Indian Takeaway - Chicken Pathia
This is our reproduction of the chicken pathia that we got at our local Indian takeaway in Edinburgh. It is a sweet/sour/hot curry. If you already have our curry base sauce on hand, this dish is very quick and easy to make - so easy that we've even made it while camping.
The striking red color is actually a powdered food dye, traditional in other British-Indian dishes such as tandoori. Ours is from a company in the UK called Preema. We still have some from Scotland (a little goes a long way!) and so haven't tried to find it here yet.
Starting with our curry base sauce, stirring just a little bit of the food coloring...
...changes the dish from a rusty orange color into a cherry red, almost matching our dutch oven's enamel.
Pathia has a cinnamon note that may seem overly sweet when it's first added to the dish, but is tempered into a flavorful mellowness by the twang of vinegar and the aggressive use of fresh cilantro. This curry is a good one for winning over those eaters somewhat leery of unfamiliar foods.
For other curries be sure to check out our Indian Takeaway Recipes page.
Serves four generously.
4 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped small
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1-2 teaspoons indian chilli powder
1 large bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (coriander)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon red coloring
Approx. 1/3 recipe Ubiquitous Curry Base Sauce
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 pound total), cut into 1 inch pieces
Chicken stock concentrate or cube (enough for 1 cup)
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add cumin, ground coriander, garlic, ginger, and onion. Cook while stirring until onions are wilted.
Add “Base Sauce,” chicken stock concentrate, cinnamon, vinegar, sugar and red coloring. Stir to mix. Add salt to taste, and chilli powder to get the spice level you want.
Add the chicken and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add a large handful of the cilantro to the pot and mix it in. Simmer for another 20 minutes.
Add another small handful of cilantro a few minutes before serving.
Serve with rice (plain Basmati or Pulao Rice) and flat-bread or tortillas.
45 comments:
I gave this a shot last night. it turned out pretty good. But I don't have Indian chili powder (A google search doesn't yield much either) So I used regular chili powder. I wasn't able to get the heat that yours has. So what the heck is Indian chili powder? I couldn't even find it on Penzeys.
I have two more portions of curry base in the freeze now so I can give it another shot later.
The main key is to make sure you are using "powdered chili" and not "chili powder", which is often chili blended with cumin and other spices.
For a while, we didn't have an Indian brand and found that cayenne is a pretty good substitute.
I too lived in Edinburgh for a while and my favourite dish by far was the chicken pathia from my local indian takeaway! I still remember the name of the place "Ujala - light out of darkness". I have tried to recreate a couple of times with limited success. I remember the dish was always deep red and glossy, but also spicy and sweet. Yours looks very similar so thank you I will give it a try.
Hi , need a recipe for basic curry base, any help gratefully recieved!
The Ubiquitous Curry Base Sauce that we mention in the pathia recipe above is our standard curry base.
Delicious recipe, not greasy like normal takeaway pathias. Cooked it tonight with ease and delight.
The only change I made was the lack of food colouring and honey, not sugar. I prefer to use sugar because of the added texture and flavour. Worked really well for me.
Thanks!
Notice the obvious mistake above!
I meant I prefer to use honey.
Apologies.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Honey sounds like an interesting twist - we'll have to give it a try.
Tried this last night & was very impressed. Easy to make & better than my locak takeaway's version. I also used the honey & it worked well. Thanks!
Hi Adam - thanks for letting us know how it turned out. We definitely need to try it using honey.
gonna try out the chicken pathia and rogan josh this week, how many people does this serve,, will let you know how it goes
I'd say each recipe serves four generously, maybe with a little left-over. Depends on how much rice and/or flat bread you eat with it. :-)
Made this on Thursday. It was amazing. Couldn't believe how close it tasted to a pathia in our local Indian. Easy to make and delicious!
Emma
Hi Emma - glad the recipe worked well for you!
Can I ask which Indian inspired you to make the recipe? I went to Edinburgh recently and had a Pathia for the first time ever at Ignite.. it was incredible! So I will definitely try this recipe!
Thanks!
Hi Pipp, I can't remember the exact place. It was over 10 years ago, and it probably isn't still there. It was either on Clerk/Newington or Causwayside.
Hi. I live in Edinburgh and love pathias. I use them to benchmark restuarants and take aways and also receipes. This is definitely the best receipe out there!!! Its great! Well done and thanks. I added the juice of half a lemon towards the end and was a subtle addition. Try it!! Thanks again. Will try the rogan josh next week!
