Chicken korma, as you may have guessed is a dish with its roots in the Indian subcontinent. The name korma basically means a dish made of meat or vegetables which are first seared on high heat and then braised with cream, yogurt, or stock in various spices to create an aromatic and flavourful dish with a delicious creamy sauce.
There are many variations of the chicken korma recipe, ranging from the most complex ones prepared in an often long but culturally rich process to the simpler ones modified for relatively easy preparation. This particular rendition of the recipe is my version of the latter and works great as a special dinner or lunch recipe that is a big hit with my family.
I would recommend assembling all your ingredients and doing all the chopping and cutting before starting to cook as the list of ingredients is fairly long and may be tricky to prepare a you go.
For the chicken, you may marinate the chicken overnight if you like but keep in mind that the sauce is quite spicy so its important to keep the marinade light for balance. I prefer to use unmarinated fresh chicken breast. Remember to salt it adequately for taste!
Creamy Chicken Korma
Course: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: Indian8
servings30
minutes40
minutes1
hour10
minutesIngredients
1 medium sized red onion, chopped.
3 tomatoes
2 tsp cumin powder
1 medium head of garlic ( 2 Tbsp fresh garlic, pounded)
3 tsp garam masala
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 Tbsp curry powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
500 ml natural plain ( unflavoured) yoghurt
Salt to taste
1 kg fresh chicken breast ( about 3-4 chicken breasts) or thawed.
Handful of fresh coriander leaves – chop 1/2 and the other 1/2 for garnishing.
2 inches fresh ginger ( 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, pounded)
- EQUIPMENT
Pan
Medium sized cooking pot
Blender
Chopping board
Mortar & Pestle
Knife
1 large and 1 small bowl
Measuring spoons and cups.
Directions
- Place the chicken breast in a clean bowl and wash with water. Drain off all the water and cut into cubes. Set aside.
- Peel and coarsely chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Separately, place the ginger and garlic in a mortar and pound with the pestle to a coarse mush. Set aside.
- Wash and chop the tomatoes and coriander and set aside.
- Place a clean pan on the stove, switch it on and set it to medium heat.
- Add the cooking oil to the pan and once the oil heats up, add the chicken cubes and fry until the chicken is white and firm or until crisp and golden brown depending on what you prefer.
- Remove the cooked chicken cubes from the pan and place them in a bowl lined with paper towels to drain off the excess oil. Set the pan aside.
- Place a medium-sized pot on the stove and add 2- 4 Tbsp of the vegetable oil leftover from frying the chicken and add to the pot. Set to medium heat.
- Once the oil heats up, add the turmeric powder and stir to let the turmeric release its flavours, then add the cumin, garam masala,salt, onion, ginger and garlic and cook until the onion is caramelized.
- Next add the chopped tomatoes and cover the pot. Reduce the heat and let it simmer on low heat until all the tomato is cooked through and disintegrated into a thick sauce. Add a little water if needed.
- Once you have a thick sauce, switch off the stove.
- Carefully pour the hot sauce into a blender and blend until the solids are no longer visible.
- Pour the blended mix back into the pot and switch on the stove.
- Next add the cooked chicken cubes and stir.
- In a small clean bowl, mix the curry powder with some water to form a thick paste. Add the paste to the pot and stir.
- Next , add the yoghurt and mix. Thrown in a few coriander leaves , mix and set the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes for the chicken to absorb the flavours.
- Garnish with a few sprigs of coriander and serve hot with chapati , naan or Delicious Vegetable Brown Rice with a side of fried plantain for an explosion of flavours. Enjoy!
