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Homemade creamy chicken pasta in a tomato cream sauce on a kitchen table
Creamy masala pasta in the pan – glossy sauce clinging to every piece, finished with grated cheese and coriander.

Creamy Chicken Pasta

A midweek pasta that borrows from a curry. Hold back some of the mix until the end, because the sauce reduces and concentrates.

Prep
10 mins
Cook
25 mins
Total
35 mins
Serves
4
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Kitchen roadmap

Before you cook

The details that make or break this dish, mapped to the exact step where they matter.

  1. Make sureReserve the pasta water
  2. Avoid thisHold seasoning back
  3. Watch forGlossy, not soupy

Ingredients

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Method

10 steps

  1. Cook the pasta until just al dente.

    Reserve some pasta water.

  2. Toss the chicken with 1½ teaspoons AL Mix.

    Hold the rest back, the sauce reduces later and over-seasoning now makes it salty.

    Raw chicken pieces lightly dusted with seasoning in a metal bowl beside a measuring spoon

  3. Heat the oil and cook the chicken for 6–8 minutes.

    Remove once golden and cooked through.

  4. In the same pan, cook the onion until soft.

  5. Add the garlic and tomato purée. Cook for 1 minute.

  6. Add the passata and remaining AL Mix.

    Simmer for 5 minutes.

  7. Lower the heat and stir in the cream.

  8. Return the chicken and add the pasta.

  9. Add enough pasta water to create a glossy sauce.

    Creamy chicken pasta being tossed until a glossy sauce clings to every piece in a home kitchen pan

  10. Finish with the grated cheese and coriander.

If it does not come out right

The faults this dish actually has. Open one for the fix.

How much spice blend per person?

Allow 4 g of an all-purpose South Asian spice blend per person for a curry – about one level teaspoon – which is 16 g for a family of four, or roughly 2 g for every 100 g of raw meat or vegetables.

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Why does my curry taste flat?

A curry tastes flat almost always because of salt and acid rather than spice – under-salted food reads as missing something, and a curry cooked without tomato, yoghurt, lemon, amchur or tamarind has no sourness to lift the spice, so adding more masala makes it duller rather than brighter.

Read the full answer

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Authentic Lahori All Purpose Mix pouch

Make it with the Authentic Lahori mix

One blend for karahi, curries, marinades, chips and everyday cooking.

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