This restaurant style chicken chasni can be cooked completely in your air fryer!
You are going to love this air fryer chicken chasni recipe! Air fryers are becoming very popular these days but there is so much more you can do with these small and efficient ovens than just air fry fish n chips!
I have been experimenting a lot lately to see how many of my recipes you can cook in an air fryer. This air fryer chicken chasni is proof that you really can cook a curry in them. ous curry house style curry. You will need a small cake tin or another metal pot that fits into the cooking chamber of your air fryer.
About this air fryer chicken chasni recipe.
If you are like most people, you might have purchased your air fryer as a way of frying things that normally need to be deep fried. That’s why I got mine.
I didn’t want to stop there though. I had a good idea that you can cook a curry in them and this air fryer chicken chasni is proof that they can be. Of course air fryers, like most methods of cooking have their limitations but follow the recipe below and you will see that cooking a curry is not one of them.
The information you find below will demonstrate how you can use your eco friendly air fryer to make this amazing chicken chasni completely in your air fryer. I bet you can’t taste the difference between this and more traditional ways of cook the curry!
Even if you can, you will still love this air fryer version.
Working ahead.
You can prepare this air fryer chicken chasni up to 3 days before serving. As it sits in the fridge, the flavours will develop and it will be even better when you serve it.
Feel free also to work in stages. Air fry the onions, bell pepper and garlic and ginger paste and place it in the fridge until you are ready to complete the curry, for example.
Other things you might like to do is blend the sauce or precook the chicken. Air fryers make it easy to work in a way that is convenient for you.
Although the recipe calls for raw chicken that is then cooked in your air fryer, I like to use air fryer tandoori chicken tikka for this recipe. That too can be cooked ahead of time. Your tandoori chicken can be stored in the fridge for up to three days and it freezes well for up to 6 months.
What pan do you need to make this curry?
All you need is a metal cake tin or another metal pan that fits into the cooking basket of your air fryer.
Small cake tins are already popular accessories for air frying casseroles and stews. I use this one <– Affiliate link, which comes in several sizes.
For my air fryer I use a 7 inch diameter pan but you will want to measure your basket before placing an order.
You can use any metal pan though as long as it fits into your air fryer basket.
Although silicone pans have their air fryer uses, I don’t recommend them for cooking curries as they don’t get hot enough and it will mean needing to cook the curry much longer.
Can this chasni be made in any air fryer?
Although I have personally tested quite a few, there are some air fryers that may not be large enough to cook a curry. Most can though.
I have a Ninja Foodie FledDrawer Air Fryer (<– Affiliate Link) which works perfectly for this style of air frying. It has two cooking chambers so you can air fry two different things at once which greatly reduces the cooking time.
I have used smaller air fryers with fantastic success. The cooking time below is for an air fryer with a single cooking chamber so if you have two or more, you will be able to cook these curries faster.
Safety Notice.
Air fryers were not developed to cook curries, soups and stews. You should never heat only water or stock in an air fryer.
As the liquid comes to a simmer, it can splatter and also steam. This can ruin your air fryer and/or make a mess. It can also be a fire hazard.
This air fryer chicken chasni recipe was developed with this in mind. You don’t need a lot of sauce for a curry that serves 1 to 2 people.
Heat the sauce for 10 minutes. It will probably still not be boiling hot and spitting. Keep a close eye on it though as you continue to cook. If the curry begins to steam heavily or spit, cover it tightly with foil or a lid to finish cooking.
How long can you store this air fryer chicken chasni in the fridge?
You should be able to safely store this curry, covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
If you have a reheat option on your air fryer, you can reheat the curry that way. You could also simply air fry again at about 200°C/400°F until hot. That or throw it in your microwave.
Can you freeze this curry?
Yes and it will freeze well for up to 3 months.
To reheat it, just let it defrost and reheat as you would the refrigerated curry above.
Step by step photographs.
Get all your ingredients prepared and at the ready before starting. It’s easier that way.
Preheat your air fryer to 200°C/400°F. Fry for 10 minutes, stirring half way through.
After 10 minutes, spread the garlic and ginger paste on the onions and cook for 1 more minute.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour the fried veggies into a mixing bowl. Add the remaining sauce ingredients.
Blend the sauce ingredients in a blender or using a stick blender until smooth.
Pour the sauce into a metal cake tin or similar. Place directly in the basket and cook for 10 minutes at 200°C/400°F.
