Keto chicken garam masala

Keto chicken garam masala

Meet your new favorite spice blend! Garam masala makes every meal sing with earthy, aromatic, and complex flavors. Throw in silky coconut cream, sweet bell peppers and chicken, and you’ll want to make this keto dish over and over again.
May 17 2016 recipe by , photo by , nutritional review by in Recipes, Dinner, Main course, Meal

Keto chicken garam masala

Meet your new favorite spice blend! Garam masala makes every meal sing with earthy, aromatic, and complex flavors. Throw in silky coconut cream, sweet bell peppers and chicken, and you’ll want to make this keto dish over and over again.
USMetric
4 servingservings

Ingredients

Garam masala
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp coriander seed, ground
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp ground cardamom (green)
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp turmeric, ground
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp paprika powder
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 pinch 1 pinch ground nutmeg
Chicken
  • 1 lb 450 g chicken breastchicken breasts
  • 3 tbsp 3 tbsp butter or coconut oil
  • salt
  • ½ (2 oz.) ½ (60 g) red bell pepper, finely dicedred bell peppers, finely diced
  • 1¼ cups 300 ml unsweetened coconut cream or heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
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Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
  2. Combine the spices to make the garam masala.
  3. Cut the chicken breasts lengthwise. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and fry the chicken in butter or oil until golden brown.
  4. Add half the garam masala mix to the pan and stir thoroughly.
  5. Season with salt, and place the chicken, including the juices, in a baking dish.
  6. Add the finely diced bell pepper to a small bowl along with the coconut cream and remaining garam masala mix.
  7. Pour over the chicken. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes.
  8. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Tips

Not in the mood for chicken? Use lamb or pork instead.

You can buy ready-made garam masala in the grocery store. If using store bought, measure out 2 1⁄2 tablespoons. Just make sure that the spice mix has no added sugar, starches or other unnecessary additives.

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136 comments

  1. 1
    Sharon
    May 17 2016
    Looks fab! I'm going to make this. I have the ready made garam masala powder so how much should I use? Tk you!
    Reply: #44
  2. 2
    UK
    May 17 2016
    Came to ask the same question Sharon :)
  3. 3
    K
    May 17 2016
    Adding up the measurements, the garam masala mix = 6.5 to 8 teaspoons (so that is 2.2 - 2.7 Tablespoons). Call it 2.5 Tbsp
  4. 4
    Mihir
    May 17 2016
    is the chicken fully cooked from the saute? or are you just browning it and then it finishes cooking in the oven?
  5. 5
    Renee
    May 18 2016
    I would think just browning it, as a regular chicken breast only takes 30 minutes to cook in the oven.
  6. 6
    Adam
    May 18 2016
    Planning on making this tonight for 4, how much Sauce was actually left from the 300ml cream? Would it be better to maybe add some form of stock to make it go further?
    I can't imagine there would be much sauce if you purely just use cream
  7. 7
    Paul
    May 18 2016
    Works better with fresh coriander than parsley and a fresh chopped tomato.
  8. 8
    Jaswinder
    May 19 2016
    i am vegetarian so i would like to replace chicken. Please suggest with what i can replace chicken. i love east indian recipes.
    Thanks
    Replies: #14, #32
  9. 9
    Cathy
    May 19 2016
    How is it possible to say it's moderate low carb (rather than strict) with only 1 gr. carb per serving?
    Reply: #10
  10. 10
    Reply to comment #9 by Cathy
    Peter Biörck Team Diet Doctor
    May 19 2016
    Hi Cathy!

    First there is no scientific definition of liberal/moderate/strict LCHF but I agree with you that 1 g carb per serving is definitely low. But this chicken dish is relative high in protein and moderate high in fat...so that's why it's called moderate LCHF.

  11. 11
    Cathy
    May 19 2016
    Thanks, Peter. I find it is rather difficult to even consider the protein and fat components when most of us are mostly interested in the carb count. LOL!
  12. 12
    Suze
    May 20 2016
    I agree Cathy. We are encourage to look at low carbs but then this one makes it confusing. If we are working on less than 20g carbs a day then how much fat and protein do we need. Otherwise the guides are useless. Peter can you answer to help especially for a Type 1 diabetic.
    Reply: #13
  13. 13
    Reply to comment #12 by Suze
    Peter Biörck Team Diet Doctor
    May 20 2016
    Hi Suze!

