Cooking For A Crowd – Simple Chicken Curry Recipe

Cooking For A Crowd – Simple Chicken Curry Recipe

If you're cooking for a large crowd or a small family gathering and want to serve something delicious and memorable, this chicken bhuna recipe is the perfect choice. Known for its bold flavours and thick, aromatic sauce, chicken bhuna is a crowd-pleaser that pairs beautifully with rice, naan, or flatbreads. The dish is made by slow-cooking chicken in a blend of spices, onions, and tomatoes, creating a rich, flavourful, and healthy chicken curry that gets better with every bite. These ingredients make enough for 35 people, but this recipe is scalable for smaller or larger portions and allows you to prepare a hearty, satisfying meal without sacrificing taste or quality, making it ideal for gatherings and parties.

Top Tips on Cooking Curry for a Crowd 

• To scale up a recipe, you don't need to increase everything by as much as you think, especially the liquid element of the recipe. If you are multiplying the recipe by 5, you will not need 5 times the liquid. Make sure to be careful adding especially flavourful spices like chilli or garlic – don't overdo it!
• Ginger and garlic quantities should be roughly equal in a curry.
• If you put too much spice in your recipe, you can balance this out at the end of cooking by adding lemon juice.
• During your curry cooking, frozen, pre-chopped vegetables and spices such as onions, ginger, and garlic can also be a great way to cut down on prep time if you are cooking curry for a party or a large number of people
• Buy or borrow a rice cooker which takes the stress away and serves perfectly cooked, fluffy rice.
• See below for an easy and inexpensive curry recipe for 35 people!

Simple Chicken Curry Recipe For A Crowd

Chicken Bhuna ingredients for 35 people

• 3 tablespoons oil (check out the best oil for curry here)
• 5 onions, finely chopped (here is how to cook onions for curry)
• 12 fat garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
• 150g ginger, grated
• 3-4 tins chopped tomatoes
• 100-120g Bhuna Spice Pots 
• 5-6kg chicken breasts, chopped into fairly large chunks
• 6 teaspoons salt
• Spinach, a handful
• For garnish, coriander and chopped fresh chillies 

Taste tip: If you prefer your chicken curry milder or hotter, substitute the Bhuna spice blend with another Spice Pots blend from our range!

Simple Chicken Bhuna Recipe

1. Heat the oil then cook the onions until softened and browning for around 10 minutes.
2. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.  
3. Add the tomatoes and simmer until the tomatoes are reduced to a thick paste.
4. Add the Bhuna spice mix and cook for a minute, stirring.
5. Add the chicken and salt, mixing well to combine. 
6. Add 350ml of water and with the lid on, let it simmer gently until the chicken is soft and tender, about 20-30 minutes.  
7. Just before serving, swirl in some spinach and let it wilt – if making ahead of time, omit adding the spinach until the day of serving. 
8. Then garnish with fresh coriander and chopped chillies and Mint and Coriander Raita on the side.  
9. Serve with naan bread or with our easy flatbread recipe.

If you have any questions about our easy meals for large gatherings, feel free to get in touch with us at info@spicepots.com. Alternatively, check out more of our tips on making a better and easier homemade curry.

If you’re cooking for a meat-free or dairy-free crowd, why not take a look at our Simple Vegan Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry recipe. We have even more recipes to suit anyone's taste – check them out on our recipes page.