Kids Chicken Curry with Papaya
This simple and delicious papaya chicken curry recipe is a great kid-friendly dinner that is ready in 30 minutes. Warm and comforting and mildly spiced with a rich sauce, its a great beginner curry recipe for the family!
An easy beginner curry, this simple chicken curry recipe has mild and pleasant flavors are totally kid-friendly. The sauce is thickened with pureed papaya and it also is studded with chunks of sweet papaya as well. Its a great quick dinner idea for kids and adults alike!
Serve this weeknight curry with basmati rice (I love the microwave pouches that are ready in 90 seconds!) and some naan (you can find it in the frozen health food section at your local grocery) for an easy meal your whole family will love!
Finish the meal off with a special fruit salad that is flavored with lime juice, black salt and chaat masala powder for a refreshing and fun dessert!
More Adventurous Cuisine For Kids:
Looking for more ways to expand your kids’ diet? My kids love these easy recipes:
How to make this kid friendly papaya chicken curry recipe
For the full set of directions, make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below!
- Divide papaya in half. Mash one half and leave the other half cubed.
- In a medium sized skillet over medium heat, sautee the onion about 4 minutes, until translucent.
- Add in the spices and cook 10 seconds, stirring constantly, until they are fragrant.
- Add in the diced chicken and cook until almost done, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in yogurt and the mashed papaya and cook for 2 minutes, until blended and heated through.
- Add in the papaya chunks, stir to combine, and remove from heat.
- Serve and enjoy.
How to make fruit chaat
This Indian fruit salad is a refreshing and fun recipe that is great for kids because its full of ingredients they already know and love but it also has a few new ingredients which are fun to explore!
Chaat Masala is a zingy, tangy spice blend that is often used as a garnish, and is fun to try! I recommend starting with just a tiny bit and adding more as you see fit.
- Place all the fruit in a large serving bowl.
- Add the lime juice, sugar, black salt, chaat masala and chopped mint to the bowl and gently toss to combine.
- Enjoy!
*Recipe Note: If you think you will have leftovers, make sure to leave off the mint and black salt until you are ready to eat! The black salt will bleed all over the fruit and make it look funny, and the mint becomes overpowering!
How to make curry kid friendly
Kids CAN enjoy curry!
The best way to get kids interested in eating curry is to help them become accustomed to the flavors without them being overwhelming. Start with small increments of spices and then gradually build up.
Mixing in a healthy dose of plain greek yogurt is a great place to start for really little ones.
While you eat dinner, talk about the flavors you taste, the meal’s textures, what surprised them, etc. Ask them to name one positive thing they can think of, and challenge them to use words other than “yummy” and “yuck”.
Want to get your kiddos to try more foods? Check out “How to Raise Adventurous Eaters” for more tips!
Tips for Cooking with Your Kids:
- The point here is to intentionally spend time with your kids in the kitchen. It is not to create perfect gorgeous food, so don’t be too Type A here. Spills and messes are totally going to happen – its pretty much inevitable when baking and cooking with kids. Its fine.
- Have some wet AND some dry paper towels ready to go to help clean up spills when (notice I said when, not if) they happen.
- Have all ingredients pre-measured out for kids. It helps de-stress the actual cooking part and make things easier.
- Assign different tasks to different children based on their age. Children feel a sense of accomplishment and pride when they can look at a meal and see/tell exactly how they helped.
To get more tips on how to cook with your kids, read “How to Cook and Bake with Your Kids“.
Get your Kids in the Kitchen:
Here are some ways your kids can help you make this papaya chicken curry:
- Children aged 0-3 can help you measure out the spices, mash the papaya, mix the fruit chaat, and help set the table.
- Children aged 4-7 can help you do all the above plus cut the fruit and veggies.
- Children aged 8-12 can help you do all the above plus cut and cook the chicken, stir the chicken while cooking.
*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.
Try these other great kid friendly Indian recipes:
Food tastes better when its shared! If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and rate below! Love and links are always appreciated! If you’d like to share this post, please link to this post directly for the recipe, please do not copy and paste or screenshot. Thanks so much for supporting me! xoxo
Kids Chicken Curry with Papaya
Ingredients
Chicken Curry with Papaya –
- 2 TBSP oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 2 TBSP minced garlic
- 1 TBSP minced ginger
- 1 TBSP cumin seeds (affiliate link)
- 1 tsp turmeric (affiliate link)
- 2 tsp coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cardamom
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 lb chicken breast
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 2 cups cubed papaya
Fruit Chaat –
- 1 apple cubed
- 1 banana sliced
- ¼ cup halved grapes
- 1.5 cup watermelon cubes
- pomegranate seeds
- 1 cup orange segments
- 1 cup pineapple
- ½ tsp black salt
- ½ lime juice
- ¼ tsp chaat masala powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- mint leaves
Instructions
- To make the curry
- Divide papaya in half.
- Mash one half and leave the other half cubed.
- In a medium braiser over medium heat, sautee the onion about 4 minutes, until translucent.
- Add in the fenugreek seeds, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, paprika and salt – cook 10 seconds, stirring constantly, until they are fragrant.
- Add in the diced chicken and cook until almost done, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in yogurt and the mashed papaya and cook 2 minutes.
- Add in the papaya chunks, stir to combine, and remove from heat.
- Serve with rice and naan.
- Fruit Chaat –
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and enjoy!
This chicken curry looks amazing and something the kids would LOVE!!! You can also never go wrong with Papaya! Great fruit!
My kids would totally help me make this recipe. Additionally they like fresh ripe papaya and will enjoy it in curry!
The instructions call for mashed papaya, but this is not in the ingredient list.
Hi Crystal! In the first step, you divide the papaya in half and mash part of it! Hope this helps!
can i put celery in this recipe ?
Sure!