Make your own takeaway with this easy chicken korma recipe!
Anyone who has followed my blog and/or books for a while will know that I love a good curry house style curry. This easy chicken korma, though a bit mild for my liking is a family favourite at my house.
To make a korma like they do at British Indian restaurants a base sauce is used for speed, texture and flavour. You can see how that is done here.
This easy chicken korma ticks all the boxes. So good and can be made in one pan!
Does a curry house style korma have to be made with a base sauce?
The answer to that one is yes and no. If you want to make a chicken korma that tastes just like those at curry houses, you will need to prepare it with a base sauce as I do here.
That said, this easy chicken korma recipe will achieve equally as delicious results. Different results, yes. But I promise you won’t be disappointed.
How is this easy chicken korma different?
To make this easy chicken korma, you just need to use more traditional Indian cooking techniques.
This involves preparing a base masala in the pan by frying onions and adding a little chicken stock. I like the recipe exactly as written but you could also blend the onions before adding them to the pan if you prefer a smoother gravy.
Do I have to use pre-cooked chicken for this recipe?
No! I like to pre-cook the chicken as it is at curry houses. This speeds up the final cooking process and also adds another layer of flavour.
There are a number of ways to do this including the easy recipe below. If you want, however, you could just add the chicken raw to the simmering sauce and cook it for about ten minutes or until cooked through.
You are also not limited to chicken. Pre-cooked lamb, beef, tofu and vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are all amazing stirred into the sauce.
How I pre-cooked the chicken for this recipe.
You can really use any pre-cooked chicken. Sometimes I give new life to leftovers by adding them to a curry. That works too.
In this case, I simply dusted some chicken tikka with tandoori masala. Then I fried the spiced chicken in some oil.
It really was that easy and tasted great added to this easy chicken korma.
Cooking chicken to add to the easy chicken korma sauce.
Planning ahead…
There isn’t really all that much to do. This easy chicken korma is a one pot dish after all.
That said, you could fry the chicken a couple of days ahead of serving if you like. Go ahead and finely chop or blend the onions too.
Step by step…
It’s always a good idea to get your ingredients together before starting to cook.
Heat the ghee and add the whole spices to infuse for about 30 seconds.
Stir in the chopped onion and fry for about 5 minutes. If you prefer a smoother sauce, blend the onions before adding to the pan.
The onions are ready when they are soft, translucent and lightly browned.
Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and sizzle for 30 seconds. Add the ground spices and nuts along with the tomato puree.
Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
Allow the sauce to cook down and thicken some and then add the block coconut, garam masala and cream to finish.
Season with salt to taste and serve over white Basmati rice.
If you like this easy chicken korma recipe, you might like to try this dhansak recipes too.
Easy Chicken Korma
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 x 2.5cm (1 inch) cinnamon stick
- 3 green cardamom pods, bruised
- 700g (1 1/2 lbs) chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp ground almonds
- 2 tbsp coconut milk powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
- 100g (3.5 oz) block coconut
- 125ml (1/2 cup) single cream
- 1 tso garam masala
- Salt to taste
- Coriander (cilantro) to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the ghee over medium-high heat. When bubbly hot, add the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods to infuse for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the chopped onions and fry for about five minutes or until soft and translucent. Then add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for a further 309 seconds.
- Add the ground coconut, almonds and sugar along with the tomato puree and stir well to combine.
- Stir in the chicken stock and block coconut and continue stirring until the block coconut has melted. Then add the pre-cooked chicken and simmer in the sauce to heat through.
- To finish, add the garam masala and cream and season with salt to taste. Garnish with the chopped coriander (cilantro) to serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 299Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 385mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 4gSugar: 17gProtein: 4g
I hope you enjoy this easy chicken korma recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.