Like your curries sweet, sour and mildly spiced? Try this chicken pathia!
Chicken pathia is a UK original! It was developed first by Bangladeshi chefs at British curry houses in an attempt to compete with the hugely popular sweet and sour chicken that was becoming popular at Chinese takeaways.
Chicken pathia most definitely got the result they were looking for and now it is difficult to find a curry house menu that doesn’t feature this delicious curry.
Like it sweet, sour and a bit spicy. You are going to love this one!
Chicken pathia… What flavour to aim for…
If you are thinking about making this restaurant style chicken pathia, you probably already know that it is a delicious combination of sweet and sour.
In this case, the sweetness comes from the sugar and mango chutney. The sourness is from the lemon juice and tamarind.
There is also a hint of spiciness from the chilli powder.
All of these flavours can be adjusted to taste by adding less or more of each.
I love this chicken pathia recipe exactly as written but feel free to adjust the recipe to your own preferences. You’ll like it much better then.
The difference between this chicken pathia and the one in my cookbook ‘The Curry Guy Bible’.
No much!
In my cookbooks, my curry house curry recipe serve four people.
On my blog, I have written them in curry house portions to serve one to two people.
Recipe ingredient substitutes for chicken pathia…
Chicken pathia is hugely popular at restaurant but so are other variations.
You might like to add tandoori prawns to the sauce instead of chicken to make a prawn patia. Lamb, vegetable kofta, paneer, beef… All of these will work.
About the prepared ingredients…
This is a curry house recipe and in order to get those right, you need to use a base sauce. Here is one of my recipes.
It takes about an hour to make but don’t let that stop you! A large batch of base curry sauce is enough for about 30 portions. It freezes really well.
This comes in really handy when you want a curry house style chicken pathia or any of the other famous curries. Once your prep work is done, this chicken pathia can be whipped up in minutes.
Pre-cooked meat and/or vegetables is also good to have on hand. Not only does it speed up the cooking process, it also adds another layer of delicious flavour.
Working ahead…
Indian restaurant curries like this chicken pathia usually include a lot of ingredients.
I recommend getting all of your ingredients ready.
This saves having to look for essential ingredients while cooking.
So easy to make! You really can recreate the most popular curry house curries at home!
Would you like to see step by step photos of how to make chicken pathia?
Here you go…
Fry the chopped onion until soft and translucent.
Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and fry for about 30 seconds.
Add the ground spices and sugar to the pan.
Add the tomato puree and give it all a good stir.
Add the base sauce and bring it to a simmer.
Stir in the pre-cooked chicken.
add the tamarind, mango chutney and dried fenugreek.
Add the lemon juice. Then a little red food colouring if preferred. This adds no flavour. Then garnish with chopped coriander (cilantro).
International & UK Orders
Here are some more curry house favourites you might like to try!
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Korma
Chicken Madras
Chicken Dhansak
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb Vindaloo
Chicken Chilli Garlic
Lamb Bhuna
Dig in!
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. The above nutritional info is done with a program and is just an estimate. How to Make Chicken Patia Curry - A Sweet And Sour Curry House Favourite
Ingredients
Instructions
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 257Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 471mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 4gSugar: 12gProtein: 13g
Fantastic curry recipes the whole family and friends really enjoy them, how do I make the madras hotter as for Vindaloo or Phall. Keep up the good work and thank you. Jenny
Thanks, this is my favorite. I have looked for this recipe for years. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you Kevin.
Hope you like the recipe. It is a real hit at my house. Thanks!
Dan
From what I understand, patia is an authentic Parsee dish, but uses seafood not chicken. So it could be made with prawns, or fish.
I think it’s just the idea to use same kind of sauce for chicken and other meats that is a BIR thing.
Though I’d imagine the base recipe has changed somewhat too.
But patia per se is not completely a BIR thing.
