Yogurt Chicken Curry Recipe | ChefDeHome.com (2024)

FAQs

What does adding yogurt to curry do? ›

It's common practice in India to add yogurt to Indian cooking. People add it to curry to balance the spices and lighten the dish. It can also make thick curry, a thin. Hence, it can really elevate the flavors of the dish.

If your supermarket has a brand of dahi or Greek yogurt then use that in curries. Tangy creamy yogurt is the best in Indian cuisine.

Yogurt. Like heavy cream and half and half, higher fat plain yogurts of all types could also substitute coconut milk for the color and a similarly smooth and creamy texture. Because yogurt has a lower fat content than coconut milk, the consistency could be slightly thinner with the 1:1 substitution ratio.

I normally go for single or double cream. On this occasion, out of cream, I went for greek yoghurt which was not bad. Pretty tasty in fact, but I still wish I had cream. I think you can just about get away with a full-fat natural or greek yoghurt in a Korma.

​Temper the yogurt

A smart trick to avoid yogurt from curdling is to add a smart portion of gravy to the yogurt and whisk it in. This act is called 'Tempering'. Further, you can add the tempered curd to the hot gravy/curry. It enables a slow rise in temperature, thus preventing curdling.

A thick yogurt, like Greek yogurt, works best. Simply add a small amount of yogurt, like a spoonful, at a time. Stir your yogurt into the curry and keep adding a little more at a time until it reaches your desired thickness. This is great for Indian-style curries as a cream substitute.

If you don't have fenugreek (or you have added some bit it still isn't enough) you could try to add more curry spices like cumin, coriander, and mustard and try to overpower the yogurt taste.

02/6​​Why curd curdles when added to curry? ​ Curd is usually added to delicacies to accentuate the taste and add a creamy punch, but adding it to spicy, acidic or hot curries can immediately react with the milk fats and ruin the texture, and lead to curdling up of curd.

In most cases, plain yogurt or Greek yogurt can be used in place of sour cream—and vice versa. Sour cream will give you a similar texture and tanginess, and swapping sour cream for yogurt is a simple 1-to-1 ratio.

If you prefer to go the coconut-free route (or if you don't have coconut shreds, cream, oil, water, or butter on hand), you can use plain old milk — whichever kind you prefer. Whatever you're making won't have the same flavor as it would with coconut, which may make things like curries taste a little flat.

How to thicken a curry? ›

Typically, yoghurt is added to curry near the end of cooking to prevent it from curdling. You will want to add the yoghurt slowly and whisk it into the curry until it is fully incorporated. Once you have added the yoghurt, you should not let the curry boil, as this can cause the yoghurt to curdle.

Natural yogurt works well as a milk alternative in some curry dishes, for example, while thicker yogurts like Arla Skyr can be tasty, healthier alternatives to sour cream thanks to their tangy flavour.

A curry can be sweetened by adding honey, syrup, or sugar. These ingredients add flavour and balance to a sour or bitter curry. Add around one tablespoon of either ingredient to your curry while cooking and taste. Continue to slowly add syrup, honey, or sugar to the dish until a sweet flavour is achieved.

What do you do when you accidentally add too much heat to a fiery curry or spicy rigatoni? First, don't panic! Our heat-producing substance capsaicin loves to dissolve in fats and bind to the dairy milk protein called casein. Milk and yogurt make this possible.

Yogurt can be used to thicken sauces much like heavy cream. You will need to add some starch to keep it from curdling because yogurt lacks the fat of heavy cream. Whisk in two teaspoons of cornstarch or one tablespoon of flour for one cup of yogurt before adding it to hot liquids.

Yogurt in sauces and hot dishes

There is one hurdle to overcome: yogurt forms small, annoying lumps when it is cooked and this makes sauce look curdled. Proteins are already fragile due to the presence of lactic acid in the yogurt. They begin to clump together and form lumps when exposed to heat.