Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for about one minute. Once it shimmers, add your chopped onion and cook for three minutes until it gets a little bit soft. This step takes literally five minutes but makes the slow cooker chicken curry taste so much better than just dumping raw onion in.

Stir in the minced garlic and fresh ginger, cooking for just 30 seconds until you smell that amazing aroma. Don't let it burn or it'll taste bitter — this is where most people mess up. Once it's fragrant, you're done with this step.

Add the curry powder to the pan and stir constantly for about one minute. You're basically blooming the spices, which means they'll release all their flavor into the oil instead of tasting dusty.

Transfer everything from the skillet into your slow cooker — onion, garlic, ginger, and all that spiced oil. This is the key difference between an okay slow cooker curry recipe and one that actually tastes incredible.

Add the chicken pieces, diced tomatoes (with their juice), coconut milk, chicken broth, carrots, potatoes, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Stir everything together really well so the spices get distributed evenly. I always check that nothing's stuck to the bottom.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours — this is non-negotiable if you want tender chicken. If you're in a rush, you can do high for 3 to 4 hours, but I promise the low-and-slow method tastes better.

After six hours, give everything a taste and adjust seasonings if needed — add more salt if it tastes flat, or more curry powder if you want extra spice. Remove the bay leaves before serving, then ladle this beautiful dump and go curry into bowls.