Pineapple chicken curry is a delicious dish using Indian masala that goes well with both white rice & rotis or even homemade balloon bread. Serve along with a light salad for lunch or dinner and you have a great meal!
Growing up and even now, Mom is the main cook at home, but that being said; Dad is a good cook too! This delicious Pineapple Chicken Curry is a dish that Dad often cooks and we always call it his favourite. Salads made with oodles of lime and salt are also dad’s favorite thing to make. He is also the official egg burji maker at home, and he taught us how to shape carambolas like starfruit.
But back to chicken. Dad’s homemade pineapple chicken curry is so yum, it’s tangy and sweet and spicy at the same time! So if you are looking to cook something different and yet tasty, try my Dad’s Pineapple Chicken curry recipe and let us know how it turned out…
What Ingredients Do You Need For Pineapple Chicken?
The ingredients you need are pineapple, chicken, red chilies, onions, green chilis, garlic & ginger. Spices are cardamom pods, garam masala, turmeric powder, cinnamon sticks, lime juice, pepper & salt. Oil to cook and jaggery for sweetness and water too.
You can use tinned pineapple as well. Dad used to when we were young, but now because of his diabetes, we stick to fresh pineapple.
How To Cook Pineapple Chicken Curry?
To start making the pineapple chicken with Indian masala, you start by keeping all your vegetables and spices ready around you. This is because we throw things into the kadai pretty quickly, and you don’t have too much time to cut everything while cooking.
You can watch the summary video above if you want to, but it’s good to read through the steps afterward.
Soak the dried red chilies in water for a little while. Slice the onions fine; and slice the green chilies and garlic into strips. Do the same for the red chilies.
Either chop the ginger into fine pieces or decimate it with a knife! Then dice the pineapple into cubes about an inch in size.
Once you have all your ingredients ready, start by heating oil in a kadai. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced onions, green chilies, garlic, and red chilies to the kadai and allow to cook for a few minutes.
Next, add in the jaggery and mix well followed by the chopped ginger.
After the ginger has cooked for two minutes, add the spices – garam masala, pepper powder, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and turmeric powder.
Mix the spices well and add in the diced pineapple pieces and stir it for a minute. Once this is done, add in the chicken pieces and mix well for a few minutes. See how dad muscles it in the video near the start. 😉
Once the chicken is fully coated with the masala, add 750 ml of water and about 2 tbsp of sour lime juice or 3 tbsp of lemon juice. Allow the chicken to cook for about 20 minutes on a medium to high flame. Stir occasionally while it is boiling.
As the chicken cooks and the flavours develop, you will notice the curry getting a bit browner and the quantity of the gravy also reduces a bit.
Test a piece if you need to. Otherwise, we just usually assume that the chicken is ready after the next 20 minutes. And that’s it, this tasty and tangy pineapple chicken curry is ready to serve!
Cooking Tips & Tricks
- Soak the dried red chilies in water for a while before cutting them.
- You can use tinned pineapple in place of fresh pineapple. If you do this, skip the jaggery and add a bit of the water from the pineapple can. This will add a hint of sweetness to the dish.
- It’s either 2 tbsp of sour lime juice or 3 tbsp of lemon juice.
- We use both small and big cardamom pods.
- We used chicken with skin because my sis and mom love eating the skin. But you can use skinless chicken if you want to.
- You might also like these recipes for pineapple chicken roast, mustard chicken or mustard leaf chicken.
FAQs About Pineapple Chicken
Pineapple Chicken Curry can be stored in a refrigerator in a covered vessel for 3 to 4 days or in a freezer in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
Pineapple chicken curry has a sweet, tangy, and spicy flavour. It’s sort of an all-in-one thing.
Serve the pineapple chicken curry with plain white rice, fugiyas, Indian donut bread, or even ladi pav. It also goes well with kachumber salad, or green tomato salad. If you want to follow it up with an Indian dessert, try the doodhi halwa or carrot halwa.
Other Recipes You May Like
- Mutton Curry With Bottle Gourd
- Stuffing made of Chicken Liver (Giblet)
- How To Fry Mudskippers – निवटी फ्राय
- Whole Stuffed Roast Chicken
- Chicken Potha
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Pineapple Chicken Curry – Dad’s recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoon Oil Any
- 6 Onions Sliced
- 4 Green Chilies Sliced
- 6 Garlic Cloves Sliced
- 2 Dried Red Chillies Sliced
- 2 inch Ginger chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon Jaggery
- 1 Pineapple whole (or 1 large tin)
- 2 Tablespoon Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Pepper Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon Sticks (Dalchini) in Pieces
- 3 Black Cardamom Pods (Moti Elaichi) Big
- 8 Green Cardamon Pods (Choti Elaichi) Small
- 1.5 Kilogram Chicken Pieces
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 750 ml Water
- 2 Tablespoon Sour lime juice Or 3 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Soak the dried red chilies in water for a few minutes.
- Slice the onions, green chilies, garlic, and red chilies into strips.
- Finely chop the ginger and dice the pineapple into pieces.
- Heat oil in a kadai and then add the sliced onions, chilies, garlic and cook for a minute. Add the jaggery and cook for a minute. Add the ginger and cook for another minute or two.
- Finally, add the other spices to the vessel and mix well. Then add the diced pineapple pieces and mix well.
- Follow this with the chicken pieces and again mix them well. (See how my dad did it in the video in the post.)
- Finally, add water and allow this to cook on a medium to high flame for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken is done.
- And your yummy pineapple chicken curry is ready! Serve with pav, roti, rice, or any other form of bread.
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Notes
- Soak the dried red chilies in water for a while before cutting them.
- You can use tinned pineapple instead of fresh pineapple, but if you do this, skip the jaggery as the water from the pineapple can add sweetness.
- We use both small and big cardamom pods.
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Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
