Five Chicken Dishes, Five Culinary Traditions — Inside Curry and Ketchup's Kitchen on Majorstuen

Why one of Oslo’s longest-running Indian restaurants serves Malai Tikka, Manchurian Chicken, and Piri Piri from the same kitchen — and what that tells you about the food.

Most Indian restaurants in Oslo do one thing: North Indian classics. Butter Chicken, Tikka Masala, Korma. There’s nothing wrong with that — it’s comfort food for a reason. But if you’ve ever wondered what happens when an Indian kitchen also draws from Chinese wok technique, Southeast Asian curry pastes, and East African flame-grilling, the answer is sitting at Kirkeveien 51 on Majorstuen.

Curry and Ketchup has been open on the same street since the late 1990s. In nearly three decades, the kitchen has built a menu that stretches across culinary traditions most Oslo restaurants keep separate. The chicken section alone tells the story — five preparations, five completely different cooking traditions, all executed by chefs trained across India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Here’s what’s actually on the pass, and why each dish exists on the menu.

1. Malai Tikka — The Creamy Tandoori Starter

Origin: North India (Mughlai cuisine, Punjab) Cooking method: Marinated in cream, cashew paste, and mild spices, then cooked in a tandoor clay oven at 300°C+

Malai Tikka is the gentler cousin of standard Chicken Tikka. Where regular tikka hits you with chili and turmeric, Malai Tikka leads with cream cheese, ground cashew, and cardamom — the result is tender, almost buttery chicken with a light char from the tandoor. It’s one of the mildest dishes on the menu, and one of the most popular starters at Curry and Ketchup.

The tandoor at Kirkeveien 51 runs continuously through service. It’s the same oven that produces the restaurant’s naan bread and Tandoori Chicken — a piece of equipment that most Oslo kitchens simply don’t have.

If you like this: You’ll also like the Butter Chicken (Butter Masala), which uses a similar cream-and-cashew flavour profile in curry form.

2. Chicken on Skewers — Behind the Tandoor

Origin: Cross-regional (tandoori grilling tradition, Peshawar to Delhi) Cooking method: Whole chicken pieces threaded on long metal skewers, lowered into the tandoor vertically

This is what the kitchen looks like before the dish reaches the table. Chicken pieces marinated in yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste, and Kashmiri red chili are threaded onto skewers and dropped into the tandoor — the clay oven’s radiant heat cooks the meat from all sides simultaneously, sealing in moisture while creating the signature charred edges.

At Curry and Ketchup, this is the process behind several menu items: Chicken Tikka, Malai Tikka, and the Tandoori Chicken platter. Seeing it on the skewer, mid-cook, is the honest version of what “tandoori” actually means — it’s not a spice blend, it’s a cooking method.

3. Manchurian Chicken — The Indo-Chinese Wildcard

Origin: Indo-Chinese (invented in Kolkata/Mumbai’s Chinese-Indian communities) Cooking method: Battered and deep-fried chicken tossed in a soy-chili-ginger sauce in a high-heat wok

This is the dish that surprises people. Manchurian Chicken is not Chinese. It’s not Indian. It’s Indo-Chinese — a cuisine invented by the Hakka Chinese community that settled in Kolkata in the 18th century and fused Cantonese wok technique with Indian spice profiles. The result is something you won’t find at a Chinese restaurant or a traditional Indian restaurant: crispy fried chicken coated in a sticky, spicy, umami-heavy sauce with soy, ginger, garlic, green chili, and a touch of vinegar.

Curry and Ketchup is one of the only restaurants in Oslo — and the only one in Oslo West — that serves Indo-Chinese food. The menu includes Manchurian Chicken, Manchurian Gobi (cauliflower), Chili Chicken, and Momos (Tibetan-style steamed dumplings). For anyone who’s eaten Indo-Chinese street food in Mumbai or Kolkata, this section of the menu is a recognition signal. For everyone else, it’s a discovery.

Why it matters for Oslo: Indo-Chinese is one of the most popular street food categories in India — bigger than pizza, bigger than burgers — but almost completely absent from European restaurant menus. Finding it on Majorstuen is genuinely unusual.