(PS Came here via a link on pinterest)
Hi Kavey
Thanks for stopping by and that’s news to me. Thanks for letting me know. Do you have a link I can go to so that I can read about fish patia being authentic Indian? 🙂
Having moved to Australia 6 years ago, we have tried everywhere here to find a decent tasting curry but to no avail, until i came across your website, i was blown away at how tasty this dish is, just like the curries we have back in the UK.Thank you so much for your recipes.Easy to follow and very very tasty…
Hi Steve
Really glad you liked my recipe! Thank you very much for giving it a try. I’ve got loads more recipes on the way so please don’t be a stranger. 🙂
Sounds delicious! Do you think this would work with paneer or quorn pieces to make it veggie?
It is nice. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I think potatoes, quorn and/or paneer would work very well with this recipe.
Not sure what I did wrong but looked too dark and thick and tasted much too “rich”. Wondered if I’d added too much cumin or was it the wrong curry powder (medium)? It’s my favourite take-away curry so hope you can help. Thanks
Hi Yvonee
If you use a store bought curry powder, you won’t get great results. Try using my homemade version in the larder cupboard section of my site.
ok so iv never cooked indian before and i love chicken pathia , iv gone out and got all the ingredients as above , will let ya know how it goes
Great Jon. Good luck to you. Be sure to ask if you have any questions.
Dan
Hi Dan, just did your garlic chilli chicken and it was spot on. Looking to do a patia next. Just for clarification is the mint sauce you refer to the same mint sauce that you would traditionaly use with roast lamb ? Regards Dave
That’s the one Dave. I use Colemans but any good brand will do. Sometimes in Summer I make my own.
Good luck with the recipe.
Dan
Dan, this is by far the best patia recipe i’ve come across so far. Easy to make and very tasty, the missus preferred it to our local curry house and theirs is very good. well done mate, looking forward to trying a few more of your recipes.
Roy
Thank you very much Roy. Really glad you liked the recipe.
I have been looking for this receipe for ages, will give it a go this weekend.
Thanks for sharing, pathia is my FAV!
Hi Dan,
Before diving in with both feet first to make what looks to be a superb dish, a quick question on the Mint Sauce used.
Do you mean Mint Concentrate (e.g. Colemans), Mint Sauce (e.g. Colemans that you have with your lamb roast) or the Mint Sauce put out with the pickles and poppadums?
Already made your curry base and it works a treat.
Many thanks,
Mike
Hi Mike. Gosh – I didn’t know there are so many. LOL. I just use Colemans mint sauce – the same you use for lamb roast. That’s what most Indian restaurant chefs use too. 🙂
Thanks.
Dan
Dan and Mike
I used the Colmans mint concentrate. I was very unsure about putting mint sauce in the curry at all so I only used one tablespoon. Even that quantity was quite over powering so I added two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar instead of any more mint sauce. After that the curry did turn out excellent. The next time I am going to start with apple cider vinegar and maybe add the mint concentrate. I have had lots of BIR Pathias and none of them have the unusual taste the mint gives it.
Thank you for the recipe Dan it is very good overall. I am now living in Phoenix, Arizona and it is nice to know I have a good source of reipces. Our local Indian restruarants are beyond cr*p and could learn a thing or two from your website.
Hi Dan,
I have been trying to perfect the wonderful patia for quite some time now. I have experimented with tamarind as I thought it was a compulsory ingredient for the patia recipe. I have also tried the lemon and vinegar alternatives too to try and capture the sweet and sour element. However, I am so so so excited about the recipe you have shared as patia is my all time favourite Indian curry and cooking Indian style curries is my all time favourite hobby.Can’t wait to give it a go.
Thanks again x
Hi Susan
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Hope you like the recipe. It’s a bit hit at my house.
Dan
Hi dan I am in the middle of making the pathia and have doubled the ingredients as I am cooking for 9 tonight. As I have doubled the ingredients I only added 4 tbsp of mint sauce and I have tried it and that is all I can taste when I taste thr sauce. Do you have any suggestions to fix this or is it supposed to taste really minty ?? Thanks
Hi Becky
I think I’m a bit late answering but you could just add a little more of the other sauce ingredients. Mint sauce is quite strong when you add it because of the vinegar. If you cooked it a few minutes, the strong flavour may go away on its own.