    I think that the amount of protein will normally not be a problem so most people don't have to think about that at all. (You can stop reading here :)

    But if you eat a lot of "white" meat like chicken and vegetables and not so much fat added then you might end up eating LowCarb HighProtein Moderate Fat. That can give unwanted insulin responses and make weight-loss harder. And if you don't train a lot it's probably not a good idea to eat to much protein

    But as a type 1 diabetic you will not get any insulin response so I'm not sure what the effect will be. If you are a member and is worried about this then you could ask one of our experts for further advice.
    http://strongmetabolism.fit/member/ask-the-experts%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3E

  14. 14
    Reply to comment #8 by Jaswinder
    Sarah
    May 20 2016
    For a meatless version, you might replace the chicken with half-inch thick slices of extra firm tofu pressed an hour or so under a weight to get out more moisture, patted dry with a paper towel or cloth napkin, then lightly sauteed or even deep fried until lightly browned.

    Or Season cooked chickpeas with the same spice mixture.

    If carbs aren't a problem, try chunks of potato or Turnip.

  15. 15
    Renee
    May 23 2016
    I made this tonight with the garlic naan and cauliflower rice. I used half whipping cream and half sour cream, and I thought it came out "okay" but, it needs some tweaking. Baking it separated the sauce. I'm going to try saute it on the stove next time with more spices. Maybe my Garam masala was old, but it tasted bland and needed more salt. It did not come out golden like the picture.
  16. 16
    carol
    May 23 2016
    Just made this with chicken thighs that I had, used half sour cream and half double cream, agree it could have done with some more fluid added. I put some chopped spinach in mine as I have a lot in the garden, It was lovely, oh I also made my own garum masala mix as per the receipe.
  17. 17
    julie kenney
    May 24 2016
    I made this last night and it was delicious! Very flavourful. I made a few few tweaks as I didn't have certain ingredients- I used thighs and drumsticks with the skin on. I added garlic, fresh coriander instead of parsley and baby tomatoes which gave a nice tang to the dish. I also used half coconut cream and half cream. I can highly recommend!
  18. 18
    Patti
    May 26 2016
    This is a very tasty recipe that reminds me of a Mediterranean restaurant that we ate at regularly. It has become one of our weekly dinner dishes. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
  19. 19
    Chrissy
    June 10 2016
    Vegetarian use Paneer cheese! Perfect for LCHF. It's a hard Indian cheese.
  20. 20
    carol
    June 15 2016
    Just made this again with cream and coconut cream, it was delicious and lots of juice. I made the naan breads and they now come out ok, did some in the oven with cheese on top, just dipped some in the chicken juices and it was gorgeous.
  21. 21
    Ruth
    June 24 2016
    How to print these recipes.
    Reply: #22
  22. 22
    Reply to comment #21 by Ruth
    Peter Biörck Team Diet Doctor
    June 26 2016
    Hi Ruth!

    Keep mouse pointer over "Instructions" and then right click, choose print.

    How to print these recipes.

  23. 23
    Jenni
    June 29 2016
    Hi Peter, I am hoping you can help me. I have left the message on other message boards on this site as well. I am really battling – I absolutely love this diet. I have been very active on this site for more than a month. I have only lost 1.5kg in the past month and nothing at all (in fact I gained 500gm) in the past 4 days. My Ketone reading on the keto sticks is between 50 and 150 all the time. I have listened to the video on the 5 common mistakes. I am not making any of those mistakes. I am eating breakfast (bacon and egg) only about 2 days a week. I am eating the lunch and supper according to the two week challenge. Some suggestions on this site are that if you battle to lose you should try to eat below 70gm protein per day and if you eat too much protein you fall out of ketosis, this is not the case for me as mentioned above my keto reading is constantly between 50 and 150, I check every 2nd or 3rd day. Despite the fact that my keto reading indicates that my body is using fat for fuel, I have tried to reduce my protein intake but I do find it very difficult to stay under 120gm of protein per day, but the two week challenge is NOT below 70gm of protein per day anyway. For example on day 5, week 1 you are eating bacon, chicken and mince, the chicken and mince alone are 425gm protein per person for the day. Please help me to understand why I am not losing weight. I am 56, 5’2” and weigh 75kg.
    Reply: #24
  24. 24
    Reply to comment #23 by Jenni
    Peter Biörck Team Diet Doctor
    June 29 2016
    Hi Jenni!

