Cape Malay Chicken Curry
If you are looking for Malay chicken curry, you should try this Cape Malay chicken curry recipe. Using tomatoes, instead of coconut milk, brings a subtle tang to the dish that is quite delicious. This Malaysian chicken curry is mild enough for everyone to enjoy.
I made this cape Malay chicken curry recipe not long ago and thought I can start training myself making curries more often with this recipe.
As far as I know, this is not an authentic Malaysian chicken curry. The name Cape comes from the Western Cape province in South Africa where a good number of Malaysians dwell, and whom originated this recipe.
I must admit that I am not a curry expert. I am not an expert making very authentic curries but I do enjoy eating various types from all over the region, though.
For living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, you can get really delicious curries from everywhere in the city. Malaysian, Indian, Pakistani, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, African… you name it.
Maybe because there are so much to choose from and so easily accessible, I just take my family to the nearest restaurant whenever we get the curry craving kicking in. No wonder I never bother to cook curries at my own kitchen.
The flavor of this chicken curry is really nice and easy to get used to for those who are the curry beginners, especially if you are not a fan of curry made with coconut milk. The addition of either diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes brings a slight tang to the over all flavor but not over-powering the entire dish.
Hope you like this Malaysian curry. My family thoroughly enjoyed it.
Cape Malay Chicken Curry Spice Mixture
First of all, gather up your spices in the mortar or in a mini processor.
Correction: The fennel seeds and coriander seeds are switched on the photo above.
Start grind them together. Oh, the aroma…
Until they get to combine very well.
I picked most the cardamom pod skins and discarded them. One of the Indian lady at the shop where I purchased the spices told me to do that.
How to make Cape Malay Chicken Curry
Chop onion, garlic, and ginger finely.
Saute onion and ginger in some oil over medium heat until soft.
Add the spices and cook together until the holy fragrance fills up your kitchen.
Add crushed tomatoes. You can used canned diced tomatoes as well.
Bring the sauce to gentle boil.
Add the chicken pieces. Chicken thighs, drumsticks, or breast. bone-in pieces will bring better flavor.
Cover with a lid and lower the heat to simmer for 20 minutes.
Add garlic, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Stir all together to combine.
Cover the lid again but with a little opening for the steam to escape, continue to simmer for another 15 minutes. And your curry will be ready to serve. Actually with any braised food, it tastes much better on the next day which I did.
The chickens are so tender and full of flavor. Loved the aroma and the slight tang from the tomatoes. It was just perfect for our Thursday night dinner.
More Delicious Curry Recipes
- Easy Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk (Sayur Lodeh)
- Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Ca Ri Ga)
- Easy Thai Red Curry with Chicken and Vegetables
- Beef Massaman Curry
- Easy Ground Beef Curry Recipe (Beef Keema Curry)
Cape Malay Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tsp chili flakes, or fresh hot peppers to taste
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp fennel, ground, or 4 tsp whole fennel seeds
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2-1 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
- 15 cardamom pods, whole pods
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 14 oz can crushed tomatoes , or diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 lb chicken pieces
- 2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 -3 tsp salt
Instructions
- Put the 7 spices — from the coriander seeds down to the garam masala — in a mortar and pestle. Pound them together so the cardamom pods burst and the whole thing becomes a mess of spices. Discard the skin of cardamom pods. Continue to pound the spices until they become like a powder.
- Heat the oil in a pot, add the onion and ginger over fairly high heat, and stir occasionally for a few minutes. Add the chili flakes and spices and stir for 2 minutes. You might need to add more oil (Spices slurp up oil as they fry)
- Add the can of crushed tomatoes and stir. Cook until everything bubbles up together.
- Add the chicken pieces, and stir to coat well, keeping heat high until everything is bubbling away. Turn the heat down, put on a lid, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Add the garlic, sugar, lemon juice and salt to the curry. Cover with lid but leave a small opening for a steam to escape; simmer for 15 minutes or longer. Taste the sauce, and adjust seasoning according to your taste.
- Near the end of cooking, skim off extra oil/fat with a spoon, as it collects in corners of the pot, if needed. Serve the curry warm with rice.
Let me sa first that cooking has never been my strong suit. But I’m dipping my toes in, and this was my first attempt at making something other than Italian food from scratch. This recipe is very easy to follow, and the spice combination is delicious! My family isn’t fond of spicy things, but this dish has just the right touch of mild zing to help them appreciate curry. It’s a hit! Thank you!
Thanks Holly.! I appreciate your reply. X
Hi Holly. Do you have any idea of the calories in this meal? Love it!