4. Red Curry Chicken — The Southeast Asian Bridge

Origin: Southeast Asian (Thai/Indo-Asian crossover) Cooking method: Chicken simmered in a coconut-based red curry paste with lemongrass, galangal, and chili

The Red Curry sits at the intersection of Indian and Southeast Asian cooking. A coconut milk base familiar from South Indian cuisine meets Thai curry paste aromatics — lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime. It’s a bridge dish: recognizable to anyone who eats Indian food, but pulling in flavours from a different tradition entirely.

At Curry and Ketchup, the Indo-Asian section of the menu reflects the kitchen team’s combined training across the subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The Red Curry is milder than the Chili Chicken but more aromatic — it’s the dish to order if you want heat with complexity rather than just fire.

5. Chili Chicken — The Street Food Legend

Origin: Indo-Chinese (Kolkata street food, now pan-Indian) Cooking method: Chicken flash-fried, then tossed in a dry or semi-dry sauce with green chili, bell peppers, soy sauce, and ginger

Chili Chicken is the most popular Indo-Chinese dish in India — period. It’s served in every city, from roadside stalls to five-star hotel restaurants. The Curry and Ketchup version is semi-dry: crispy chicken pieces tossed with sliced green chili, onions, bell peppers, and a punchy soy-ginger-garlic sauce. It’s spicy, it’s crunchy, it’s addictive.

If Manchurian Chicken is the introduction to Indo-Chinese food, Chili Chicken is the obsession. It’s also the dish that most clearly separates Curry and Ketchup from other Indian restaurants in Oslo — you simply cannot get this at Der Peppern Gror, Jewel of India, or New Delhi.

Why Five Traditions in One Kitchen?

The honest answer: because the chefs can. The kitchen team at Curry and Ketchup has trained across multiple culinary traditions — North Indian tandoori, Indo-Chinese wok cooking, South Indian specialities, and Southeast Asian curries. Rather than picking one lane, the restaurant has spent nearly 30 years building a menu that reflects the actual breadth of what an Indian-trained kitchen can do.

For diners in Oslo West, that means a single restaurant on Majorstuen covers ground that would normally require three or four different restaurants:

That range is the reason Curry and Ketchup has maintained a 4.7 Google rating with over 3,000 reviews across nearly three decades on Kirkeveien. It’s not trying to be the fanciest Indian restaurant in Oslo. It’s trying to be the most interesting.

Practical Information

Restaurant: Curry and Ketchup Address: Kirkeveien 51, Majorstuen, Oslo Hours: Open daily 11:00–22:00 Cuisine: Indian, Indo-Chinese, Indo-Asian fusion, tandoori, street food Price range: Mains from approximately 189–289 NOK Nearest T-bane: Majorstuen stasjon (all lines) Reservations & takeaway: curryandketchup.no Dietary options: Vegetarian options available (Manchurian Gobi, Paneer dishes, Dal). Ask staff about gluten-free and vegan adaptations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Indo-Chinese food? Indo-Chinese is a fusion cuisine created by the Hakka Chinese community in Kolkata, India. It combines Chinese wok technique and soy-based sauces with Indian spice profiles. Popular dishes include Manchurian Chicken, Chili Chicken, and Hakka Noodles. Curry and Ketchup is one of the few restaurants in Oslo serving authentic Indo-Chinese dishes.

Is Curry and Ketchup halal? Contact the restaurant directly for current halal status and specific dietary information.

What’s the difference between Malai Tikka and regular Chicken Tikka? Both are cooked in a tandoor, but Malai Tikka uses a cream-and-cashew marinade that makes it milder and richer, while regular Chicken Tikka uses a spicier yoghurt-chili marinade.

Can I get Indo-Chinese food anywhere else in Oslo? Very few restaurants in Oslo serve Indo-Chinese food. Curry and Ketchup is the only restaurant in the Majorstuen/Oslo West area with a dedicated Indo-Chinese section including Manchurian, Chili Chicken, and Momos.

Is Curry and Ketchup suitable for large groups? The restaurant seats groups and can accommodate private dining arrangements. Contact them through curryandketchup.no for group bookings.

Curry and Ketchup has been serving Indian and Indo-Asian cuisine on Majorstuen since the late 1990s. The restaurant is located at Kirkeveien 51, Oslo, a short walk from Majorstuen T-bane station. Open every day from 11:00 to 22:00.