5 Rainy Season Chicken Recipes Bangaloreans Absolutely Love
Rain. A cup of chai. The smell of something spicy coming from the kitchen.
If you have lived in Bangalore through even one monsoon, you know exactly this feeling. The moment dark clouds roll in over Ulsoor Lake and those first fat drops hit the pavement, something shifts in every household across the city. The ceiling fan goes off. The shawl comes out. And someone heads to the kitchen. Let’s explore 5 Rainy Season Chicken Recipes Bangaloreans Absolutely Love.
Bangalore has a special relationship with food during the rains. The weather here turns genuinely cold during the monsoon season. We are talking 17 to 19 degrees on a heavy rain day. That kind of cold demands food that fights back. Bold, spiced, warming food that makes you feel better before you have even finished eating it.
Finding the right chicken recipe for rainy season can feel like too many choices at once. Every family swears by their version. Every neighbourhood has its own go-to dish. There is no shortage of opinions on what belongs on a Bangalorean table in June and July.
So we narrowed it down to five. These are recipes that real people cook in real Bangalore kitchens. No professional chef tricks. No hard-to-find imported ingredients. Just honest, bold, deeply satisfying chicken dishes that belong to this city and this season.
Also on the blog: Authentic Bangalore Donne Biryani Recipe at Home
Why Bangaloreans Reach for Chicken When It Rains
1. Bangalorean Spicy Chicken Curry
2. Chicken Pepper Fry (Milagu Chicken)
3. Hot Chicken Rasam Soup
4. Chettinad Chicken Curry
5. One-Pot Monsoon Chicken Rice
Tips That Will Improve Every Monsoon Chicken Dish You Cook
Frequently Asked Questions
Cook Something Warm This Monsoon Season
Why Bangaloreans Reach for Chicken When It Rains
Before the recipes, a quick look at why chicken and monsoon pair so perfectly in this city.
Bangalore sits roughly 920 metres above sea level. That elevation is exactly what makes the monsoon here feel different from cities like Chennai or Mumbai. In Bangalore, rain arrives with a sharp temperature drop. You go from 28 degrees to 18 in what feels like under an hour. Your body notices.
Spices like black pepper, dried red chillies, ginger, and garam masala do more than flavour the food. They generate internal heat. Black pepper boosts circulation. Ginger settles the stomach and reduces inflammation. These are not just cooking choices during the rains. They are practical ones.
Every good monsoon chicken recipe in Bangalore leans into these spices with intention. The result is food that your body genuinely wants on a wet, cold evening. That is the quiet logic behind every dish on this list.
Here are the five recipes every Bangalorean should have ready for the next rainy season.
1. Bangalorean Spicy Chicken Curry
Ask any Bangalorean to name the one chicken recipe for rainy season they trust above everything else, and most will describe something very close to this. A deep red curry with a coconut and Byadagi chilli base. Not too thick, not too thin. The kind that pools beautifully around a mound of steamed rice and demands nothing else on the plate.
Byadagi chillies are a Karnataka kitchen staple. They are milder than most dried red varieties but deliver an incredible depth of colour and a warm, rounded heat that builds slowly. Paired with fresh coconut, they create a base that is both rich and genuinely complex. You cannot replicate this with a store-bought powder blend. The fresh grinding matters.
This is not a quick-cook dish. It rewards patience. But on a cold rainy Sunday when you have no particular rush, it is the perfect kitchen project.
700g chicken pieces, bone-in
1 cup fresh coconut, grated
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
1 teaspoon coriander powder
Fresh coriander for garnish
Dry roast the Byadagi chillies in a pan for about 30 seconds. Do not let them turn dark. Grind them with the fresh coconut and a small amount of water until you have a smooth, fragrant paste. Set it aside.
Heat oil in a deep pan. Add cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter. Add the sliced onions and cook on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes until they turn golden and just begin to crisp at the edges. Do not rush this. The depth of the final curry lives here.
Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook until they break down completely. Stir in coriander powder, turmeric, and salt. Add the chicken pieces, coat well, and cook on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often so nothing sticks.
Pour in the coconut-chilli paste. Add 1.5 cups of water. Cover the pan and simmer on medium-low heat for 25 to 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the oil rises to the surface.
Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve with steamed rice, neer dosa, or akki roti.
Quick tip: Let the curry rest for 10 minutes before serving. This rainy season chicken curry tastes even better the next day. Make extra.
2. Chicken Pepper Fry (Milagu Chicken)
Walk into any military hotel in Shivajinagar, Gandhi Bazaar, or Malleswaram on a rainy evening and you will find some version of this on the menu. Chicken pepper fry is a Bangalore institution. It is one of the most enduring spicy chicken recipes Bangalore kitchens have ever produced, and it has survived decades of food trends without needing a single update.
Fresh black pepper does all the heavy lifting here. Not pre-ground powder. Actual whole peppercorns, cracked just before you cook. The difference is dramatic. Store-bought pepper powder goes flat quickly. Freshly cracked peppercorns are sharp, warm, and carry a subtle floral note that changes the entire dish.
