Here’s something brand spankin’ new. I’ve had Korma at restaurants and parties, and never before had the inclination to try making it. This recipe is from one of my mother’s cookbooks which was not written in English. I did my best with the translation and tried my hardest to follow the directions. I have some issues with the way this Korma is made. The recipe incorporates two methods I absolutely hate: frying onions beforehand & adding yogurt as a thickener. I’ll gripe about it at the end of the post.

Ingredients

• 1 whole Chicken (skinned and quartered)
• 2 med. Onions (sliced thin)
• 1 tsp Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp Ginger Paste
• 1/4 cup Canola Oil
• 1/4 cup Yogurt (whisked w/ 1 tbsp of water)
• 2 tsp Salt – to taste
• 2 tsp Chili Powder – to taste
• 1/2 tsp Black Cumin (Nigella) seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
• 6 whole Black Peppercorns
• 6 whole Cloves
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 3 Black Cardamom pods
• 3 Green Cardamom pods (or 1/4 tsp of ground Cardamom seeds)
• a few threads of Saffron (ground)

Method

Prep: Slice the Onions. Skin, wash, dry, and cut up the Chicken. Grind Black Cumin, Cumin, Coriander, Peppercorns, and Cardamom seeds (if using). Set the spice blend aside for now.

In a large pot, heat the Oil to med. high and fry the sliced Onions. This will take around 15 min so be patient. Once the onions are a brown, remove from the pot with as little of the oil as you can. Place on a paper towel lined plate to dry. Once they are dry (or as dry as can be) grind them.

 

Lower the heat to low and add the Cinnamon and Cloves. Add the Chicken and cook until the meat is a light brown.

 

Pour in the whisked Yogurt. Keep stirring. When the oil separates add Salt, and Garlic & Ginger pastes.

 

Keep stirring. Add the ground spices with the Chili powder. After a few minutes toss in the ground Onions and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil.

 

Lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Add the Saffron and the Black & Green Cardamom. Cover and let cook for about 30 min. Check that the Chicken is cooked. Next check the consistency of your gravy. For thin – add 1/2 cup of water. For thick – allow the water to cook off.

Serve with warm bread or rice. I tried out some Brown Basmati Rice – I think I like white better. Enjoy!

My notes

– I hate frying onions because the smell will linger for days in the house. Next time I will use about a cup of fried onions (from the bag).

-The yogurt is a necessary evil.

– I also ground up the black cardamom (as a mistake), but it gave the Korma a subtle smoky flavor. Also there were less things to avoid while eating.

– For the chicken, I did not include the spine or neck, and I trimmed most of the ribs from the breast. Save the back bone for chicken stock if you like. I just tossed it out.

– I’m not wholly convinced on the saffron.