How to Cook Chicken Korma
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 40 mins
Ingredients needed to make Chicken Korma:
- 4 large boneless chicken breasts, skinned
- 1 oz low fat natural yogurt
- 3 tbsp double cream
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- ¾ oz fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 2 tsp sugar
- 12 cardamom pods, seeds pounded
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- Small pinch of saffron threads
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp hot chili powder
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp ground cumn
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- ½ tsp salt, plus more for seasoning
- Freshly ground black pepper, to season
- Fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (optional)
Cooking instructions for Chicken Korma:
- Chop each chicken breast into 8-9 bite sized chunks and sprinkle plenty of black pepper over them; toss well to combine.
- Add the yogurt to it and stir well until they are coated properly; wrap the bowl with a plastic sheet and set aside in the fridge for at least half an hour or even better for 2-6 hours.
- Drizzle oil in a large sauce pan and heat it over moderate flame.
- Add the garlic as well as ginger into it and stir fry for a minute before stirring in the onions.
- Saute for a couple of minutes, while stirring at times, and put a lid on to cook over slow flame for about 15 minutes until they soften and attains a slight change of colour.
- Sprinkle the pounded cardamom seeds, bay leaf, cloves, turmeric plus the ground spices over them and give them a nice stir before cooking for 5 minutes, while stirring frequently.
- Dust the flour over them, along with salt, sugar as well as the saffron and empty a cup of water over the mixture.
- Stir them all together and simmer it gently, covered, for about 10 minutes, while stirring at times.
- Turn off the heat and discard the bay leaf before tipping the contents into a blender and blending them into a somewhat smooth puree.
- Transfer the marinated chicken chunks to the colander to drain and shake off any excess coating of yogurt sticking to them.
- Return the pureed sauce to the pan and reheat until it begins to simmer.
- Drop the chicken pieces into it, along with the cream and cook for about 12 minutes or until the meat is cooked through; stir the korma often.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings and pour it into a serving bowl.
- Top it up with chopped fresh cilantro and serve at once with Indian rice pilaf or chapattis (Indian flatbreads)
Image credit: Wikimedia Commmons