Thanks
Dan
Hi dan. Just asking about the curry gravy. Is it the one from local supermarkets like the chip shop curry sauce or is it something that you get from a special shop.
Hi Kim
It’s a recipe used in a lot of curry houses to make curries faster and better. It really isn’t for sale though I do have a couple of recipes on my site.
Thanks
Dan
Awesome will be trying this as soon as I’m back from my visit to the usa, I always order lamb pathia, tried getting one here in the states but no one has heard of it 🙁
Hi Dan
Pathia is a British invention so you won’t find it many places in the states. Hope you do get a chance to try the recipe.
Dan
Hi Dan,
Any reason why the tablespoon of tomato paste is not included in the patia sauce here but in the ebook version it is? I love this sauce by the way!
Darren
Wonderful. I haven’t had one of these for almost 20 years, since I moved away from the UK. It turned out beautifully. Thanks Dan.
Thank you Mark. Really glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
Dan
Hi Dan,
Just wonder when you say this:
5.Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir, allowing to sizzle for about 45 seconds.
6.Now add the chilli powder, cumin and coriander and fry for a further 30 seconds.:
Is this inclusive of having a curry base on hand?
Hi Kev
You need to have the curry sauce ready to go and heated. The recipe is on my site. Happy cooking and good luck.
Dan
This has been my favourite curry for years, after trying it at the Curry Garden in Ringwood. It’s always been hard to find it quite the same at other restaurants 🙁 Then I found this recipe and started tweaking – fresh (or frozen) mango instead of the mango chutney; tomato puree instead of the ketchup, and apple cider vinegar and some dried mint instead of the mint sauce. I also threw in some fresh tomatoes near the end. It was very close to how I remembered but not sweet enough so I used some (quite a lot of!) erithrytol and that was it – just as I remembered it 🙂 Stevia would work too, as does jaggery or maple syrup, depending on just how healthy you want it to be 🙂
Hi Garry
Nice to see you can adjust it all to your own tastes. Sounds like you did a great job of it.
Dan
Hi Dan. Loving your recipes ,made 3 in a week!
Was just wondering, I made patia and jalfrezi, and as much as I liked them my wife found them a little too sweet for her liking, is there any of the ingredients that I should reduce to take the sweetness away a bit? I’m guessing the mango chutney, but your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Neil
Hi Dan
Just curious before I try this. The recipe seems like it makes a lot of sauce. For example, there is approx 500 ml in the patia sauce plus a further 500 ml of base gravy. Seems like a lot of liquid over 1 litre, assume this is correct?
Thanks
Dave
I love this recipe. I found you site whist searching for a Pathia recipe. I have since bought your app for the iPad, but is it possible to add this recipe to the app. Cheers
David
Hi David
Thank you. Yes, I am planning on doing that. The thing is, I need to remake it and take new step by step photographs for the app. I am hoping to do so soon.
Thanks
Dan
Can you use tandoori style chicken instead of pre-cooked chicken for this recipe?
thanks
Hi Ross
You sure can. It would be really good.
Thanks,
Dan
I just cooked it, and it was amazing. 5 stars
Great to hear Ross.
Thank you.
Dan
Dan thank you My wife and I tried your recipe for the pathia and it was bang on could not believe it superb…chicken tikka is
The next one on the list we bought one of your books thanks again Dan
Hi Neil
That’s great to hear! Thank you very much.
Dan
Hi Dan what is the mixed spices mate ?
You can buy mixed powder in all Asian food stores and here is my recipe if you want to make it
https://greatcurryrecipes.net/2020/04/26/mixed-powder/
Thanks
Dan
Is the mint sauce TABLESPOONS? Put 3 in an was still quite strong. Had to put a bit of sugar in to balance it a bit
Hi Rob
Please use my recipes as guides as we all have different tastes. Sounds like you did in this case which is great!
Thanks,
Dan
Is there a huge difference between pathia and chasni? Could I add mint sauce to the pathia or would you avoid that ?
There are just some subtle differences if you look at the recipes but yes you could definitely add mint sauce to pathia if you like the sound of that. I usually say if it sounds good it probably tastes good!
Thanks
Dan