Chicken Korma

This Chicken Korma recipe is out of James Peterson’s, Cooking. Korma is a mild curry dish that can be traced back to the 16th century, originating in the area of modern day Pakistan and Northern India. [1]  The dish is really easy to make and comes together quickly.  Although there are two ingredients that might slow you down a bit, if you choose to use them.  The two ingredients are: ghee and drained plain yogurt.  You can bypass both of these ingredients by substituting butter for ghee, and Greek style yogurt for the drained yogurt.  I don’t have a ready supply of Greek style yogurt, so I drained the yogurt overnight in a colander, lined with paper towels.  Ghee I had never made, so I decided to give it a go.  Mine turned out a little darker than it’s suppose to be, but it still tasted good, kind of a nutty buttery taste.  The Nourishing Gourmet has a nice set of instructions for making ghee, if you choose to do so.

I really liked the way the sauce tasted on it’s own, but when combined with the brown basmati rice, the whole dish was a little more bland than I like.  I don’t see this as a fault of the recipe, but due to my inability to cook rice well.  The next time I make this dish I think I’ll cook the rice in chicken stock, so that the rice doesn’t wash out the sauce.  Also adding a bit of chili pepper and maybe some lemon zest would be nice.  I think I’d reduce the sauce just a little bit more as well.

Chicken Korma:

• 1 cup plain yogurt or 1/2 cup Greek style yogurt
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inches long by 1/2 inch wide
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/2 cup ghee or 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups brown chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Over medium heat, add the ghee and onion.  Cook onions until soft, add the spices, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer.  Add broth and boil until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken and simmer until done, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.  Incorporate the yogurt, add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over basmati rice.

[1] Korma

Author: Kenton