    Yes, not everybody loses weight only by following the diet. Have you read our 18 best weight-loss tips?

    http://strongmetabolism.fit/how-to-lose-weight%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

    A good tip could be to introduce intermittent fasting ( see #14 if you follow the link above).

    I'm not sure if you calculate the protein intake correctly (100 gram meat is not 100 gram protein)? But it doesn't matter if you follow "the two week challenge" then it should be OK. I do not think that's a problem.

    Good Luck! :)

    Reply: #30
  25. 25
    Jenni
    July 2 2016
    Hi Peter
    Thanks for your reply. I have read and applied the 18 weight loss tips. And I am doing intermittent fasting. My ketose reading is still very purple and my weight is not dropping ?
    Reply: #26
  26. 26
    Reply to comment #25 by Jenni
    Peter Biörck Team Diet Doctor
    July 3 2016
    Hi Jenni!

    I hope you don't do #18. :)

    I would recommend to be persistent, give it a couple of month, sometimes that helps.

    You could also test doing longer fasting periods, like two days with only water, then eat normal for five days and so on.

    If there is no change in your weight within 3-4 month from now then you might should consider another diet, if your number one priority is weight-loss.

    Reply: #29
  27. 27
    Hania
    July 3 2016
    How is that a moderate carb dish with 1g/serving?
  28. 28
    carol
    July 4 2016
    We have just had a family party and this dish was the favourite.
  29. 29
    Reply to comment #26 by Peter Biörck
    Jenni
    July 5 2016
    Hi Peter
    Thanks for the reply. I will not go to #18 :)
    While I am very determined to lose weight, I have no intension of giving up on LCHF – I really do love this diet(way of life) and I have tried many other diets with no results. I really do not understand why my body is so very stubborn, but I will just relax and continue to eat LCHF and stay a member of DIET DOCTOR – everything I learn here just makes sense! I love your recipes, video and courses. I will try the longer fasting period as you have suggested, I will let you know if anything changes and I suddenly start losing weight. Perhaps that can help others that have the same battle.
  30. 30
    Reply to comment #24 by Peter Biörck
    Jenni
    July 5 2016
    Hi again Peter,

    Please tell me how to calculate protein - how much meat, fish, chicken etc can I eat to be within the 70-80gm protein I am supposed to be consuming? I have tried to google this and cannot find an answer. I must admit that I am technologically challenged. :)

  31. 31
    gbl
    August 1 2016
    Jenni

    I think this site will help you, in lieu of an answer from any of the site administrators:

    http://nutritiondata.self.com/

  32. 32
    Reply to comment #8 by Jaswinder
    Eunice
    September 13 2016
    HI JASWINDER, I think substituting, very small whole zucchini, yellow summer squash, and or slices of egg plant would be fine, but depending on the sizes of the chunks or whole items, you would have to really reduce the baking time. hope it works for you Eunice
  33. 33
    gbl
    September 27 2016
    Thanks for this section. I've made a variation of the chicken curry/garam masala five times now. I start with a bought rotisserie chicken and add whatever greens I have including all green onions. I'm now going to do it with a tin of Mackerel: oily highly nutritious fish not here fresh. I will drain the Mackerel, and broil it until golden brown, then add to the simmering sauce.
  34. 34
    Nura
    September 29 2016
    I added some zucchini and pepperoni.. Very tasty
  35. 35
    Melissa
    October 6 2016
    Is there a difference between whipping cream in Canada and wherever this recipe originated? I'm enjoy the flavours but I do find the few recipes on DDr I have tried with whipping cream-based sauces come out as chicken in liquid (water consistency), which perhaps is the intention?
    Reply: #36
  36. 36
    Reply to comment #35 by Melissa
    Kristin Berglund Team Diet Doctor
    October 10 2016

    Is there a difference between whipping cream in Canada and wherever this recipe originated? I'm enjoy the flavours but I do find the few recipes on DDr I have tried with whipping cream-based sauces come out as chicken in liquid (water consistency), which perhaps is the intention?

