This healthy chicken & lime curry is easy to make and jam-packed full of flavour from the homemade curry paste. It’s low in calories and more than 3 of your 5-a-day, great if you’re on a diet or the perfect excuse for an extra naan bread and onion bhaji!
This is one of those perfectly timed recipes where I decided a little while ago that I fancied coming up with a new curry recipe and by luck it was ready just in time for National Curry Week (10th-16th October 2016). Sadly my luck ran out with the timing, as I was hoping that I’d accidentally come up with something I could give a better name to than just curry (doesn’t it sound fancier to call it a chicken & lime jalfrezi or bhuna?). I was very tempted to just pick the closest match from the descriptions I found from a bit of googling but decided that it was cheating, so curry it is. If I had to choose I’d say it was a bit like a balti (but doesn’t have the tomatoes) or a dopiaza (but I only cooked the onions one way).
Whilst it’s a bit annoying not to be able to give this a proper name, I love the fact that I wasn’t constrained in which ingredients I should or shouldn’t use or how it should be cooked. It’s great to be able to just focus on the flavour and I’ve had so much fun over the last few weeks tweaking the recipe, adding things, taking them away – it’s what I love about what I do 🙂
The aim of the curry was to be full of flavour and to be healthy (full of veg and low in calories as we’re on a bit of a diet at the moment, although Jon is doing so much better than me – someone send me some willpower please!) and this one absolutely fits the bill. I made my own curry paste (which might sound fancy but actually means bashing together a load of stuff in a pestle and mortar – a great stress reliever if you need one!). The paste is mostly made from store cupboard ingredients with the addition of garlic, ginger and chilli. I’ve recently discovered frozen ginger and it’s perfect for things like this. In the past I’ve bought a lump of ginger root, used a little square and then found the rest lurking at the back of the fridge looking worse for wear a bit later. Using frozen ginger root means I have it when I need it, don’t have any waste, and once it’s bashed up into a paste you wouldn’t know it wasn’t fresh.
If you’re after other low calorie recipe inspiration then take a look at my index of delicious dinners with under 500 calories.
Chicken & Lime Curry
INGREDIENTS
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 onions
- 1 red pepper
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 lime - zest
- 300 ml passata
- 200 ml water
- Pinch of salt
For the marinade
- 1 lime - juice
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp hot chilli powder
For the curry paste
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 " cube of ginger
- 1 green chilli - add more or less depending on how spicy you like it, 1 makes it a medium heat
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp fenugreek
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
INSTRUCTIONS
Marinate the chicken
- Chop the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and place into a large bowl.
- Add the lime juice (1 lime), hot chilli powder (½ tsp) and paprika (1 tsp).
- Cover with cling film and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the curry.
Make the curry paste
- Place the curry paste ingredients into a pestle and mortar (2 cloves garlic, 1" cube ginger, 1 green chilli (stalk removed), 1 tbsp ground coriander, 1 tsp fenugreek, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp tomato purée) and bash until there are no large lumps.
Cook the sauce
- Slice the onions and roughly chop the red pepper into bite-sized chunks.
- Heat the olive oil (2 tsp) in a large saucepan. Once hot turn the heat down to low-medium and add the onions and cook for 15-20 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Stir them regularly to ensure they don't burn.
- Add the cumin seeds and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the red pepper, lime zest (1 lime), curry paste, passata (300ml) and water (200ml) and simmer for 20 minutes while the sauce thickens. Stir occasionally. Season with salt to taste.
Cook the chicken
- About 5 minutes before the sauce is cooked, cook the chicken. Heat a frying pan, add the chicken and cook for c. 5 minutes until it is piping hot all the way through. Turn it during cooking to ensure it cooks evenly.
- Once the chicken and sauce are cooked, stir the chicken into the sauce and serve. I like mine with rice or chapatis.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Gluten-Free
- Egg-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Celery-Free
- Mustard-Free
- Lupin-Free
Sue says
Delicious made some onion bhajos loked awful but tasty with this curry thanks have u any more tasty chick n eish s thanks sue
Charlotte Oates says
Not as many as I thought I did, I must make some more! You’ll find all of my dinner recipes here including a few chicken ones.
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
Who needs a fancy name with a dish this good? A curry is a curry….. It’s the quality ion flavour that counts and the ability to taste the spices as far as I am concerned. Thanks for the ginger tip….. We have a large root sitting on the side at the moment….. I know where that’s heading! x
Nico @ yumsome says
What a lovely-looking, and easy recipe… and really easy to just sub seitan for the chicken too. Or even something like chickpeas.
So happy to have found this blog through #CookBlogShare !
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Nico. As soon as I perfected the chicken version I thought it would taste good as a vegan curry too, let me know if you try it with a substitution and what you try.
Mel says
Great little video too! I find these ‘hand’ videos compelling. Can’t stop watching them and I love the fact I don’t need the sound on. x
Charlotte Oates says
Me too, I’m even more addicted since I started making them as I’m watching each on intently to try and figure out what they’ve done with the lighting, etc.
Mel says
What a beauty! Lime just works wonders in curry, doesn’t it? Your photos make it look so appetising. I would love a bit of nan bread to tuck in right now… and how cute are all your little spoons?
Charlotte Oates says
I have a minor “cute little spoons from the charity shop” addiction 🙂
Monika Dabrowski says
I love your curry sauce, simple and healthy, perfect for everyday healthy cooking:) the video looks great too!
Charlie @ The Kitchen Shed says
Yummy! This looks so tasty. I love a good homemade curry!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
I love chicken and citrus so I know I will love this curry! This is a must try. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Charlotte Oates says
Funnily enough I’d not had chicken and lime before trying this, lots of lemon and orange instead. The lime goes with the chicken really well.
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed says
Your chicken and lime curry looks delicious Charlotte. It’s fab that it’s made from store cupboard ingredients. I’m trying to eat healthily too so this is perfect for me, pinning for later.
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Sarah, I hope you enjoy it x
emma amoscato says
This looks and sounds divine. My mouth is watering! Thanks for joining in #freefromfridays
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Emma, I realised I hadn’t linked up for ages so thought I should start joining again. Thanks for hosting x
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com says
Yum! This looks so delicious, Charlotte. I know what you mean about curry names – it’s tricky, especially when there really doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a standard list of ingredients for most of them – I suppose everyone has their own version. I often end up calling mine just ‘curry’ too! Eb x
Charlotte Oates says
Some of the things I read suggested that quite a few curries get their names from the region they were created in. Seeing as I made mine up as I went along I considered it, but I didn’t think Chicken & Lime Flintshire really worked all that well 🙂
Danielle says
How much is a serving ? Thank you! Looks so good!
Charlotte Oates says
How do you mean? The recipe serves 2-3, the nutritional information is based in the recipe serving 2.
Intolerant Gourmand says
This sounds absolutely delicious, yum yum yum!! And I love the idea of freezing the fresh ginger once prepared! I do this with fresh herbs, never thought to do it with ginger. I will now! x #cookblogshare
Charlotte Oates says
It’s brilliant and saves so much waste. You can buy it ready chopped and frozen too.
Intolerant Gourmand says
This sounds absolutely delicious!! Yum, yum, yum! 🙂 x #cookblogshare
Louise Fairweather says
I don’t care what you call it, it looks amazing! #cookblogshare