This is a dry preparation. No gravy. Just chicken coated in spice with slightly charred edges and crackled curry leaves running through it. Eat it with rice, with chapati, or straight from the pan. All three options are completely valid.
600g chicken, small bone-in pieces
2 teaspoons freshly crushed black pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
Marinate the chicken with turmeric, salt, and half the crushed black pepper. Leave it for at least 30 minutes. Overnight in the fridge is better if you have the time.
Heat oil in an iron kadai or a heavy pan. Add the dried red chillies and curry leaves. Let them crackle and crisp up. About 20 seconds is all they need.
Add the onions and cook until they are deep golden brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the marinated chicken. No water at all. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and cook for another 15 minutes.
Remove the lid and increase heat. Dry roast for 7 more minutes until the edges of the chicken are slightly charred. Add the remaining black pepper and toss everything well. Serve immediately.
This is one of those easy chicken dinner ideas that looks impressive but comes together in under an hour start to finish. The charred edges and crackled curry leaves are the signature. Do not skip either.
3. Hot Chicken Rasam Soup
When you are cold, slightly sniffly, and the rain has not stopped for two days running, make this.
Chicken rasam soup sits somewhere between a spiced broth and a thin soup. It is not thick. It is not hearty in the conventional sense. But it is intensely flavoured in a way that few dishes manage. Tamarind gives it a clean tartness. Black pepper brings fire. The chicken stock underneath ties it all into something that makes you feel genuinely better while you are eating it.
This is the kind of monsoon chicken recipe that Bangalore grandmothers know by heart without measuring anything. They taste, adjust, and serve it in a steel tumbler the way it has always been done in South Indian homes.
Drink it straight as a broth when you are feeling under the weather. Or pour it over plain rice for a proper meal. Both approaches work, and both are equally correct.
500g chicken, bone-in pieces
2 tablespoons tamarind extract
1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely crushed
Fresh coriander and a wedge of lemon to serve
Pressure cook the chicken with 4 cups of water, salt, turmeric and crushed garlic for 3 whistles. Separate the chicken pieces from the broth. Shred the meat off the bones and keep both ready.
In a separate pot, heat a little oil. Add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, and remaining garlic. Cook for about a minute until fragrant.
Pour in the tamarind extract and bring it to a boil. Add the reserved chicken broth. Add the crushed black pepper and salt. Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon over the top. The lemon is not optional.
If you want to understand more about why tamarind and pepper combinations work so effectively as warming food during the rains, this NDTV Food article on rasam and its health benefits covers the reasoning in good detail.
4. Chettinad Chicken Curry
Chettinad food has earned a devoted following in Bangalore. Walk through Basavanagudi, Shivajinagar, or Koramangala on a rainy evening and you will find Tamil restaurants with queues out the door for exactly this dish. It is not a trend. It has been happening quietly for decades.
What makes Chettinad chicken genuinely different is the spice blend. Kalpasi (stone flower), marathi mokku (dried flower pods), star anise, and bay leaves work alongside the usual spices to create a flavour that is earthy, slightly smoky, and unlike anything a standard masala powder can deliver. It cannot be replicated without the whole spices. They are the entire point.
This is one of the best chicken recipes for rainy season simply because the flavour deepens significantly the longer it rests. Make it in the afternoon, eat it at dinner. It will taste like a better dish by then.
750g chicken, medium bone-in pieces
2 large onions, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, pureed
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
1.5 tablespoons Chettinad masala powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 small piece of kalpasi (stone flower)
Oil, salt, and fresh coriander to finish
Where to Find These Spices in Bangalore
Whole Chettinad spices are available at the spice vendors inside KR Market. You will also find them in Shivajinagar spice shops and at a few specialty stores in Koramangala. The whole spices are non-negotiable for this recipe. Pre-packed Chettinad powder alone will not give you the same depth.
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the kalpasi and star anise first. Let them release their fragrance for 30 seconds before adding the curry leaves and onions.
Cook the onions on medium heat until they are deeply caramelised. This takes a full 15 minutes. It cannot be shortened. The complexity of this rainy season chicken curry comes almost entirely from this one step.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for 3 minutes. Add tomato puree and cook until the oil separates from the mixture, which takes about 10 minutes. Add all the spice powders, salt, and chicken pieces. Coat everything well.
Pour in 2 cups of water. Cover and cook on low to medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes. Taste and adjust salt. Finish with a generous handful of fresh coriander.
Serve with appam, parotta, or plain rice. Every option works well here.
5. One-Pot Monsoon Chicken Rice
Not every rainy night calls for a multi-step kitchen project. Some evenings, you need one pot, a reliable result, and minimal cleanup at the end.
This one-pot monsoon chicken rice is exactly that. It is not biryani and it is not a simple pulao. It sits comfortably in between. The chicken and rice cook together so every grain absorbs the spiced stock as it simmers. The texture of chicken cooked this way, slowly alongside the rice, comes out noticeably more tender than when cooked separately in a different pan.
This is one of those easy chicken dinner ideas that sounds effortless and actually is, while tasting like genuine work went into it.