No, I don’t have nutrition info of this dish. I am planning to upgrade my recipe card that includes those informations. So stay tuned. Thanks.
Hi Holly. Love this recipe. I’ve batch cooked it a few times now. Wonderful. I see you p kut a Nutrition box but no calories. Have you a rough estimate of the calorie content? Many thanks.
Hi In the spices picture you need to interchange the Coriender seeds and fennel seeds.
thanks
I saw someone else has commented on this. Should have read before commenting.
This is a great recipe, thanks for sharing! Although, I would just like to clarify the origins of “Cape Malay”. The region in South Africa this comes from is the Western Cape, but the majority of Cape Malay descendents are in Cape Town, which is a specific city.
The Cape Malays are descendents of the Malaysian and Indians who were brought to Durban (on the other side of South Africa) as slaves in the 1700’s and 1800’s by the Dutch. Horrific, I know! From there, specific communities moved to the Cape where descendants can still be found today.
There is a lovely little old area in the city called Bo’Kaap, which translates as “Above the Cape” as it sits on the hill above the city. The houses have remained unchanged for generations and it is there where you will find the best Cape Malay cuisine!
I grew up in Cape Town and my grandmother cooked a lot of Cape Malay food. It brings back many, many memories!
Very tasty, thanks! Just a correction, this dish originates from the city of Cape Town. Western Cape is the province (not city). It is a classic of Cape Malay cooking whose people are the descendents of Malay slaves brought in to the Cape Colony under the time of colonial rule. It’s not really accurate to say a lot of malaysians live here as these descendents have mixed heavily with the indigenous people of the Cape and have formed a new culture and identity. The Cape Malay community do not consider themselves as malaysians anymore, in the classical sense of the word.
My mouth watered just looking at the pictures.
I unfortunately do not have all the spices required but I’m going ahead and making it, hopefully it still taste as great as it looks.
Hi there! Absolutely loved the recipe but just a little something to add- I live In the Western Cape and the Cape Malay people are named by the town Cape Town – the Western Cape is the Province or State! Just fun facts 🙂 I love this recipe though and plan on trying it tonight! Cape Malay food often also incorporates fruits and raisins into their curries which add a gorgeous pop of sweetness
ttfn x
Thanks, Kim, for the wonderful information. I am going to add the fruits and raisins next time I make this curry. Thanks!
This is my favourite curry. i make this one, i make a Vindaloo,lamb saag and a couple of others but this cape malay is the one I run out of first. I always cook up a 2 kg batch. YUM
I am from Cape Town and of Cape Malay heritage. This curry is absolutely amazing. Just like my grandmother used to make.
I have lived in the Western Cape all my life …… there is no TOWN by that name, it is a region or province! Our wonderful Malay people will not concur with your description of a “good number of Malaysian people dwelling there”! Sorry, but I had to point this out….. in some way it is rather offensive to us when so many mistakes are made when describing the origins of a recipe!
Thanks for the recipe – tried it this evening and it worked perfectly – hot, spicy and sour. I served it with mashed potato with fennel (flesh and seeds) and buttermilk mixed in. This combination worked very well. I have had curry in South Africa and I think it was a little bit fruitier, but I prefer your recipe.
Thanks , nice recipe
Just to add to your explanation on the Cape Malay
Western cape is actually a Province , not a Town, interestingly it has more plant species than the whole of Europa combined.It is roughly the size of Greece. Most of the Cape Malay live around Cape Town , the Capital of the Province
Thank you, Rikus! Appreciate for your wonderful explanation.
I’ve seen a number of people correcting your mistake of calling the Western Cape a town. It might be good to just fix your mistake in your description :). As another South African it would be nice to see.
Loved this recipe. So tasty, easy and delicious!
Just checked the directions, when do you add the ginger? I added it after everything was done hope it turns out okay 🙂
Hi Yumnah
The ginger should be cooked with onion. I mentioned in the tutorial but I guess I missed out in the recipe directions. Thanks for letting me know.
Made this recipe. It was easy and so so delicious. When I added the tomatoes I added half a can of water as well to give it a little more wetness. Definitely recommend this if you’re looking for an easy curry that tastes rich and amazing!
In the pic you have the coriander and fennel seed labels switched.
I know you’re not a curry expert so this is why i am helping you, please don’t take it as an insult, in your picture where you name the spices you have mixed up the fennel seeds and coriander seeds, just swop the names around
Thanks, Bradley.
