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A north Indian fave, this Indian ginger curry has mince, julienned and dried ginger for an incredible flavor along with whole and ground spices in a rich tomato sauce. The sauce is incredibly versatile! Make it with soy curls to make Adraki Chicken curry or use one of the variations to make it your own.
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Adraki ginger chicken is a popular North Indian curry. The sauce has whole and ground spices, onion, tomato, green chilies and of course a lot of ginger in mince and julienne form and ground form. This delicious ginger sauce is perfect to ward off the seasonal bugs.
There are many curries and dishes that aren’t on the menu of a usual Indian restaurant outside India. But these often are popular in restaurants in India, in certain Regions or specializing in northern Indian food. Adraki Chikin is one such delicious dish. With the spiced and gingered sauce and a crisped up protein, this is a very flavorful sauce!
Soy curls are the protein we are using in this ginger curry, but you can use other plant-based proteins — like tofu, chickpeas, or seitan. This amazing sauce is also delicious with mixed roasted veggies!
No matter how you make it, this is an easy, weeknight meal that’s ready in about 40 minutes. Serve with rice or quinoa or Biryani or naan.
Why You’ll Love Adraki Ginger Curry
- Flavorful, ginger-tomato broth with lots of whole and dried spices
- Very versatile! Make it with soy curls, seitan, other chicken substitutes, chickpeas, tofu, or all veggies!
- Gluten-free and nut-free, as long as your non-dairy yogurt is nut-free
- soy-free options
More Indian Curry Recipes
Adraki Chikin Indian Ginger Curry
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 4 ounces dry soy curls, , soaked in 2 cups of hot broth for at least 15 minutes
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder, or paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning, optional , Use esp if you are using water instead of broth
For the sauce:
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2 whole cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
- 4 black peppercorns
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste, or minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger, or ginger paste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes, or use canned tomatoes along with their juices
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon julienned ginger
- 2 green chilis, finely chopped. I used serrano or Indian green chili. You can use a milder green chili, if you like, or use 2 tablespoons of chopped green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup non dairy yogurt, or cashew cream or use 1 cup thick non-dairy milk
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups water
- cilantro and more julienned fresh ginger, for garnish
Instructions
Make the soy curls.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C)
- Soak your soy curls in chicken flavored broth if you haven't already. Use warm hot broth and then let them soak for 15 minutes. Then drain and lightly press to remove excess moisture. Do not press to remove all of the moisture. Let the soy curls stay a bit moist.
- Add to a bowl then add all of the spices and toss well to coat. (Optionally mix in a teaspoon of oil)
- Spread them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crisp to preference.
Meanwhile, make the sauce.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cloves, bay leaves, crushed coriander seeds, black peppercorns, and mix and cook until the coriander seeds and bay leaves change color and get fragrant.
- Then add in the onion and the salt and cook until the onion is golden brown.
- Then add in the minced ginger or garlic or pastes, the ground ginger, and cook for a minute. Add few splashes of water if the onion is drying out too much.
- Then add the Kashmiri chili powder and mix in. Then add the tomatoes, salt, green chili, and julienned ginger.
- Mix in and continue to cook until the tomatoes are jammy. Mash the larger tomato pieces. Then add in your non-dairy yogurt or cream and water and bring to a good boil.
- Add in your baked soy curls and mix in.
- Taste and adjust salt and flavor. Garnish with cilantro, the reserved julienned ginger, some lemon juice if you like and serve with roti, naan, or rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- soy curls – This is your vegan chicken substitute. Soak the soy curls in broth and drain them before using. You can use seitan, other vegan chicken substitutes, cooked chickpeas, tofu, or all vegetables. None of these substitutes need to be soaked in broth.
- dried spices – Dried spices season both the soy curls and the sauce.
- whole spices – Roasted whole spices add even more flavor to the ginger curry sauce!
- onion – Adds umami and texture to the sauce.
- ginger – You’re using minced ginger, ground ginger, and julienned ginger to give this curry sauce an incredible flavor!
- garlic – For umami flavor in the sauce.
- tomatoes – Add moisture and flavor to the curry sauce.
- green chilis – For heat. You can use green bell pepper instead for a less spicy version.
