How to Make a Delicious Indian Chicken Korma
My wife and I are always looking for new and different recipes. We often find exciting recipes to try in the newspapers we read, but many of them are inspired by cooking magazines I subscribe to.
This recipe is adapted from a Food Network Magazine sent to us to encourage us to buy a subscription. It's a good cooking magazine with many good recipes, especially for weekday cooking.
What Is Korma?
Korma is an Indian curry dish typically prepared with almonds and yogurt or cream but can be made with water or stock or, in this recipe, coconut milk. The spices may vary depending on who prepares them and where they are from.
This recipe suggests onion, garlic, cilantro, and Madras curry powder, but we used a basic curry powder from our local supermarket. The difference between Madras curry powder and more readily available curry powder is their heat. Madras curry powder is hotter than red chili peppers.
I could have added hot chili powder to my curry powder to give it more heat and make it more like Madras. Next time, I'll give that a try.
Did You Know???
Both Madras curry powder and everyday curry powder are not Indian spices. Although they are based on spices from Indian cuisine, these curries are British spice blends based on British taste buds.
Don't Shake the Coconut Milk
This recipe uses the cream at the top of the can when you first open it and the milk underneath it. The cream looks like you would think it would, but the milk underneath looks more like cloudy water and not what you might expect.
It's essential you don't shake the can, or you won't have access to the cream that settles on top.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Korma Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 8 ounces green beans ends trimmed and halved
- 13½ ounce can coconut milk
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut up into pieces
- 1 tablespoon curry powder Madras if available
- salt & pepper to taste
- ¼ cup almonds sliced
- 1 small onion roughly chopped
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger peeled and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 plum tomatoes roughly chopped
- ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Start the rice in a rice cooker or small pot following the directions provided by the rice packaging.
- Steam or microwave the green beans until they turn bright green. Our rice cooker has a top attachment so we can steam the food while the rice is cooking. When the beans are done, remove and reserve.
- In a bowl large enough to hold all the chicken pieces, combine one tablespoon of the cream at the top of the opened coconut milk with the chicken, curry powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add the sliced almonds and toast over medium-high heat until lightly toasted and fragrant in a pan large enough to cook all the chicken. Remove and reserve.
- In a food processor or blender, puree the ginger, garlic, onion, and half the toasted almonds.
- Place the reserved pan you toasted the almonds over medium-high heat, and add two more tablespoons of the coconut cream from the top of the can of coconut milk. Add the onion/ginger/garlic puree to the pan and season with a pinch of salt. Stir and cook until the mixture in the pan is almost dry - about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, stir and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken pieces, remaining coconut milk, and cream left in the can to the pan. Cover the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Uncover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Add the green beans and half the cilantro to the pan of chicken, stir, taste, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Spoon Basmati rice into each bowl, top with the chicken Korma, and garnish with the remaining toasted almonds and chopped fresh cilantro.
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