Guyanese Style Chicken Curry

Guyanese Style Chicken Curry is a comfort meal of tender chicken and potatoes simmered in a rich, savory sauce of herbs and spices. This traditional dish inspired by Indian cuisine has bold toasted spices and Guyanese wiri wiri peppers for a kick of heat.

Guyanese Style Chicken Curry

Guyanese chicken curry is a constant in our home and in most Guyanese and Caribbean households. This dish is near to my heart and it was one of the first things I learned to cook.

I remember watching my mother make masala by toasting spices in a frying pan then taking her belnah (rolling pin) and crushing them with a back and forth rolling motion. Her firm constant pressure creating a smooth powder like consistency that today can easily be achieved with a spice grinder.

Why You’ll Love This Chicken Curry Recipe

• Classic Comfort Food: When my children are not feeling so great, they ask for chicken curry and roti. Served with roti or rice, this meal is especially hearty.
• Great for Every Occasion: Whether it’s a holiday, party, or weeknight dinner, everyone loves a good chicken curry recipe.
• Easily Customizable: Easily adjust this recipe to be as spicy or as mild as you’d like.

Guyanese Chicken Curry Ingredients

Most of the ingredients listed are for the curry paste. Growing up, I watched my grandmother grind herbs with a lorah and sill. She had a rhythm that crushed garlic, onions, peppers, and thyme into a smooth paste in what seemed like seconds.

Grammother (what we called her) cooked over a fireside (a mud oven/stove used in traditional Guyanese cooking). The flavor of a fireside chicken curry is unmatched but this recipe comes close.

• Whole Chicken: About 5 lbs, cleaned and chopped up.
• Seasoning: Before it is cooked in a curry sauce, season the chicken with onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. You may also use some green seasoning for this step.
• Aromatics: For depth of flavor, add scallions, yellow onion and, garlic cloves.
• Fresh Herbs: Using fresh herbs to make this curry paste is often the difference between a thick curry and a watery curry. For this recipe, I use cilantro (coriander leaves) and parsley.
• Wiri wiri pepper: These small Caribbean cherry peppers are optional. It has a Scoville heat rating between 100,000 – 350,000 SHU so it is fairly hot.
• Water: This liquid is added to the curry paste to thin it out.
• Oil: This prevents the curry paste from burning.
• Yellow curry powder: To manage the spice in curry dishes, choose a curry powder that doesn’t have chili listed as one of the ingredients. A mild yellow curry is perfect. You can always increase the heat by adding fresh peppers like wiri wiri, habanero, and chilis or you can add chili powder.
• Ground Spices: For authentic Guyanese chicken curry, I use a spice blend of paprika, ground turmeric, ground coriander, roasted ground cumin or geera, garam masala, and ground mustard.
• Bay leaf: This lightens the overall flavor and adds a bright, citrusy taste to the dish.
• Russet potatoes: Peeled and diced (about 1 lb).

See recipe card for quantities.

Why use a Whole Chicken?

When I make chicken curry I prefer to use a whole chicken versus just the thighs or drumsticks. Although if I don’t have a whole chicken and I have thighs and drumsticks I will choose those over chicken breasts. Unless I am making Bunjal Chicken which is a different recipe all together. Click here to check it out.

The flavor from using the bones, some of the skin and all the different parts of a whole chicken is simply delicious. The best curry I have ever made is when I am using an entire chicken. And don’t worry about leftovers, if there are any it stores well in the refrigerator and can be easily reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.

Making the Masala

There are two ways to make masala. You can make your masala by roasting and grinding whole spices or you can use a combination of store bought ground spices.

The flavor is richer when you use whole spices however, it is not so significantly richer that I must use whole spices every time. I believe that it is okay to evolve some recipes over time and store-bought ground spices are good enough.

How to Make Guyanese Chicken Curry

Season the chicken

Add the onion powder, granulated garlic and salt to the chopped chicken. Then mix together well and set aside. You can also add a tablespoon of the blended herbs (see below).

Making the curry paste:

Add the onion, garlic, scallions, cilantro (coriander leaves), parsley and wiri wiri peppers if using all, plus 1/2 cup of water to a food processor or a blender and blend until it becomes a smooth paste (about 1 minute). Then add the blended herbs to a mixing bowl.

To the blended herbs add the yellow curry powder, ground turmeric, ground coriander, roasted ground cumin (geera), garam masala, paprika and ground mustard and mix to form a paste. You may add another 1/2 cup of water if the past is too thick.

Cooking the Chicken Curry

Heat up a large pot on high heat. When the pot is hot add the oil and allow the oil to get hot but not smoking. Then add the curry paste you made earlier and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning. You are ready to move on to the next step when the paste looks a bit dry.

Next add the seasoned chicken and mix until it is fully combined with the cooked curry paste. Continue to cook on high, stirring often to prevent the chicken from burning or becoming too brown (about 5 minutes).

Then reduce the heat to medium, cover and let the chicken cook in its natural juices. Alternatively, you may add a 1/2 cup of warm water to the pot. After 10 minutes stir the chicken and continue to cook covered until the juices cook down and thicken.

Next add the diced potatoes, mix until combined with the chicken, then cover and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes. When the liquids cook down add 1 cup of water and increase the heat to high, cover and continue to cook, stirring often until the chicken cooks and the curry sauce thickens.

This should take about 20 minutes of high heat cooking. If necessary you may add more water about 1/2 cup at a time until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the potatoes are fork tender.

Once the potatoes are fork tender, the chicken is fully cooked and the curry sauce is thick remove from the heat and serve with a side of rice or roti

Substitutions & Variations

• Instead of wiri wiri peppers, you may use 1/2 habanero pepper.
• Mild Guyanese Chicken Curry. When making this curry for my children I don’t add any wiri wiri or habanero pepper. I love a spicy curry but I want my children to enjoy our traditional food without complaining about how spicy it is. I enjoy my mild curry with a side of pepper sauce.
• Guyanese Bunjal Chicken Curry. For a perfect bunjal style curry, let the sauce cook all the way down until the curry is a bit dry. Or you may follow my recipe for a quick Bunjal Curry.

Equipment

• Food Processor or Blender: To make blend the curry paste.
• Large Pot: To cook the chicken curry.

Storage

Store leftover chicken curry in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Uncooked or cooked, this curry paste can last up to one week in the refrigerator. Sometimes I make it ahead and freeze it for quick meals during the week. Don’t tell my mom I’m freezing my curry paste and may my grandmother in heaven look the other way as I write this!

Tips for the Perfect Curry Paste

The best chicken curry starts with a good curry paste. How you make it is key but also how you cook it. Here are some tips:

• Always start with a hot pot. Let your pot come up to temperature before adding your oil. This prevents your curry paste from sticking
• Use a lot of oil. Yes, I know I said a lot of oil. Don’t skim on the oil or the curry paste will burn.
• Fry/Cook your curry paste on high heat but watch it like a hawk. If it burns it will significantly alter the taste of your dish. Burnt curry is not tasty.
• Don’t cook the paste until it is completely dry. Leave a little bit of sauciness to coat the chicken pieces.

As I mentioned, before you can cook your curry paste ahead and stick it in the refrigerator or freeze it for future use. Sorry mom!

Frequently Asked Questions