    Hi Melissa!
    Try to find heavy whipping cream with as close to 40% fat as possible, that is what we use in our recipes. Good luck!

  37. 1 comment removed
  38. 38
    BinkyBot
    January 16 2017
    Sauce was bubbling, but came out gummy and slimy. Is that how others' turned out or maybe because I used a toaster/convection oven? I cooked an extra 10 min in hopes it would cook out the sliminess, but no go. It was edible, but not visually pleasing. I used 1/4 cup coconut cream, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, half tomato chopped, and 2.5 TB of prepared garam masala (from Sprouts). Taste was off, spice seemed raw and not cooked out and needed salt for sure (~1/8 tsp). Mine came out brown, not yellow like the picture, but I will try again and use the individual spices per the recipe to see if that helps.
  39. 39
    Adam
    January 23 2017
    I just made this with half sour cream, and half coconut cream, also halved the chilli powder as I have two kids who aren't great with spicy food. The dish was a winner, we didn't find it bland at all, made sure to cook the chicken with the spices a little longer on low heat to get it all mixed together.
  40. 40
    Mame
    January 30 2017
    I noticed that if you change number of servings in the drop down the total amount of garam masala it does not change in the note, at least that is happening for me. or is it 2.5 T for any number of servings?

    Also my garam masala mix is brown in color so that results in a brown [very yummy] dish. It looks like the one in the picture had higher concentrations of tumeric...which is also yummy. :)

  41. 41
    Carole
    March 6 2017
    My favorite recipe so far. I used an equal mix of sour cream and heavy cream, also added some sliced mushrooms. I didn't have an actual garam masala mix or all the necessary spices to make my own, but I did have curry powder so I used that...about 3-4 TB of it because I love curry and it really does take rather a lot to get the flavor....most recipes don't ask for enough it it!
  42. 42
    Amanda
    March 8 2017
    I absolutely love this recipe as does everyone I have made it for. I use fresh grated ginger and the seeds out of cardamom pods, bashed in a pestle and mortar! I also use all dairy cream rather than coconut cream. My favourite recipe by far.
  43. 43
    Amanda
    March 12 2017
    Why do you use chicken breasts in a keto recipe? :(
  44. 44
    Reply to comment #1 by Sharon
    Wendy Lacska
    April 25 2017
    This recipe has errors that need correcting. The first error is the amount of chicken to use, although most cooks could figure on using two breasts. (The recipe calls for 23 oz. of chicken.) The second error is in omitting how much garam masala to use if you buy it ready-made. It looks like you should use 2 1/2 tablespoons which, if used, ruins the dish. It should say something like 2 teaspoons of garam masala. Lastly, this recipe would benefit greatly flavor-wise from the addition of more ingredients like tomatoes, green onions and garlic salt.
  45. 45
    Pauline
    July 2 2017
    I used 2 1/2 tablespoons of ready made Garam Marsala - I used sour cream and added white onions - this dish was amazing ?
  46. 46
    Konnie
    September 12 2017
    I added onions and threw it all over cauliflower rice. Delicious!
  47. 47
    Joy
    October 8 2017
    DELICIOUS!!! Even my husband thoroughly enjoyed it!!! Followed some of the tips from the comments (curry powder, mushrooms, cardomon pods, chilli powder) and served it with "cauliflower naan" (recipe for cauliflower pizza base) and it was just perfect!
  48. 48
    Naomi
    October 21 2017
    Oh, my goodness! I figured this would be good, based on the comments, but I didn't count on it being THAT good! THE SAUCE!!! I used coconut milk, cooked it in my old electric skillet at 350, then 300. It was cooking out thru the lid at 400! Then I added some broccoli during the last few minutes, and a few chopped fresh tomatoes at the very end. I wanted to get this sauce all over everything! I didn't even have any rice or anything. This stuff is seriously out of this world good! Yep, made my own garam masala, and this blend is a good one.
  49. 49
    Naomi
    October 21 2017
    Oh, and I used thighs too! Worked out great!
  50. 50
    Karen
    October 26 2017
    For lacto-ovo vegetarians, hard boiled eggs would be a good choice. Just adjust cooking time since they are already cooked. Or make the sauce and add eggs (sliced in half vertically ) to hot sauce.
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