Mildly spiced and creamy, this slow cooker chicken pasanda, similar to a slow cooker korma, is easy to prepare and full of flavour. You’ll want to make it again and again!
What kind of curry is a pasanda?
Pasanda is an Indian curry dish containing cream, yoghurt or coconut milk and almonds.
The name means “liked” or “favourite” as this mild curry is popular with young and old alike. It is quite close in terms of spice to a chicken korma, one of the milder curries.
If you like chicken tikka masala, this is similar in taste but a bit milder.
Adapting pasanda for the slow cooker
As I wanted to make this mild chicken curry in my slow cooker, I swapped the cream or yoghurt normally used in the recipe for reduced-fat coconut milk, because cream or yoghurt can split, or curdle, in the slow cooker.
Dairy ingredients curdling is one of the few problems you can encounter when using a slow cooker.
Happily there are ways to avoid it, like here where I have used tinned coconut milk instead.
Another option to get around it is to only stir cream through at the end just before serving.
The coconut milk swap worked very well, producing a thick and creamy sauce when served. This is helped by the ground almonds and tomato puree, which act as thickeners too.
I make no claims as to the authenticity of my version of the chicken pasanda, but we all enjoyed the flavours, including the children!
It is also easy to adjust the level of spice in this recipe to suit your taste by reducing or increasing the amount of fresh chilli and chilli powder.
Taste the sauce as you prepare it (before adding the raw chicken) and remember that flavours normally become more muted by slow cooking.
You can add a dash more garam masala about half an hour before serving if needed.
Advantages of slow cooker curries
I love to make curries but the length of the list of ingredients and the number of steps can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen.
This slow cooker version is so simple because you can throw all of the ingredients into the slow cooker together if you are short on time, and still get great results.
For me, using the slow cooker to make curries is ideal, as you can forget about it for the rest of day while at work or out of the house.
Really popular with my family and also with my readers, this chicken pasanda curry is one I turn to over and over again as it always has great results.
It is also very tasty if you throw in some other vegetables – peas, baby corn and mushrooms work really well, and you can also bulk it up with sweet potato or butternut squash.
Ingredients needed
For the precise quantities please see the recipe card at the end of the post.
Remember, while the list looks quite long, a lot of the ingredients are store cupboard spices. Invest in small jars of these spices and you can use them in lots of different curry recipes in future. Dried spices last ages.
If you know you love curries and will use a lot of spices, you can look in the world food aisle at the supermarket where you can buy bigger bags of spices at bargain prices.
- chicken breasts
- onion
- red pepper
- optional: other vegetables such as mushrooms, baby corn, butternut squash chunks etc
- garlic cloves
- small piece of fresh ginger
- red chilli (or jarred “lazy” chilli)
- ground almonds
- 1 tin (400 g / 14 oz) reduced-fat coconut milk
- tomato purée
- spices: garam masala, ground turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, medium curry powder, chilli powder
- fresh coriander – to garnish.
Step by step instructions
Step 1. Prepare the ingredients: measure out the spices, dice the onion, crush the garlic, chop the ginger (if using fresh), chop any vegetables you want to include.
Step 2. Place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker (except the fresh coriander).
Step 3. Mix all the ingredients together well.
Then cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for approx. 6 hours.
Serve with rice and naan breads.
I like to use cauliflower rice to make this a low carb meal.
Tip:
If you have more time you could fry the onion in a little oil until soft, then add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute more, then add the spices and fry for 1-2 minutes more until fragrant, before putting it in the slow cooker and adding the coconut milk and ground almonds to the chicken.
If not, you still get plenty of flavour just putting all the ingredients in and leaving it to cook slowly.
Recipe swaps
- Swap chicken for Quorn pieces for a vegetarian version.
- Replace the chicken with lamb for a lamb pasanda.
- Adjust the spice level to suit you – mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl before adding it to the chicken and taste. You could add more or less red chilli and chilli powder depending on who you want to serve. Kids might want it less spicy, adults more so!
- To make this curry even more creamy you could stir through a little single cream before serving – make sure you do this off the heat though so the cream doesn’t curdle.
- Add in your preferred vegetables to bulk out the dish more and make it go further.
Sides
Basmati rice and mini coriander naans are our preference. I make my mini naans using this naan bread recipe.
Cauliflower rice is great for a lower carb option!
More curry recipes to try
For more tasty curry ideas, take a look at these other slow cooker curries:
- Slow cooker turkey curry
- Slow cooker lamb curry
- Slow cooker coconut beef curry
- Slow cooker chickpea and paneer curry
- Slow cooker vegetable curry
- Slow cooker coconut lentil curry from Recipes From a Pantry
Make sure you check out my Slow Cooker Category for loads more slow cooker recipes for families. Plus a whole loads of desserts!
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Recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Pasanda
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts cubed
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 cm piece of fresh ginger chopped, or 1 tsp jarred pickled "lazy" ginger
- 1 red chilli or 1 tsp jarred pickled "lazy" red chilli
- 30 g ground almonds
- 1 tin reduced-fat coconut milk
- 5 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1.5 tsp medium curry powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- fresh coriander leaves to garnish
Equipment
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients then place all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Stir well.
