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Visit any eatery in the Philippines and you’ll see a saucy chicken dish. You may ask yourself if this is an Indian dish or why it’s yellow, but one thing’s for sure: this looks good to devour!
This dish is Filipino chicken curry. Now you know what to order when the waitress comes over to you.
But what if you’re not used to dining in eateries or you’re looking for home-cooked meals from your Filipino host?
Ask them to cook this chicken curry recipe for you instead.
This dish isn’t all chicken, if you’re wondering. It also has carrots, bell peppers, potatoes, and green peas.
Some versions use other ingredients like quail eggs and napa cabbage. But the ones mentioned above are the most common ingredients in this Pinoy version.
In this post we'll cover:
Chicken curry recipe preparation
The chicken curry recipe is already a Pinoy version.
It’s not too hot like the original curry from India or other Asian countries, although you can get a small taste of spice from the yellow curry powder.
It’s a milder version if you’re not into spicy foods. It’s also rich and somewhat sweet, thanks to coconut milk.
Coconuts tend to have a sweet taste and the Philippines is a tropical country, so the coconuts are good on this side of the planet.
Carrots are also sweet, so it adds to the sweetness of the dish.
This chicken curry isn’t complete without other spices like garlic and onions. It adds to the richness of the meal!
Check out this video by Panlasang Pinoy on how to make Filipino chicken curry for some visuals:

Filipino chicken curry recipe with patis (Fish suce)
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp oil
- 3 potatoes peeled, quartered, and fried
- 1 lb chicken cut into serving pieces
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large onion quartered
- 1 tbsp patis (fish sauce)
- 3 tbsp curry powder
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup water
- 1 red bell pepper cut into big squares
- 1 green bell pepper cut into big squares
- 3 celery stalks cut 1–1/2” long
- 1 cup coconut milk or evaporated milk
Instructions
- Pan fry potatoes. Set aside.
- In the same pan, fry chicken pieces and brown a little.
- Add garlic and onion. Sauté for a few minutes until soft.
- Pour in patis and season with curry powder, salt, and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes.
- Add water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and add celery, bell peppers, and fried potatoes. Simmer for 3 minutes or until half done.
- Add milk and stir occasionally. Cook for another 7 minutes (or less when using evaporated milk because the liquids will curdle).
- Remove from heat and serve hot.
Nutrition
Serving
It’s not hard to prepare the chicken curry recipe. It only takes some time to peel, slice, or chop the ingredients. The best part is, of course, eating.
As with any Filipino home setting, eating meals is a lot happier when you’re eating with friends and family. This is a Pinoy tradition that puts focus on the importance of togetherness.
Having said that, invite some people to eat with you.
Most of all, take this time to know more about Filipino cuisine and culture.
Ever had trouble finding Japanese recipes that were easy to make?
We now have "cooking Japanese with ease", our full recipe book and video course with step-by-step tutorials on your favorite recipes.
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.