Quick Way to Add Flavor: Easy Chicken Curry Masala Recipe (2024)

Sometimes, you just need a quick dinner. I hate it when I search for a recipe online and everything that comes up calls for about a dozen spices blended together – most of which I don’t have.

I prefer simple dishes like the curried lemon coconut chicken I discovered and adapted for the Instant Pot (5 ingredients if you don’t count salt) and this one: using the curry masala blend I had.

I am testing out some spices from a fabulous company that sources amazingly well, and this curry masala blend was calling my name. I searched for chicken curry masala recipes, and every single one required me to blend a bunch of spices together. I decided to skim for ideas and strike out on my own, and the whole family loved what I came up with!

I only used two kinds of vegetables but I crammed as much in as I could to swim around in the delicious sauce. You could certainly add more if you wanted! I just needed to get dinner on the table and use up some bok choy. Adding frozen broccoli was a no-brainer too.

Why Cook with Bok Choy?

Bok choy, by the way, is an under-appreciated green vegetable. It’s soooo mild in flavor and almost has two veggies in one, the green leafy part and the white “woody” part. This is a great veggie to help kids eat their green things if you can get past their mental block.

I started my relationship with bok choy when my dad was fighting cancer and it kept showing up on lists of cancer-fighting foods – I created this Asian cancer-fighting soup with it and continued to use it at least once a month in my own cooking, just incorporating into stir-fries, this pizza breakfast hash, and anywhere else I could. I’ve even seen it used in a beautiful raw salad, but I don’t often eat it without cooking (no particular reason, just habit I guess!).

This particular time I bought a head, I didn’t have a plan for it – and you benefit!

Reader, meet bok choy.

Bok choy, Reader.

I’m sure you’ll become fine friends, especially once you try this chicken curry masala with it.

Bok Choy Nutrition

Boy choy is not only a great cancer-fighting food because of its over 70 antioxidants, but it’s also rich in Vitamin A and lutein. It’s in the cruciferous family with such powerhouses as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage.

You can also get a good serving of Vitamin C, folate (important superfood for pregnancy!) and even the rare selenium and the ubiquitous fiber. Benefits include reducing inflammation, healthy bowels, bone health, heart health and balanced blood pressure. The Vitamin C can help your skin, too, but C is heat-sensitive, so not really in this recipe.

Pack as much in your pot as you can (it cooks down wonderfully) and use any leftovers mixed in with lettuce for a salad the next night!

Now…let’s make some Indian food!

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Curry Masala Spice Level

You can adjust the “heat” level on the spice just by reducing it a little bit. It was spicy but even my 3-year-old went back for seconds, so the robust flavor was enough yummy-ness that none of them minded the heat.

The layers of flavor in Cha’s curry masala are just perfect, so rich, so intoxicating – and done for me. One package to buy instead of 5 or 6! Now I need to go get another bok choy and make this recipe again (or experiment with other ways of using the blend – maybe a shredded chicken in the Instant Pot like our BBQ chicken that we enjoy so much!).

Not used to flavor “to taste” and making up your own – no problem. Check out Becca’s great tips for using Asian cooking techniques to find your creative side in the kitchen!

RELATED: Recipe for Spicy Chicken Curry.

Believe me, you’ll feel like you’re in a restaurant – minus the worry about the bill and having to keep your children quiet.

Have you ever made Indian food at home? Used bok choy?

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