Name: Sri Lankan chicken curry recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Ingredients: Coconut frylight 4 chicken breasts (cut into bite-size chunks) 1 large onion (diced) 4 cloves of garlic (crushed) 1 inch of ginger (grated) 6 curry leaves; 5 tsp cayenne pepper; 5 tsp cardamom seeds (removed from pods) 1 tbsp coriander; 25 tsp fennel seeds 2 tsp ground cumin; 5 tbsp black peppercorns 1 tsp mustard powder; 5 tsp ground cloves 3 fresh tomatoes (cubed) 1 tbsp paprika 2 tbsp sliced jalapeno peppers 1 tsp granulated sweetener 2 tsp cider vinegar 250g Fat-free Greek yoghurt 50ml water

I fancied making a different curry to normal so I looked online at Sri Lankan curry recipes and then adapted them to make one that is healthier!

Summary of Contents (Quick jump links)

What makes Sri Lankan food different?

Sri Lanka is a country with most dishes being very spicy. They use a lot of curry leaves, black peppercorns, coconut, cinnamon and cayenne pepper amongst other things. This recipe is no exception, spicy and full of flavour you are sure to enjoy it.

frying pan with spices — Frying pan with spices being gently fried to bloom

How to make Sri Lankan curry more authentic

If you want to make this recipe more true to the way the Sri Lankans make it then a few simple swaps are needed. Of course, they are not all low calorie which is why I swapped them so the choice is yours.

Instead of coconut frylight use a tablespoon of coconut oil.

Add a cinnamon stick when you add the other spices. It works well without though and as my son, Ben has a severe cinnamon allergy we do not use it as it could cause life-threatening anaphylaxis.

Use coconut milk instead of greek yoghurt.

Use black mustard instead of mustard powder. I simply could not get any black mustard so substituted it and it worked well.

Why you need vegetables to lose weight

Everyone knows vegetables are good for you, don’t they? They are healthy and filling for very few calories!

The best vegetables are those with low-calorie density.

This means if you eat 100g of spinach, for example, it is just 23 calories and 100g of crisps, which would be just as filling, is around 536 calories!

Find more tips about the best vegetables for weight loss.

Making this recipe even healthier

If you want to make this recipe even healthier be sure to add vegetables to your plate when you serve it. I found roasted red peppers were perfect and they quickly roasted in the oven whilst the curry was cooking.

Using frozen chicken

Chicken for this or any other chicken recipes should never be cooked from frozen, there are so many issues with this that risk food poisoning.

If you have just realised you only have frozen chicken there I have lots of tips to safely defrost chicken check them out in my defrosting chicken guide.

frozen chicken in a yellow tray — Frozen chicken

Etsy for weight loss

If you are like me and like buying fun new items to motivate your weight loss, then here are my favourites. Etsy is great for items for the kitchen and weight loss goodies. I could spend hours browsing there.

There are so many great food diaries too so you can record your meal plans and track your weight loss to keep a record of the good and bad weeks. Click the photos to have a look for yourself.

teaspoon saying calories don\'t count on this spoon

A close up of a bouquet of skinny whip bars

Sri Lankan chicken curry for weight loss

If you follow Slimming World, Weight Watchers (WW), Noom or any other weight loss plan you can usually count the ingredients within this recipe in your allowances. It is of course important to check yourself any plan you follow and remember all nutritional information and ingredients are found in the recipe card below.

Other recipes you may enjoy

If you are looking for more recipes with rice then do check out my list of rice recipes from around the world. If you are not confident at boiling rice or making risotto I have a foolproof guide to boiling rice here and a risotto guide.

If you like a good curry then check out all my curry recipes including curry sauce, chicken and mushroom curry and many more. I also have some spice blends you can make yourself here!

Do you like chicken and want some new recipes to make with it? Check out all my chicken recipes.