Thanks Duncan - glad you liked it! Adding some lemon juice sounds nice - I'm looking forward to trying it.
Definitely give the Rogan Josh a go. Coincidentally, we just had it for dinner tonight. Good stuff.
Excellent recipe, even my kids, (aged 15 & 17), loved it and they usually hate my cooking.
Thanks.
Haydn
Hi Haydyn - glad the kids liked it!
Made this last night and it was fantastic, probably the best home made curry ive made and ive made a few, cheers.
Hi I am from Edinburgh and am making this Pathia with lamb instead of chicken as I type (it's that easy!) It smells amazing and I can't wait until it's done!! It looks quite watery at the moment but still go 10 mins to simmer hopefully it'll be okay ;-) thanks for this fantastic recipe I'll let you know how I get on!!!
We've never tried it with lamb, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be good.
Me again! The Lamb Pathia was amazing! I've certainly up'ed the benckmark of my cooking abilities at home and my Boyfriend will now be expecting the same standards to be maintained! He even said it was better than his favorite takeaway! Looks like curry is on the dinner menu forever! :-)
Made the above last night using mutton from my local Halal butcher. What can I say PERFECT!! PERFECT!! PERFECT!! PERFECT!!
This is as close to my local takeaway as I'm going to get. As I'm currently dieting I used significantly less oil with still good results.
Only 4 weight watchers points per portion, as opposed to about 15 points from the take away.
Tom - glad it worked for you. We definitely need to try it with lamb since it is turning out so well for people.
Going to make chicken pathia this weekend using your recipe cant wait. Im addicted to the one from the shop hope it tastes the same.
Made this with beef this weekend, it was amazing. I substituted beef tock for chicken stock and I also added some garam masala and lemon juice to the base. Thank you for the receipe!
Thank you so much for putting this recipe out.Made this last night and it tasted absolutely superb and is the most realistic home curry I have made (after trying and failing many times over the last couple of years) .EXCELLENT!!!!!. scott.
Heya, i'm going to be giving this a shot in the next couple of days and i was wondering if you got your colouring from a specific specialist shop in edinburgh?
We purchased the coloring from an asian supermarket in Leith. That was over 10 years ago, though...
JUst like to say thanks for this great recipe it's one of my favs from the take away . it is so very easy to make and tastes better the next day . Thanks again.
Cooking it as we speak :)Im living in Brisbane Australia and find decent Indian takeaways near impossile to find so thought Id have a go and try your recipe. Will let you know how it goes.....Well I hope because its the one dish that we really miss from the UK
I never made curry anything before & am getting ready to give this a shot. However I was curious, can I use pork instead of beef or chicken? And if so what kind of stock should I use
Hi Danny - we've never made a curry with pork, but I bet it would be just fine. As for stock, chicken stock would still work - we use chicken stock with pork in other dishes.
I moved from Birmingham, England to Melbourne, Australia 2 years ago and the on thing I miss is a good curry, especially my fave the chicken pathia. My partner and I have just made this and she has just gone to the local curry house to pick up a couple of naan breads. I can't wait to get stuck in. Thanks so much for the recipe - we'll tell you how we get on...
how many does this serve please?
Depends on the people, but I would say that it should serve four generously. I've updated the recipe with this information since the question has come up before.
thanks mate so do i still only add 1/3 of base sauce even for 4 people thanks
Yes - the base sauce makes enough for 3 good-sized curries.
And the verdict.... Delicious and just like I remember them tasting in Birmingham if not better. Thank you so much for the recipe Mike :)
Thanks for reporting back - glad you liked it!
If you use balsamic instead of white wine vinegar then you get a lovely red colour without having to use food colouring.
Mike,
Love the site - its nice to see someone who shares many of my foody loves.
I've got to agree on the takeaway curries here in Edinburgh - though not the best in the UK (Glasgow or Manchester) they are, as you put it, their own "genre" of food.
Love the Pathia recipe - it's almost identical to mine - only difference is I use a smooth Mango chutney to achieve the sweetness (a tip from the chef at my favourite Edinburgh Curry House - the Clay Oven)
Wish I had the time and money (and space - you'll remember the lack of it in Edinburgh City Centre!) to do the home smoking - your smoked pork butt literally has me salivating!
Cheers,
Stevie,
Edinburgh
Hi Stevie - glad you are enjoying the site. I like the idea of using mango as the sweetener.
You may not be able to do barbecue, but I certainly envy the fact that you can grab a takeaway curry anytime you like...
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