Hearty, succulent, tender chicken wings falling off the bone in a curry coconut gravy alongside warm roti and slightly spicy rice on a rainy evening? Such flavour pairings are intended to reach the core of your soul.

I would describe this combo as mysteriously sublime. Chicken curry is a winner on its own which explains why I was reluctant to add the coconut cream because I did not want to risk ruining the flavour profile I had already built. For this recipe, the risk was certainly rewarded.

I used chicken wings for this recipe, which I air-fried before stewing. I had no idea that chicken wings on their own b-e-l-o-n-g in stews. I did not have any other cut of chicken in my fridge, but after making this this chicken coconut curry using chicken wings, I do not vouch for any other cuts of chicken for this recipe.

This chicken coconut curry has a rich flavour profile, hence sides like roti and lightly spiced rice are essential to break it down perfectly. Certain meals are great once a week. This is one of those meals. It’s soooo good but have if you have it everyday, you won’t want to have it again for the next year. You’ll get what I am saying after making this chicken coconut curry.

Furthermore, this curry freezes really well, so if you make it in bulk and freeze it, it will regain the freshly cooked taste upon microwaving.

Recipe Notes

• Chicken: If not chicken wings, then chicken drumsticks or chicken thighs would be suitable substitutes but they won’t look as elegant.
• Air-frying the chicken: I chose to air-fry the chicken first, before stewing it. Did the crispiness disappear when the curry was cooking? Yes. Did the ‘restaurant fried chicken’ taste disappear? No. Is this a step I recommend skipping? Yes… if you are comfortable settling for level 4 not 10
• Coconut cream: This is undoubtedly the star of this recipe. Without it, this would just be chicken curry. It barely costs two dollars, but certainly creates a hundred dollar flavour profile.
• Tomato paste: I chose not use canned tomatoes or grated tomatoes because balancing the acidity of tinned tomatoes alongside merging the curry and coconut flavours would be a task that can easily fail to hit the spot.
• Chicken stock powder: Ever since I discovered chicken stock powder, I have been preferentially using it over chicken broth because in my opinion, it has a slight upper hand over chicken broth and is ideal if you are not confident balancing flavours especially for stews. Good thing is I would have already done that for you lol!
• Curry Powder: I don’t like screaming while eating , therefore, I used mild curry powder. If your tastebuds immune are immune to adversity, go ahead and use the curry powder that ordinarily makes sensible human beings scream.