This Apricot Chicken Curry Casserole is comfort food at its best! Rich, hearty, gently spicy and packed with delicate curry flavour and juicy apricots. This is a twist on apricot chicken and chicken curry, and one I personally love for three simple reasons:
- Its oven baked, with simple ingredients, and takes minimal effort to put together.
- Its both winter and summer food in one
- It makes awesome leftovers and tastes just as good the next day
This is actually a pretty simple curry recipe that uses many pantry staples. Just 10 ingredients, and then you choice of side – my favourite options are listed above the recipe.
Ingredients
- Skinless Chicken Thigh
- Smoked Paprika
- Sweet Paprika
- Plain flour
- Canola oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Indian Korma curry paste
- Chicken Stock/Broth
- Canned Apricot halves in natural juice
Can You Use Fresh Apricots
I wouldn’t recommend fresh apricots as they are generally to firm, and even after cooking still don’t soften up enough. Canned apricots hold their shape even whilst cooking and are available all year round. And, really there just much easier to work with – less preparation and mess.
Curry Paste
In this recipe I used Korma Curry paste as it has a nice mild flavour that works well with the smoked and sweet paprika and doesn’t overpower the apricots. I’ve experimented with a couple of other Indian curry pastes but Korma is definitely my favourite for Apricot Curry Chicken.
Recipe Tips
- I would avoid using chicken breast in this recipe as it will probably dry out too much in the oven. Chicken thigh is better as it stays moist when oven baked.
- Don’t skip the browning of the chicken as this locks in the flavour to the meat and… it just tastes nicer!
- The sweet and smoked paprika add a great richness to the dish, but if you don’t have these you could use any other spice combinations you like.
- The casserole dish must be covered while baking the oven to prevent the meat drying out. If you’re baking dish doesn’t have a lid, cover the dish with foil, making sure to properly seal all sides.
- The amount of curry paste in this recipe makes this what I would consider to be a mild-medium curry. It’s a bit spicy and has a good hit of flavour. Adjust the amount of paste if you like your curry less spicy or more spicy.
- This dish freezes really well. Store in portion controlled containers in the freezer and eat within 6 weeks.
Other Curry Recipes You Might Like:
- Thai Pineapple Chicken Curry
- Tender and Juicy Slow Cooker Beef Korma
- Made From Scratch Clean Butter Chicken
- Authentic Green Thai Beef Curry
- All Curry Recipes
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to enjoy this easy, flavour packed, spice laden treasure bomb. If you’ve thought for longer than 5 seconds about this combination of apricot chicken and chicken curry, its time to put it on your dinner list! Here are a few of my favourite ways to devour this rich fruity curry dish!
- With Cous Cous (Pearl/Isralei/Wholemeal/Instant)
- With good old fashioned mashed white potato
- With slightly healthier mashed sweet potato
- With brown rice
- Crusty garlic bread
- With a bunch of greens if you’re feeling so inclined (beans, zucchini, peas, broccoli)
- Keep it low carb with cauliflower rice
This Apricot Chicken Curry really is an easy dish to make. Its packed full of flavour and you can use any Indian Korma paste you can get your hands on. 10 to 15 minutes of prep, then into the oven and its cooks itself.
Apricot Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 600 grams or 1.3 lb. Chicken Thigh (Note 2)
- 2 teaspoons Smoked Paprika
- 2 teaspoons Sweet Paprika
- ¼ cup Plain flour
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 medium brown onion
- 1 tablespoon Garlic (crushed)
- 3 tablespoons Korma curry paste (Note 1)
- 1 cup / 250ml Chicken Stock
- 410 gram can / 14.5 oz. Apricot halves in natural juice (I use the brand Ardona)
To Serve
- 100 grams / 3.5 oz. Pearl Cous Cous
Instructions
- Place the chicken thighs, sweet and smoked paprika and plain flour into a plastic bag to coat. Shake well.
- Remove from plastic bag and shake off excess flour.
- Heat a pan to high and add canola oil. Gently brown the chicken thighs and place into an oven proof baking dish that has a lid, or alternatively you can use foil to cover.
- In the same pan, add the onion and garlic and cook until for a minute, stirring with a spatula, then add the curry paste. Stir to mix in together.
- Next, add the chicken stock and stir to combine. Take off the heat just before it bubbles.
- Add the curry sauce to the casserole dish and thoroughly coat the chicken. Use a spoon to move the curry sauce around so its gets in between the chicken pieces.
- Drain the apricots and place them on top of the curry and chicken. Use a spoon to drizzle over some curry sauce , however they don't need to be completely covered in sauce.
- Cook in a moderate fan oven at 180 degrees C [350 degrees F] for 50 minutes. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.
To Serve
- Make the pearl cous cous according to packet directions. Divide apricot chicken and cous cous evenly between 4 plates to serve. OPTIONAL: mix in some additional fresh chopped shallot/spring onion and or dried shallots into the cous cous.
Notes
- The amount of curry paste in this recipe makes this what I would consider to be a mild-medium curry. It’s a bit spicy and has a good hit of flavour. Adjust the amount of paste if you like your curry less spicy or more spicy.
- My preference is for chicken thigh in this recipe, rather than chicken breast as the small amount of fat on the thighs help to keep the meat more moist and tender, whereas the chicken may more easily dry out with the long cooking time
- This dish also freezes well and is great to make ahead on the weekend, packaged up into meal sized portions for easy weeknight dinners.
- The sugars in this recipe come from the natural sugars contained in the apricots.
10/10 dish. So tasty, easy and fast. Absolute winner.
Thanks Kat! So glad you liked it.