- Put on the slow cooker lid then cook for around 6 hours on low or 3-4 on high. I like to cook for the first hour on high to get it going well, then switch to low.
- Serve with rice and naan bread.
Notes
- Swap chicken for Quorn pieces for a vegetarian version.
- Replace the chicken with lamb for a lamb pasanda.
- Adjust the spice level to suit you - mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl before adding it to the chicken and taste. You could add more or less red chilli and chilli powder depending on who you want to serve. Kids might want it less spicy, adults more so!
- To make this curry even more creamy you could stir through a little single cream before serving - make sure you do this off the heat though so the cream doesn't curdle.
- Add in your preferred vegetables to bulk out the dish more and make it go further.
bill Smith says
This was so good i would give it 6 stars if I could. This was simply the best curry of my life ,it was that good.
I added 2 chilies for a bit more heat and used coconut cream rather than milk.
Perfect ammount and consistency in sauce it did not need cornstarch thickening.
Will make again for sure
bakingqueen74 says
brilliant to hear, Bill!
Kate says
I cooked this today and used skinless chicken thighs instead as i had no chicken breasts in. It is absolutely delicious and will definitely be makingnit again!
bakingqueen74 says
Brilliant so glad you enjoyed it Kate!
Richard says
Hi did you put the thighs in whole
bakingqueen74 says
H Richard, I am not sure what Kate did but you could either dice thigh fillets before making this or put them in whole.
Heidi Noble says
Thank you Lucy! First time cooking this dish. Something we could all enjoy and a definite winner with the kids! Will be on the menu again!
bakingqueen74 says
Brilliant Heidi so glad you enjoyed it
Aisling says
Hi Lucy,I am brand new to slow cooking! I would like to prepare this dish and leave it cooking while I am in work (probably 8.5hrs). If I use whole chicken breasts instead of diced is there less chance of the chicken drying out if it is left longer than the cook time of 6 hours? Thanks.
bakingqueen74 says
Hi Aisling. Chicken breasts whole can still dry out for that length of cooking time unfortunately! It might be better to use chicken thighs instead (you can choose the boneless skinless ones and dice the meat). As it has more fat in it than breast meat the thigh meat doesn’t dry out.
Ash Sage says
Hi, can this be reheated the next day? Or is it better to halve the quantities?
bakingqueen74 says
Hi Ash yes you can certainly reheat it the next day like any other curry. Store in fridge and reheat in microwave or saucepan, not the slow cooker though. I also freeze any leftovers that won’t be used for a quick meal another day.
Steve says
Hi, Can I use low fat yoghurt in the furry instead of coconut milk? Not sure if it will be okay in a slow cooker?!
bakingqueen74 says
Hi Steve, yoghurt tends to split in the slow cooker so would avoid it. I’ve used coconut milk instead for that reason. If you want to use yoghurt I would just stir it through at the end, but that might mean there isn’t much sauce during cooking.
Sarah Stevens says
This is such a lovely recipe which I tried last year……now I am wondering if you can tell me if it freezes well please? I am stocking up the freezer with homemade goodies ahead of the arrival of our first baby! 🙂
Thanks!
bakingqueen74 says
I’ve never frozen it Sarah I’m afraid. Not sure how coconut milk does in the freezer either, sorry!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
slow cookers are perfect for the long and gentle cooking that curries need. Lovely recipe.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Helen, I was so pleased this worked out despite being so easy
laura_howtocook says
I am a curry fanatic so of course this is calling to me. I love making curries for the family on a Saturday night, this would be perfect!
efwalt says
Ooooooh I do love a chicken pasanda. I’ve never tried recreating it at home though. Thanks for sharing.
bakingqueen74 says
thanks Emma!
Krati says
I haven’t used slow cooker before but looks like its time to try this recipe. Thanks Lucy for adding my recipe.
Anita-Clare Field says
Oh boy, can I learn a lot about slow cooker cooking from you. I love making curry from scratch and always in the oven or in a kadai. I’ll give it a go. I have an electric multicooker which has thus far proved its worth by not letting anything stick.
bakingqueen74 says
I am sure your usual way gets more flavour but why not try it for an experiment? 🙂
fabfood4all says
Looks fabulously tasty and just what you need on a squally day like today:-) Thanks for linking to my curry:-)
bakingqueen74 says
I wish I had had it today! Where has the warmer weather gone
Margot⚓C&V (@coffeenvanilla) says
That is just perfect recipe for today’s weather!! 🙂 And thank you for linking to my curry recipe.
bakingqueen74 says
You’re welcome Margot, always good to try lots of different curries
jensfood9 says
It has gone really cold lately but this looks like it would really warm you up again. I do like cooking curries but agree that sometimes the long ingredients list does put me off so I like this easier version, especially as the slow cooker does all the hard work 🙂
bakingqueen74 says
I am so lazy, the easy option always wins with me!
Andrea ThePetiteCook says
Thank you for featuring my coronation chicken recipe 🙂 I love the chicken + curry combo in every way and I can’t to try your recipe!!
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks very much Andrea 🙂
My Little Italian Kitchen says
This is a lovely recipe. I am not that familiar with cooking curries but I do love them! I made a few but without following a proper recipe so you can imagine.. they were not proper curries. I love this! Thank you for your recipe bookmarking it.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Alida