Chicken Korma

A request was made of me to make a Chicken Korma. After some searching on the Internet to find out what that was and what it entailed, I found this recipe. It called for two ingredients that I didn't have but that I could easily make, they were 1/4 of tomatoe sauce and 1 cup of chicken broth.

I really enjoyed making the Korma, though there are a few things I would do differently next time. Firstly my wok is not in the best shape, and doesn't sit flush with the stove top (repeated abuse over the years).  So instead I would use a large pot with an appropriately sized lid. Second, I would use whole bay leaves as opposed to the crumbled ones I have, they didn't break down and were annoying when encountered while eating it. The flavour was good but the downsides detracted from my enjoyment of the meal. Lastly, I would grind the coriander in a pepper mill and find a better way of pasting the ginger and garlic together. A mortar and pestle, while doing the job admirably well, was time consuming and the coriander didn't grind down as fine as I would have enjoyed.


While not necessary, I layed everything out next to the wok, so that as I needed an ingredient it was ready to go. In timing dependent cooking this is a very good idea and a habit I am trying to get into. This will increase the prep time, but will greatly simplify the cooking time. Everything is close to the point of use and is organized in such a manner that as I use the item, the next item I am going to use is right there.

All in all, as far as curried dishes go, I really enjoyed this one. The flavours weren`t too strong, nor too mild. The consistency was on par with what I have come to expect from curried dishes. I haven`t seen to many recipes call for cream and yogurt as opposed to coconut milk, so I was kind of wary at first as to how the dish would turn out.

Cashews - 30 g
Ginger - 16 g
Garlic - 10 g
Onion - 157 g
Spices - 8 g (The spice must flow)
Tomatoe Sauce - 74 g
Chicken Broth - 166 g
Chicken - 545 g

I gathered all of the ingredients into one location prior to making the dish. The idea is I will be using ingredients from left to right and closest to furthest from me. The cashews were placed into the boiling water just before this picture was taken. This allows me to concentrate on the actual cooking instead of constantly referring to a recipe to find out what to do next. That is not to say I didn't have a recipe on hand to guide me through the steps, just that it isn't as critical that it be there. This is in addition to reviewing the recipe so I know what to expect and when to expect it. There is nothing worse than following a recipe and discovering a surprise you didn't see on the first read through.







I added some oil into the preheated wok along with some crumpled bay leaves. As I mentioned above, use whole bay leaves! This allows you to remove them when the meal is done. Into the oil went the onions, stirring every so often.








After the onions have softened and changed colour, I added the ginger/garlic paste and spices. I know, this picture is really unappetizing, but trust me it gets better!












Next I added the chicken, cooking and stirring for roughly 5 minutes.

I mixed in the tomatoe sauce and chicken broth at this point, covered the wok and let it simmer for 15 minutes. I made sure to stir every so often.

The cashew, cream and yogurt mixture was added last and again allowed to simmer for another 15 minutes. Before taking the Korma off of the heat, I added the cornstarch mixture and allowed it to thicken. I ended up using four times as much cornstarch as the recipe called for until the Korma came to a consistency that I was happy with.

Served on a bed of brown rice. This was a really tasty meal and I will definitely do this again in the future.











Chicken Korma
1 Liter
Heat in a medium sized pot for 30 seconds over medium heat:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 whole bay leaves
Stir in:
1 large minced Onion
Cook until the onion is soft. In a separate container, combine and set aside:
1/4 cup of boiling water
1/4 cup of cashews
Make a paste in a food processor or blender:
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 of peeled ginger
Add the paste to the onions. Also add:
1 teaspoon Coriander 
1 teaspoon Garam masala 
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Turmeric
1 teaspoon Chili powder
1 1/2 cubed Chicken breasts
Cook for 5 minutes. Add:
1/4 cup tomatoe sauce
1 cup chicken broth
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. In another container, blend together:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 plain yogurt
Cashew and water mixture
Stir the mixture into the wok, continue simmering for another 15 minutes. Mix and add:
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
Cook for another minute or until the sauce thickens. Serve on a bead of rice.

The resulting dish measured in as 1 liter by 989 grams, which works out to enough to feed 3-4 people. The total cost of the ingredients was $5.32, this means that it is $1.33 per serving. The price did not include the cost of the rice.