Can You Freeze Chicken Jalfrezi?

3 minutes

Chicken jalfrezi is a brilliantly bright, fragrant dish that is a much-adored iteration of BIR cuisine. If you’re making it yourself, it can take time and effort to develop those flavours. So, is chicken jalfrezi something you can batch prepare?

How to Freeze Chicken Jalfrezi

The best way to freeze chicken jalfrezi is to start off with a steaming hot pot of the stuff. This will ensure that the jalfrezi is sterile and safe to eat, as with any food you cook in your kitchen.

1. Portion Out: Once the food is hot, transfer it to individually portion-sized tubs. Fill the tubs up to four-fifths of the way, in order to allow for a bit of space for expansion during freezing.
2. Allow to Cool: Once the hot jalfrezi is within the containers, do not place the lids onto them. This is because while the curry itself is still hot, condensation will form on the inside of the container. This, in turn, will turn into ice and cause freezer burn.
3. Seal: Once the jalfrezi has cooled to room temperature, place the lids onto the containers, double-checking the seals all the way around. We recommend this because the containers can spill if they’re not entirely closed, which can make a right mess in your freezer!
4. Label and Freeze: Once sealed, label each of the containers with the correct date, and transfer them into the freezer.

3 Tips for Freezing Chicken Jalfrezi

Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing chicken jalfrezi to have the best results:

Ensure a Tight Seal
Making sure the containers are sealed is vital to ensure that you don’t end up with a messy, staining spillage throughout your freezer. Turmeric, a primary ingredient in most curry, will stain nearly any material it comes into contact with!

Don’t Overfill
Make sure not to overfill the containers with curry. Water-based food such as soups, stews, and curries can expand by around twenty percent during freezing. Therefore, only fill the containers up to four-fifths full since the remaining twenty percent is the final fifth that the container will fill by.

Try Using Bags
If you don’t want to stain your Tupperware containers, try using really good quality freezer bags to store your curry in. The bags will stain but you can throw them out when you’re done with them. 

How Long Can You Freeze Chicken Jalfrezi?

You can freeze chicken jalfrezi for around 3 months, at which point freezer burn will likely begin to set in, and the texture of the chicken will be ruined, to some degree.

How Do You Defrost Chicken Jalfrezi?

The best way to defrost chicken jalfrezi is to microwave it on high power for thirty-second increments, stirring as you go. When it is steaming hot all the way through, it’s ready to eat.

You can also defrost it slowly overnight in the fridge. We would avoid defrosting it at room temperature on the worktop, however.

Can You Refreeze Chicken Jalfrezi?

No, you cannot refreeze chicken jalfrezi.

It’s always unwise to refreeze meat and poultry after it has been thawed and reheated since the chances of bacterial growth are high. Ultimately, the advice is simple: Do not refreeze chicken jalfrezi.

Does Chicken Jalfrezi Freeze Well?

Yes, we would say that chicken jalfrezi undoubtedly freezes well – the chicken and the sauce alike both stay in the freezer well, rarely succumbing to freezer burn in a noticeable way.

This, of course, relies on it being stored properly. If you pour it into a bowl, loosely drape a sheet of cling film over the top then you’re going to have some issues, of course.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing chicken jalfrezi or curry in general, then these may help: