Spicy hot Sri Lankan chicken curry is iconic eatery style dish in Sri Lanka. Out of several ways we Sri Lankans like to cook chicken meat this hot chicken curry recipe is so far, my favorite.

This Sri Lankan chicken curry isn’t a part of the day today Sri Lankan home cooking. This spice and curry with hot curry broth combination is a part of Sri Lanka’s Street style eating. This hot spicy chicken curry served in Sri Lankan roadside eateries or small all-day diners as Sri Lankan rice and curry, Sri Lankan lunch packets, Dosa and curry, string hoppers with spicy curry or Chicken Kottu. If you visit Sri Lanka remember to enjoy bowl of this salt and cayenne pepper loaded curry, to remember and seek out that burn.

Eateries are so abundant in the streets of Colombo. They feed crowds of people who come to the city for work, errands and what not. They make up an integral part of today’s city life. Eateries in Sri Lanka are different from diners in USA, which usually operate certain number of hours a day.

Eatery runs all day from breakfast, lunch, dinner, to an extremely late dinner. There are such places that run 24 hours. The kitchen works around the clock in heat, rain or shine cooking and serving meals. Plates, spoons sing, server walks in between tables carrying various dishes, dumping spoonful of curries where it is needed. Everyone seems in hurry for their errands, but you can still sit listen to loud music and order your heart out of spicy rice and curry meal. It is a lively place.

You will not get the kind of table waiting and service of a regular restaurant in any of these, you must raise your hand and call the server if you need to order food. Server will come running and read out from iron clad memory of menu cooking in kitchen. In fact, nothing is fancy, but you can always count on good hot and spicy curries. Tasty food and cooking are always found in such humble settings. This Sri Lankan chicken curry recipe was one such find. It was a wealth of experience.

Homestyle Sri Lankan chicken curry recipes

How eatery style hot Sri Lankan chicken curry is different than homestyle curry

Any and all best chicken curry recipes are made and served fresh. Amalgamation of flavors, fat from chicken and coconut cream coating pieces of chicken evenly, shining its best in freshly made spicy hot curry. This is true even more for homestyle curry.

Eatery style curry is made to have balance of flavor that is not going to change throughout the time the service is on. Chicken is marinated and precooked oftentimes seared or fried and kept separated from the sauce until it is about to be served. This ensures the chicken stays firm and does not fall apart in the curry. They always use fresh whole chicken to make the curry, from the wet market a few blocks away.

Key point I have observed from looking at our own cook, who used to cater our own events in growing up, eatery style Sri Lankan chicken curry uses lot more chilies, black peppers, and acidity from vinegar than a home style curry would. Every cook has his own style of making it, but this at least is true for most of them. More chilies peppers and acid not only give great flavor but helps to keep the flavor of the curry stable and taste fresh in hot humid serving setting of Sri Lanka for couple hours.

Eatery style Sri Lankan chicken curry sauce is a concentrated spicy concoction of various curry mixes. Fat is skimmed out as much as possible because fat tends to separate on keeping and makes curry change its flavor quickly.

Making of eatery style hot chicken curry

My recipe here is customized to make it in a home setting easily and does not follow all the steps that an eatery style cook would. However, flavor and mouthfeel are going to be the same. We all enjoy a good eatery style spicy hot Sri Lankan chicken curry at home time to time. If you like my recipe and decide to make it for yourself, please send me a picture, comment, and share!

Enjoy the recipe and thank you for reading!

Eatery Style Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

Kalani

How to make spicy hot Sri Lankan chicken curry at home from scratch. Warm comforting spicy curry is best for rice, chips, tortilla, or bread.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Marinating time 12 hours hrs

Course Dinner

Cuisine Sri Lankan curry

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

Marinade

• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp crushed black pepper
• 1 tsp yellow curry powder
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1 inch ginger crushed
• ½ tsp lime zest
• 1 tsp mustard oil
• 1 tsp lime juice

For Curry Sauce

• 2 tbsp red curry powder
• 4 to 6 whole red hot dry chili peppers
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper powder
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 inch lemongrass
• 5 green chili
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp Tamarind juice
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Black pepper
• 4 lb. chicken pieces or one whole chicken
• 1 inch stick of cinnamon
• 1 clove garcinia
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 medium red onion

Instructions

 

• If you are using frozen chicken thaw the meat and cut it into bigger pieces. Rinse with cold running water, drain well and pat dry. If you are using fresh whole chicken, remove the skin, rinse, well pat dry and cut into eight pieces (curry cut).
• Mix ingredients of marinade. rub it over chicken pieces and marinade overnight in the refrigerator.

Making curry seasoning

• Dry roast curry leaves and whole red peppers, set aside
• Pound together garlic, ginger, lemongrass, roasted curry leaves, green chili, roasted whole red chili and curry powders along with tamarind, tomato paste and vinegar to make a ball of curry paste or curry mix.

Making the curry

• Heat stainless steel stock pot on high and melt coconut oil.
• Working in batches seer or fry pieces of chicken in a couple of tablespoons of oil. Chicken pieces do not have to be cooked through, just until they firm up and become golden.
• Remove the chicken and add sliced red onion along with cinnamon stick and garcinia. Fry on medium low until golden on the edges.
• Return premade curry paste and mix around, followed by seared chicken. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes. there should be enough water released from the chicken to cook the dish at that point, but if you feel you don't add another cup and a half of water to cook the chicken.
• Cook covered until chicken is cooked through, and oil separates into curry.

Notes

Pieces of chicken cooked but firm not falling apart tender. It is usually cooked with just water and adding coconut milk is optional. curry sauce isn’t going to be thick and creamy in texture, but packs good heat and flowy.  As soon as the curry is done remove the piece of garcinia to keep the curry from becoming too sour. 

 

Keyword easy chicken curry, hot curry, spicy chicken curry, sri lankan chicken curry