- non-dairy yogurt – For creaminess. Choose nut-free, if needed. You can use cashew cream or thick, non-dairy milk instead of the yogurt, if you prefer.
- garnishes – You top this ginger curry with fresh cilantro and even more fresh ginger!
Tips
- Prep the other ingredients while the soy curls soak to save on total time.
- When you’re toasting the whole spices, keep a close eye, so they don’t burn.
- Do make sure that you cook those tomatoes down enough! You want them to have an almost jam-like consistency.
How to Make Vegan Ginger Curry
Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C)
Soak your soy curls in chicken flavored broth if you haven’t already. Use warm hot broth and then let them soak for 15 minutes. Then drain and lightly press to remove excess moisture. Do not press completely to remove all of the moisture. Let the soy curls stay a bit moist.
Add to a bowl then add all of the spices and toss well to coat.
Spread them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet (optionally drizzle some oil on them) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crisp to preference.
Meanwhile, make the sauce.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cloves, bay leaves, crushed coriander seeds, black peppercorns, and mix and cook until the coriander seeds and bay leaves change color and get fragrant.
Then add in the onion and the salt and cook until the onion is golden brown.
Then add in the minced ginger or garlic or pastes, the ground ginger, and cook for a minute. Add few splashes of water if the onion is drying out too much.
Then add the Kashmiri chili powder and mix in.
Then add the tomatoes, salt, green chili, and julienned ginger. Use two teaspoons of the julienned ginger. Reserve a teaspoon for garnish.
Mix in and continue to cook until the tomatoes are jammy. 5-6 mins. Mash the larger tomato pieces. Then add in your non-dairy yogurt or cream and some water and bring to a good boil.
Add in your baked soy curls and mix in.
Taste and adjust salt and flavor. Garnish with cilantro, the reserved julienned ginger, some lemon juice if you like and serve with roti, naan, or rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Soy curls are made from pressed and dehydrated whole soybeans, which gives them a chicken-like texture. They only have one ingredient: soybeans!
This recipe is naturally gluten-free and nut-free, as long as you use a nut-free non-dairy yogurt.
To make it soy-free, use seitan, chickpeas, veggies, chickpea tofu, or a soy-free vegan chicken substitute in place of the soy curls.
Made this for first time. I had ordered some Indian dried red chiles and I ground those up for the dish and another one for the tofu marinade, which we used instead of soy curls. Absolutely delicious.
So glad you liked it!
Another delicious recipe! I made it for company and everyone loved it.
Good to hear!
I don’t normally provide feedback, but had to tell you to know how much we loved this dish! I always look forward to your recipes and have tried a number of them. This recipe looked so good and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand for this dish. I did make mine oil-free. It was so delicious! The flavors were wonderful together and the sauce really made the dish! After reading other comments, next time I will try adding additional veggies! Thank you for for the wonderful recipe Richa!
So glad you liked it and thank you for commenting!
Tried this tonight… It was fantastic!!! A new classic for sure. Thank you Richa!
Awesome!! Thank you for making my recipes.
Wonderful! Not as spiced as some dishes, due to the creaminess and limited number of spices, but fully flavored. I used just veggies, roasted…mushrooms, small red and blue potatoes, red bell pepper, asparagus, and yellow summer squash. I wanted to put in chickpeas, but I already had over two cups with the veggies, and wanted it to be saucy so I skipped it. Next time I will make it with chickpeas, spinach, and red bell pepper.
The grocery stores around here have some ready made Indian sauces and a few are vegan by default with coconut cream, but I would rather make my own, for many reasons.
Your creativity knows no limits! You are always coming up with new recipes. I appreciate your work so much. It keeps me interested in cooking and eating, which is wonderful.
Hi Ellen, so happy to hear you loved it. Thank you for continuing to try my recipes!! You can add more spices and heat as you like. The whole spices also bloom after the dish has sat in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Awesome. We gave this one 9/10 I fried some julienne ginger and put it on when I served it. Another great recipe thanks Richa.
Awesome! So glad you liked it!
Did you use black garlic paste?
Regular garlic paste
I like the sound of this one. I think I would dry roast the whole spices and then grind them. And add back into the mix. I don’t like eating them whole.