, place the lid on the pan and leave to cook for 15-20 minutes on a low heat.
- I like to add a bit of a zing to the sauce so I stir in some yoghurt, but you don't have to.
- In a separate pan heat some oil and add the cumin seeds. Once fragrant stir in the chunky onions and peppers, tomato and the chilli, and then stir fry. You can cook these as much or as little as you like (I prefer mine with a bit of a crunch) then stir in the garam masala.
- Once the chicken is cooked and the sauce has reduced stir in the vegetable mixture. simmer for a couple of minutes then serve.
Served with
This is a lovely quick dish to do for a weeknight evening meal. Wonderful when served with a bowl of plain basmati rice.
Nutritional information
| Typical values* | per Serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 386 |
| Fat (g) | 21 |
| of which saturates (g) | 3 |
| Carbohydrates (g) | 21 |
| of which sugars (g) | 12 |
| Fibre (g) | 6 |
| Protein (g) | 31 |
| Salt (mg) | 1018 |
This goes well with
Share this
“ Thank you for printing this recipe for my delicious Chicken Jalfrezi ”
Comments
Comments (41)
-
Chris Lilley
I love this recipe, I make this atleast twice a month, however it's a bit odd that Chicken doesn't appear in the ingredients...-
Hari Ghotra
Thanks good to know Chris - have you shared any pictures of your dishes on the app yet? Thanks Hari
-
-
Benazer Noor
your recipe is awesome I follow you all recipe good work. keep it up.-
Hari Ghotra
Thanks so much for trying it!
-
-
Tracey Ross
Dear Hari, Thank you so much for providing such a fantastic site and blog. I've created a gorgeous Chicken Jalfrezi from your recipe. My husband and I loved it. So easy to make! I made your Cucumber Raita and Peshwari naan to accompany it. I can't wait to try some of your other recipes. I'm thinking the Thari Wala Chicken next. I love the tips you give on creating the different dishes. Thank you!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Tracey Thanks so much for your message. Im so pleased to hear that you enjoyed the Jalfrezi and the other dishes too. Great to know that you are enjoying the website. The thari wala chicken is a personal fav of mine so looking forward to hearing what you think of it! Great to hear from you. Please do also download the app, it's free and making it easier to have everything in one place. Here is the link www.harighotra.co.uk/app Chat soon Hari
-
-
Martine Crowley
What size and type of chillies did you all use please! :)-
Hari Ghotra
Hi martin - I use finger or rocket chillies the long thin ones.or go for thai chillies but use less of them as they tend to be hotter! thanks for using the site. Hari
-
-
Jim Fraser
Hi Hari,
I tried this jalfrezi for the first time yesterday, the family loved it. Thank you for this recipe I'll definitely be cooking some more.
Jim-
Hari Ghotra
Ho Jim our families can be the harshest critics! Really good to know they enjoyed the Jalfrezi. Thanks so much for giving it a go. Looking forward to hearing about your next Indian cooking adventures. Hari
-
-
Ben McCabe
Excellent chicken jalfrezi, had to reduce it down a little as the chicken added a lot of liquid. Great recipe and went really well with the homemade naan bread. Thanks, once again.
Ben-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Ben Thanks for trying the recipe and using the website I'm thrilled you enjoyed it. Chicken can vary in the amount of liquid so good job on reducing it down. Thanks so much for leaving a comment Hari
-
-
Thizzby
Hi Hari
Your site is just brilliant - they are easy to make and the accompanying video is a reassurance that you're doing it right. The result is an Indian dish to rival my local curry house. I just made a crack-in Jalfreizi. Delish!!!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Thizzby (great name!) Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Just wonderful to hear that you are loving the recipes and the videos - please do subscribe to my you.tube channel as there are loads more videos on their too. Love that your Jalfrezi was as good (and better for you) then your local take away. Keep in touch and let me know what you try next time. Thanks Hari
-
-
Saikat
Hi,
Firstly, I should thank you for the nice recipe. I made it and it is really so much tasty.
One small thing, I just thought to mention - it is about the etymology of the dish. 'Jalfaraizi' - this name is derived from a colloquial Bengali word jhālpharezī: in Bengali, jhāl means spicy food; in Urdu/Persian, parhezī means suitable for a diet.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Thanks so much for your comments thats really helpful! Thanks for using the website. Hari
-
-
Nick
Thanks for this simple and tasty recipe, Hari. I've used only one pan when cooking jalfrezi previously but cooking the sauce and veg separately allowed the veg to stay crisp. I used prawns instead of chicken and put them in the sauce at the end. I thought the end result was almost too salty and I do like a lot of salt; I'd suggest 1/4 or 1/2 tsp less. I'll omit the yogurt next time too for more of what I think of as a jalfrezi taste.
