How to make your own authentic chicken bhuna curry, from scratch at home.
This easy bhuna recipe uses simple ingredients. Onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, and curry powder are fried together to create a good, medium-spiced, dry bhuna sauce.
Add chunks of chicken breast or boneless thigh and as many green chillies as you like to make it spicy.
The best homemade curry, similar to what they serve in a traditional British Indian restaurant or takeaway.
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See our recipe card below for how to make the best Indian restaurant-style chicken bhuna.
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Chicken Bhuna Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Onions
- 3 tablespoon Vegetable Oil - Ghee can be used instead
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 2 teaspoon Ginger
- 2 tablespoon Medium Curry Powder
- 1 can Chopped Tomatoes
- 2 Green Chillies - use 1 for medium or none for mild
- 2 Chicken Breasts
- Water - optional
- 3 tablespoon Coriander Leaves and stalks (cilantro) - chopped
Instructions
- Dice 2 Onions and fry in 3 tablespoon Vegetable Oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-low heat, stirring often. Cook until soft and golden, about 8 minutes.
- Crush 4 cloves Garlic and grate 2 teaspoon Ginger. Once the onions have softened, add the ginger and garlic and fry gently for 2 minutes.
- Add 2 tablespoon Medium Curry Powder, and stir through.
- Add 1 can Chopped Tomatoes. Simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes
- Finely chop 2 Green Chillies. Add once the sauce has thickened.
- Cut 2 Chicken Breasts into cubes and add to the sauce. Cook for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a traditional bhuna, no Water should be added to make a thick dry sauce. However, if you find it too dry you can add some water whilst the chicken is cooking.
- Check the chicken is cooked through, then stir in 3 tablespoon Coriander Leaves and stalks (cilantro)
- Serve with our coconut pilau rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This Chicken Bhuna Curry Recipe was originally posted on 07/05/2021. It was updated on 03/06/2024 to move the recipe card to the top for a better user experience.
Continue reading below for more information about what an authentic bhuna is, and how we adapt our recipe, making it suitable for UK and US homes to cook a good English Curry House style recipe from scratch.
What is a Bhuna?
Traditional Bhuna originates from the Bengal region, a popular cooking method used in India and Pakistan.
An authentic cooking style involves frying onion, garlic, ginger, and spices together in ghee or oil to make a thick, rich, dry sauce before adding vegetables or meat.
Water is not usually added, keeping the bhuna sauce dry and thick. Served with coriander leaves (cilantro).
Ingredients
The ingredients you will need to make this homemade chicken bhuna are easy to find in any supermarket.
Onions, garlic, ginger, oil (or ghee), medium curry powder, tinned tomatoes, green chillies, chicken breast and coriander. The number of chillies used and adding water is optional.
It only takes 25 minutes to cook, so it is best to prep all your curry ingredients before you start cooking.
Cooking Method
Here is a quick breakdown of the order in which you should add your ingredients, along with our step-by-step images, to create the best homemade chicken bhuna.
As mentioned earlier, an authentic bhuna sauce has a dry, thick, and rich sauce with no water added.
However, we leave it up to you to add water to make a bit more sauce and add it during the chicken's cooking time.
Serving suggestions
We served our chicken bhuna with our equally delicious pilau rice which complimented it wonderfully. Served with the microwave poppadums by Patak's. Which came out great!
You can serve it with plain basmati rice or coconut rice and any Indian side dish you like. You could also start the meal with a chicken tikka starter.
Indian Side Dishes
Yes, this chicken bhuna recipe can be made ahead and in my opinion, it actually tastes even better the next day!
If making ahead or saving leftovers, store in an airtight container or bowl covered with cling film and use within 3 days
Yes, this chicken curry can be frozen. Allow to defrost before reheating.
Reheat in the microwave or in a pan until steaming hot throughout. Times will vary depending on how much you are warming up at once.
So there you have it: a homemade Indian takeaway chicken bhuna, ready in only 30 minutes.
The perfect medium spiced curry, if you want it hotter you can also add some fresh chopped chillies on the top once served.
More Curry Recipes
If you love our chicken bhuna recipe, why not try some of our other curries, such as our Chicken Pathia, Chicken Balti, Basa Fish Curry or our King Prawn Masala.
Or go check out Jack's Chicken Rogan Josh for a great rich medium spiced curry.
Tricia says
What size can of tomatoes?
Luke and Kay says
Hi Tricia, we used a 400g of tinned tomatoes for this recipe 🙂
Colleen says
So realistic and easy to do - it’s the best one yet!!!!!
Luke and Kay says
Thank you so much for your review of our Chicken Bhuna Curry, Colleen! We’re delighted to hear it’s the best one yet. We value your feedback and strive to make dishes that are authentic and simple to prepare. 🙂
Nic says
This is the best bhuna recipe! We really enjoyed it.
Kay says
Thank you for trying our Chicken Bhuna Curry, Nic! We're so glad to hear that you enjoyed it. It's one of our favourites too!