Best Chicken Korma Recipe - Indian
Deeply marinated chicken, simmered in a deliciously fragrant, velvety yogurt sauce. Lightly spiced yet intensely flavorful, this is the Best Chicken Korma Recipe ever! Its off-the-charts delicious!
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 521kcal
Equipment
- Medium dutch oven or pot
- Blender
Ingredients
Chicken & Marinade
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup yogurt full fat
- 2 pounds chicken thighs skinless and boneless
Biresta
- ¼ cup ghee
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 onion medium
Sauce Mix
- ½ cup water
- ½ onion
- ½ inch ginger
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 3-4 green chilies optional, to taste
Raisin and Nut Paste
- 3 Tablespoon pistachios and or almonds
- 2 Tablespoon golden raisins
- ½ cup water
Whole Aromatic Spices
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 inches cinnamon
- 2 black cardamom
- 5 green cardamom
- 7 cloves
- 10 black peppercorns
Finishing
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup milk powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 8 green chilies optional, to taste
- 8 prunes optional
- 1 teaspoon rose water optional
Garnish (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon almond slices optional
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken - Whisk the yogurt and salt together, until creamy and thoroughly combined in a large bowl Lightly score the chicken thighs so that the marinade can be easily absorbed. Add the chicken to the marinade and mix thoroughly making sure that each piece is coated thoroughly. Marinate at least one hour to overnight.
- Make the biresta (fried onions) – Heat the oil and ghee over medium high heat in a medium dutch oven until almost smoking. Add the thinly sliced onions and sauté until a light golden brown. Remove the fried onions from the oil with a slotted spoon and place the fried onions on a paper towel and spread out. Set aside dutch oven with the flavored oil for later use - about 5 minutes.
- Blend the korma sauce mix - Add all the ingredients together into a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside
- Blend the raisin and nut paste - Add all the ingredients together and ¼ cup of the biresta into a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Temper the whole spices - Heat the biresta oil over medium heat. Add the whole spices and sauté until fragrant - about 30 seconds
- Fry the korma sauce until the oil separates - Add the korma sauce and saute until all the water evaporates and the oil rises to the top of the sauce - about 2-4 minutes
- Cook the marinated chicken in the sauce - Add the marinated chicken to the simmering korma sauce and mix thoroughly. Reduce flame to medium low and cook. Add another ¼ cup of water if the sauce looks really dry. Mix and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the dried fruit and nut paste. Mix well. Simmer for about 15 minutes on medium to medium-high heat, stirring from the bottom occasionally. If it looks like the chicken is breaking apart, swirl the pot to move the sauce instead of stirring the pot. Add all the finishing ingredients and mix well. Put the lid on the pot and turn off the heat. All the korma to rest for 10 minutes - do not open the lid during this time.
- Garnish and serve - Sprinkle the remaining biresta and sliced almonds on top of the korma and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Keep the marinating period under 24 hours. A longer marinating time is better for chicken korma but the chicken will soften and fall apart during the cooking process if over marinated. If using bone-in chicken thighs, lightly score the meat so that the yogurt marinade can penetrate.
- Fry the spice until just fragrant. Reduce the heat if it looks like the whole spices are burning. The objective is to release the flavor and aroma of the spices when frying. A good way to know when you are done is when the cinnamon stick opens slightly.
- Sauté the korma spices until the oil rises. This process of sautéing spices until the excess moisture evaporates and the oil rises to the top is called "Bhunna." This process is unique to Indian cooking and helps develop the signature rich and creamy gravies popular in the region. If the spice mix dries out, it is ok to add a little water. If the spices look like they are burning, reduce the heat. Sometimes if the oil does not rise, it’s because very little oil was used in the first place. In this case add a tablespoon of oil as the spices do need a minimum amount of oil to develop flavor.
- Once the sauce is done add the 'finishing' ingredients and adjust for seasoning. The nut and raisin paste does not take long to blend into the sauce. The powdered milk adds a creamy-sweet flavor that is hard to reproduce with heavy cream, half and half and evaporated milk. The sauce should taste a little sour-sweet. Indian yogurt is quite tart so the Chicken Korma sauce is meant to be tangy. To adjust for this effect a little lemon juice works very well. Also if the blended raisins do not add sufficient sweetness, add a tiny bit of sugar until the sauce tastes just right.
- Do not skip the garnish. The biresta and almonds add a lot of flavors to the dish. Unlike some garnishes which are present primarily for appearance or a hint of freshness, the biresta and sliced almond garnish adds a ton of flavor in addition to a distinctive luxurious look and taste for which Mughal cuisine is famous for.