Your result came first in my search for "jalfrezi recipe" because it was a Google "featured snippet". Congratulations.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Nick Thanks for trying the recipe glad you enjoyed cooking the Jalfrezi in this way. Yes, with the salt I would use less with prawns too, always go a little at a time and taste, that way you can always add seasoning it. I hope you try more dishes from the site as I would love to hear what you think. Thanks again Hari
-
-
Tim
Great recipe. Fried off finely diced onions in the sauce.+ added onion seeds with the cumin seeds. Added single cream as apposed to yoghurt and lime juice to balance flavours. Thank you for great recipe
Regards Tim-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Tim Thanks for posting your tweaks to the recipe sounds great! thanks so much for using the web site glad you enjoyed the dish. Love your ideas. Hari
-
-
Rachel Godwin
This is a family favourite. Our 13 year old son cooked this in a DT lesson this week and did a great job with it!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Rachel thank you so much for your comments - it's great to here that kids are cooking at school and trying new dishes. So pleased that it has become a family favourite too. Thanks for using the website. Hari
-
-
Ed Kiero-Watson (aka ed ed the curry head)
This jalfrezy rocks!
So much easier than other dishes I've tried off other sites. Very very simple and very very tasty.
You don't need loads of different spices and fresh herbs to produce great results.
Any true curry connoisseur should have these basic ingredients to hand.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Ed So good to hear that you enjoyed this one so much!
-
-
Hannah
love this recipe Hari - my go to curry if I'm craving some spice but want to cook something healthy too. Thank you!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Hannah Its a really tasty and healthy one. Thanks for trying it!
-
-
deano
Hi,
I love cooking this recipe as I have no Indian restaurant nearby but if i was to use chicken breast instead of thighs how much in weight do i need?
dean-
Jeremy Kamaluddin
Hi Deano really pleased that you are cooking dishes from the website and enjoying them. I usually go by one breast per person to makes sure there is plenty. Roughly a portion size should be 80-100g. I hope this helps. Let me know what you think of the dish. Enjoy!
-
-
Sue Melling
Hi will this dish still be edible having left on the stove overnight and not refrigerated.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Sue I really can't comment on this as I have no idea how warm your kitchen would be overnight and I wouldn't want you to get food poisoning on my advice. I would say that you have to throw it out just in case. Sorry!! Hari
-
-
Mandy
Hi....actually jal refers to the spiciness as it was developed in Bengal for the British.
Great recipe :)-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mandy thanks for your comment, always great to get new thoughts on dishes. Glad you like the recipe too.
-
-
Hari
Hi
Where are you based and what does the competition involve? This will help me advise you better.
The key thing about a Jalfrezi is that it is supposed to have heat (just don't go overboard) and try to keep the pepper fry bit really fresh. Use freshly made garam masala too. In terms of rice maybe go for something like http://www.harighotra.co.uk/indian-recipes/sides/jeera-chaul
Its a good idea to have something cooling on the side for something a bit different I think the pomegranate raita is really fun http://www.harighotra.co.uk/indian-recipes/sides/pomegranate-raita it's lovely and cooling with little bursts of zingy sweetness.
It would be fantastic to see pictures of your dishes so I can talk about your competition on my social media - would that be ok?
Thanks
Hari -
Bijoy
Aw yes!! Thank you thats what I need! Oh yes its for a island wide cooking competition in 2 weeks. Would you recommend, I cook the Lamb Jalfrezi with lemon rice or plain basmati rice and possibly with a cucumber raita on the side. if the Jalfrezi is spicy for the judges. What do you think? -
Hari
Hi Bijoy
Thanks for your comments thats really lovely to hear. I have this Lamb Jalfrezi recipe http://www.harighotra.co.uk/indian-recipes/mains/lamb-jalfrezi It's fairly similar but you might want to increase the heat level a bit. I also like to add a little yoghurt for some tang too.
Let me know if you need any more help.
Thanks Hari -
Bijoy
Hi, have been watching lots of your cooking videos, they're different. Its great!! I would really like to know, If I was to cook this Jalfrezi dish with Lamb, how would I go about with that? Just unsure of the different methods there may be.
Thanks -
Hari
Hi Aida - Well thank you so much for your comments and feedback. It is so fantastic to hear that my recipes are being cooked up in the kitchens in Africa and that they are being enjoyed. It is so great to hear that the recipe was spot on for your husband. Do let me know what you think of my butter chicken (Murgh Makhani) - it is one of my favourites so I would love to hear what you think. Thanks again Hari -
Aida
Hello,
My husband is Pakistani and we live in West Africa, and each time we go to a different Indian restaurant here he orders chicken Jalfrezi but he always get disappointed, I have tried several recipes at home and no good result for him... till I tried your recipe, he says it's perfect and that it's how chicken Jalfrezi is supposed to be :) Thank you very much for your recipe :) and I want to try very soon your butter chicken :) -
Hari
Hi Modesty
Thanks for your comments thats really lovely to hear. This is a lovely dish - it is supposed to be fairly hot but if you don't like chilli heat I would tone the chillies right down. For indian food I always recommend the long thin green chillies usually called finger or rocket chillies in the super markets. These can be fairly hot so for your first time just use half or one in the gravy - chop it up nice and finely.
If you have to buy a whole packet just put the left over chillies in the freezer and you can use them straight out the freezer when you make your next dish. I would miss them out of the fry completely. Once you get used to a little heat you can start using more. Once its ready, if you do feel like you fancy a bit more heat sprinkle in a little chilli powder at the end and stir through. Really hope this helps - let me know how you get on. Thanks Hari -
Modesty
I love your site and blog and thought I'd like to try Jalfrezi as I'm a newbie to curry cooking and this looks quite easy. I've never used chillies though, could you please tell which ones I should buy as don't like really spicy food.
Thanks for any advice, Modesty
Keith
reply