After 10 minutes, the sauce will be warm and beginning to look like a curry!
After 10 minutes, add the pre-cooked chicken and air fry for another 5 minutes. If the sauce is caramelising to the pan, stir that in for additional flavour.
After 5 minutes, add the cream, garam masala and red food colouring if using. Air fry for 2 to 5 more minutes or until hot enough to serve.
Garnish with more cream if you like and the chopped coriander.
Enjoy!
This recipe makes the perfect amount for a takeaway at home to serve two people.
If you like this air fryer chicken chasni recipe, you might like to try some of these air fryer recipes too.
Air Fryer Whole Tandoori Chicken
Have you tried this Air Fryer Chicken chasni recipe?
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What do you serve with air fryer chicken chasni?
You should try my new air fryer Basmati rice and/or air fryer naans!
Air Fryer Chicken Chasni
This air fryer chicken chasni recipe will get you amazing results. It really does taste like a traditional pan cooked pathia but without all the oil splatter and mess. This recipe cooks everything from scratch but for more flavour, use my air fryer chicken tikka instead of raw chicken and add it at the end of cooking. You will need a metal pan like this air fryer cake tin <-- Affiliate Link, or another metal pan that fits into your air fryer basket.
Ingredients
- 300g (10.5oz) chicken thighs or breasts cut into bite sized pieces or tandoori chicken tikka
- 1 to 3 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil or ghee (optional) or oil spray
- FOR THE CHASNI SAUCE
- 2 medium onions (approx. 250g/9oz), thinly sliced ½ red onion, finely chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 125ml (1/2 cup) unseasoned passata or tinned (canned) chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet papika
- 1 ½ tbsp mango chuntey
- 1 tbsp mint sauce, I use Coleman’s
- 1 ½ tbsp ketchup
- 250ml ( 1 cup) chicken stock, stock cube stock is fine
- TO FINISH
- 80ml (1/3 cup) single cream
- Juice of one lemon or lime
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp red food colour powder, optional but needed for a traditional chasni
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely chopped, plus more to garnish
Instructions
- If you have already cooked tandoori chicken tikka, you can skip this step and keep it aside for later. If cooking either raw plain chicken or raw tandoori marinated chicken, preheat your air fryer to 200°C/400°F. Lightly spray your cooking basket with oil spray and place the chicken in one layer in the cooking basket and air fry for 10 minutes turning halfway through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Now place the sliced onions, bell pepper, oil and salt into a mixing bowl. If you are on a reduced calorie diet, spray with cooking oil to coat and mix it all up well.
- Pour it all into the cooking basket to fry for 10 minutes, stirring half-way through. Carefully spread the garlic and ginger paste over the veggies for the last two minutes of the cook and then pour it all back into your mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the bowl and then blend with a stick blender or countertop blender until smooth.
- Place a metal cake tin pan or another metal pan that fits into your air fryer in the basket. For a faster cook and more authentic Indian restaurant curry appearance, heat two tbsp oil in the pan for two minutes. This is optional though. Pour the blended sauce into the pan and air fryer and air fry for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, the sauce will be quite hot if you used oil and warm if not. The top of the sauce will have darkened some. That is flavour so stir it in. Stir in the precooked chicken and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, by which time the sauce should be hot enough of almost hot enough to serve.
- Once the sauce is good and hot, stir in the cream, lemon juice, garam masala and food colouring, if using and cook for an additional two minutes or until hot enough to serve. Season with salt to taste and garnish with the chopped coriander (cilantro).
Notes
Cooking Sauces in an Air Fryer Safely.
Air fryers were designed as a substitute to cook crispy food that is similar to deep fried food. They were not designed to make sauces or soups.
The first few times you cook a curry like this in your air fryer, it is important to ensure that the sauce is not spitting or that there is too much steam. This could get messy and the water droplets could also be a fire hazard.
This is the reason why I developed this recipe to serve 1 to 2 people as the pan is usually less than half full. I have cooked at least a hundred curries this way in my air fryer without any issues. It takes at least 10 minutes for the sauce to heat up so spitting and steam is not an issue. If you find that it is with your air fryer, be sure to covered the pan tightly with a lid or foil which will sove that issue. You might need to cook a little longer for it to heat up but it's better safe than sorry.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 722Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 158mgSodium: 2191mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 7gSugar: 28gProtein: 47g