Sweet & Spicy Coconut Chicken Curry

This is a deliciously creamy, sweet and spicy coconut chicken curry that will please any guest—as long as they can take the heat. For less spice, simply use less habanero (or switch to a different pepper).

I don’t think there’s anyone I’ve ever met who could resist the delicious taste of a good curry.

The combination of spices, often with a good amount of heat, the complex flavors—absolutely delicious.

The variety of curry dishes is so great around the world—not just in India and South East Asia (such as our good friend David’s south Indian chicken curry recipe), but also in Africa and the Caribbean. Each region has its own likes and dislikes, which means there’s probably a curry recipe made just for you.

Many people often wonder what’s so great about a curry such as coconut chicken curry. Primarily, from the curry perspective, it really warms you up inside and outside.

You get the first hit of heat from teh fact that the food, temperature-wise, is warm, and the spiciness is at the first bite. But if you wait a bit, you also get the heat when the food goes down to your stomach.

It’s a slow, warm heat–if you’re a spice lover. If not, it can be too much.

Now, for coconut chicken curry, the heat is balanced with a great sweetness and creaminess. That’s a really great combination, as your taste buds get a really full experience instead of just one sharp, direct hit of spiciness.

That’s one of the reasons why Indian cuisine is so spectacularly complex and even a bit difficult. It has a lot of different flavor profiles that work so well together.

If you love curry, then you’ll love Diana’s coconut chicken curry.

Coconut Chicken Curry – Meyer Style

For our family, we’ve created our own variety with a special ingredient: zucchini. While this is probably not in any “real” curry recipes, our family loves the combination of the chicken and zucchini simmering in that spicy sweet, creamy coconut sauce.

One thing that we do love, however, and which is very important is to make our own curry paste.

You could buy the curry powder or paste in a jar that they sell in stores, and I’m sure it would taste fine. But it wouldn’t provide the depth of flavor you get from making your own paste, which is one of the great base flavors crucial in this coconut chicken curry.

Just add the pepper, ginger, garlic, tomato paste, mustard seed, spices (cumin, coriander, cayenne) and sauces (fish and soy) and blend together.

The result will definitely hit your nose hard, especially because we love the tropical spicy taste of habanero.

If you can’t take the habanero heat, you could substitute that with about 2 chili peppers.

If you do like the habanero heat, you can choose to leave the seeds in (we’re not that crazy) and see how it goes :). The thing about this coconut chicken curry is that you can make it as hot or not-so-hot as you’d like. However, we wouldn’t recommend leaving the chili out completely, or else it wouldn’t really be a coconut chicken curry at all.

When you add the paste to the pan with the rest of the ingredients, you’ll see how amazing it is. Normally we use our stainless steel pan, but one of these highly-rated copper pans might work even better.

The result will be a beautifully yellow, spicy, creamy and sweet coconut chicken curry that looks and tastes absolutely delicious.

5 from 4 votes

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Sweet & Spicy Coconut Chicken Curry

This is a deliciously creamy, sweet and spicy coconut chicken curry that will please any guest—as long as they can take the heat. For less spice, simply use less habanero (or switch to a different pepper).

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, Malay

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 3 people

Calories 385 kcal

Author Meyer Food Blog

Ingredients

• 500 g chicken breast
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Curry paste

• 1 fresh habanero pepper, seeded (with seeds for extra heat)
• 1 thumb-sized fresh ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric
• 1/2 tbsp coriander
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. To begin the coconut chicken curry, chop the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Set aside while you make the curry paste and rice.

2. Optional: In order to make the rice, simply add 1 cup of basmati rice with 2 cups of water and a few pinches of salt. Bring it to a boil, cover, then immediately bring the heat down to low and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and leave for a few minutes then fluff with a fork. 

3. While the rice is boiling and chicken is resting, prepare the curry paste. Blend all the curry paste ingredients until relatively smooth.

4. Heat a pan over medium heat with a little oil. Add the chicken and 1/3 of the curry paste and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the rest of the paste and the diced zucchini, then add half of the coconut milk. Continue to cook and stir until the zucchini becomes soft, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the remaining coconut milk and mix well, then add the brown sugar. Increase the heat to medium-high and let it stew for 10 minutes, uncovered, until the sauce thickens.

6. Serve immediately with steamed rice. And that's it, you've got your coconut chicken curry ready to be devoured!

   Bon appetit!