600g chicken, medium bone-in pieces
1.5 cups basmati rice, soaked for 20 minutes and drained
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
3 cups water or chicken stock
A small handful of fresh mint leaves
Heat oil in a wide, heavy pot. Add the cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter. Add the sliced onions and cook until golden with slightly crisp edges. Those crispy edges matter more than you might expect.
Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down completely, about 8 minutes. Add all the spice powders, salt, and chicken pieces. Stir well and cook on high heat for 5 minutes so the chicken gets a good sear on all sides.
Add the drained soaked rice directly to the pot. Stir gently to combine with the masala and chicken. Pour in the water or stock. Tuck the mint leaves in. Bring everything to a boil.
Cover tightly, reduce to the lowest heat possible, and cook for exactly 20 minutes. Do not lift the lid during this time. Switch off the flame and let it rest, still covered, for another 10 minutes before opening.
Fluff with a fork and serve with raita and thinly sliced raw onions on the side.
On a cold Bangalore evening with rain against the windows, this dish needs nothing added to it. It is a full meal.
Tips That Will Improve Every Monsoon Chicken Dish You Cook
A few habits that will make a real, noticeable difference across all five of these recipes.
Use bone-in chicken. Bones add richness to gravies that boneless chicken genuinely cannot match. The collagen from the bones naturally thickens the sauce and deepens the flavour. Boneless is convenient but bone-in is the correct choice for any serious rainy season chicken curry.
Grind your spices fresh. Pre-packed ground spice powders lose their potency quickly. A quick grind in a small mixer just before cooking takes two minutes and makes a dramatic difference in every monsoon chicken recipe you try. This is the single biggest free upgrade available to any home cook.
Do not rush the onions. Every curry on this list depends on properly caramelised onions. That means 12 to 15 minutes on medium heat, not 5 minutes on high. Cutting corners at this step flattens the flavour of the entire dish. No shortcut here.
Marinate when you can. Even 30 minutes changes the texture and flavour noticeably. Overnight in the fridge changes it significantly. Salt, turmeric, and ginger-garlic paste is the minimum starting point.
Cook in an iron kadai or clay pot. Heat distributes more evenly in these than in non-stick pans, and the material subtly changes the flavour over time in a way that is hard to describe but easy to taste. Both are widely available in Bangalore markets at reasonable prices.
For a deeper look at how spices function in Indian cooking and why certain techniques work the way they do, this Serious Eats guide on building flavour in Indian curries is thorough and worth bookmarking.
More on the blog: Chicken Protein Per Day Gym: Why Bangalore Took This Seriously Before the Rest of India
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best chicken recipe for rainy season in Bangalore?
The top choices among Bangaloreans are the spicy coconut-based chicken curry, chicken pepper fry, and Chettinad chicken curry. Each relies on warming spices that work perfectly with the cool monsoon weather the city gets between June and August. The right choice depends on whether you want a gravy dish or a dry preparation, and how much time you have on hand.
What spices should I use in monsoon chicken recipes?
Black pepper, garam masala, dried red chillies, ginger, garlic, and cumin form the core of most monsoon spice blends. For Karnataka-style dishes, Byadagi chillies are essential for colour and warmth. For Chettinad cooking, kalpasi and star anise are what create the signature earthy, smoky depth. All of these spices generate internal heat, which is exactly what the body needs during cold rainy evenings.
Can I cook these recipes without a pressure cooker?
Yes, all five recipes work in a regular heavy-bottomed pot. The chicken rasam soup will need around 30 minutes of simmering on the stove instead of pressure cooking. The other four recipes do not require a pressure cooker at all. A little extra time is all you need.
Which of these is the best easy chicken dinner idea for weeknights?
The one-pot monsoon chicken rice and the chicken pepper fry are the most practical weeknight options. Both take under an hour from start to finish and use straightforward techniques with no complicated steps. The Bangalorean curry and Chettinad dishes are better saved for weekends when the caramelising and slow simmering feel enjoyable rather than rushed.
How long does leftover rainy season chicken curry stay fresh?
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stovetop with a small splash of water to loosen the gravy. Several of these dishes genuinely taste better on day two once the spices have had more time to bloom fully. Making extra is almost always a good decision.
Cook Something Warm This Monsoon Season
Bangalore in June and July is something else. The city slows down just enough for the rains to feel like an event rather than an inconvenience. That slower pace is the perfect backdrop for a little time in the kitchen.
These five recipes cover every kind of monsoon cooking situation. A slow, patient Sunday afternoon curry. A fast weeknight chicken recipe for rainy season that comes together in one pot. A healing broth for the days when the cold gets into your bones. A showpiece dish for when you want to cook something that impresses.
The Bangalorean spicy curry is the classic. The pepper fry is the crowd favourite. The chicken rasam soup is what you make when someone needs fixing. The Chettinad curry is the one that makes people ask for the recipe. And the one-pot chicken rice is the weeknight meal that never disappoints.
Pick one this weekend. Let the rain do its thing outside while something warm and genuinely good happens on your stove inside.
If you try any of these, leave a comment below and tell us which dish passed the family approval test. That is always the real verdict on a recipe.