Well this is an incredible recipe. I’ve made this, with just a few minor modifications to feed my 4 and 1 year olds: I’ve substituted Paprika for the pepper flakes and cut back a little on the black pepper. I made the sauce w/o the chicken – to save for later use – and found it produced such a thick rich flavor (much to my liking), that I ‘thinned it’ with some tomato sauce. It did dilute the flavor some making it less rich, but I think the little ones will like it better this. I have to ramp them up to the full-on curry. Awesome recipe – thanks for the share.
tx u 4 sharing! lovely shots!
am a noob cook…2nyte was my 1st attempt at making chicken curry… it was delish!
TRIED MAKING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
The pictures caught my attention right away and after seeing the spice mix I knew I had to try it! Made this curry tonight and it was really delicious, and made my house smell wonderful. Looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow – you’re right when you say these kinds of dishes are even better the next day!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
can i leave out the cinnamon or will it make a big difference to the dish ? and how spicy is it ? we like spicy so could i add some chilli’s
You reminded me of the Cardamom my mom used. Love the pics. My curry is boiling right now.
hello…looks delicious..want to try it this weekend… just wanted to knw whtr they curry is spicy?
Thank you for this amazing recipe ! Tried it last night and it looked exactly like in your pictures 🙂 Was really good , for my stomach and my soul ! I usually rebel against recipes and tweak it the way I see fit , but I am glad I kept my rebellious ways in tact with this one !
Best Wishes , G.
Thanks Grizelda. I am so glad that you liked this curry as well. We all do tweak recipes sometimes and some turns out good regardless and some don’t. I am glad that you stick with this recipe. Cheers for you!
I too love curries and so interesting to be able to try them from all over. This one I could try right now. (I noticed the spice mix up too, but I figured they were both in there so what difference would it make) 🙂 Sounds like you’ve inspired others to make it too! YUM!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it today, and it was AMAZING! The chicken was tender; the flavors were perfectly aligned. Everything was perfect, even the amount of salt (2 tsp). The ONLY change I made was to add less lemon juice because I am one of the rare few who don’t like the taste of lemon in savory dishes no matter its function haha. I squeezed the lemon a little and that was it. I used skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks. Next time I will try this dish with skinless chicken breasts. YUM! My mother enjoyed it, too.
I love curry… all kinds of curry and until I discovered many kinds of Indian curry dishes (Masala, Korma, Vindaloo, etc.), I experimented with various Indian spices which is such a departure from Korean spices/seasonings. I think this is what I’m going to make for tonight’s dinner. What I do with chicken all the time is what Bajan (people from Barbados) do always, always… whether they make Fish or Chicken dishes… make small slits on the chicken/fish pieces and squeeze fresh lime juice and a bit of salt and pepper and let them sit for 10 minutes or so … this process takes out the “smell”, tenderizes and brings out the flavour more. Also, I sprinkle with fresh coriander on top of the curry just before serving. Love your photo steps… all recipes should be done this way… thanks Holly so much!
wow~ i look awesome. Tho I’m Malaysian but I’ve never try this recipe. Gonna try it later when I’m at home. By the way, recently I went to one korean restaurant here and I ate bulgogi. It was so delicious. I dont know what they put inside but seriously it’s really amazing.
This chicken curry looks amazing and the ingredients are so fresh. Thanks for your post. Right now I am craving for this chicken!
If I wanted to omit the garam masala, can I substitute something else? If not, how drastically different will the flavors be if omitted entirely?
I think gram masala brings distinctive flavor to this curry so if you omit it will change the flavor quite a bit.
Ahhh what a perfect picture to show how delicious this chicken curry is! I’m drooling like crazy over here… Do you like Staub? I’ve been collecting Le Creuset pots, but I heard great things about this brand that I want one… 🙂
this is amazing! you make everything from scratch, it’s so admirable and the photos are stunning! thanks for the tip on lemon juice! this step by step is so inspiring and wonderful, it makes me want to attempt curry from scratch! I usually get the vacuum packs of fresh curry paste from the singapore market
I love your recipes. I do think that in your spice picture, you have the coriander seeds and the fennel seeds mixed up. The round ones are coriander and the oblong ones are fennel :).
Pam
Ooops! I think you are right. Those two seeds were mixed up. Sorry about that!
Cape Town is a city in the Western Cape which is a province in South Africa. Nice recipe tho!
I love curry! I’m no expert, either, but I’ve never met a curry I didn’t like. This looks terrific! Great flavor – definitely something I should try. Thanks so much.