Chicken Kurma Recipe, Authentic Indian Chicken korma (2024)

Indian Chicken kurma recipe with Coconut Milk

Chicken kurma is a Persian word and this dish comes from Mughlai cuisine. It depicts cooking style of Northern part of India and Hyderabad city of India. Use of dry nuts and ground spices makes Mughlai cuisine unique. In this cuisine dishes goes from mild tospicy. Some Mughlai recipes from my blog are–

• Palak Paneer
• Chole
• Naan
• Biryani

Some desserts are

• Shahi tukda
• kheer
• Kulfi
• Kalakand

Today I am sharing one anotherdeliciousMughlai dish that is Chicken Korma. It is a thick gravy based curry prepared using yogurt, almond and ground spices. Chicken pieces are grilled or shallow fried separately. Then they are mixed with gravy and simmer. And Chicken korma is ready. Easy isn’tit ?

Yes ! It is. In this recipe if ingredients are on hand, it takes few minutes to prepare. It need more preparation than cooking. This chicken korma is not only easy but healthy too. I have reduced the amount of fat and replaced cream with coconut milk. It is healthy chicken korma and you can have it without guilt. However, if you wish to make it more delicious , add full fat cream and use ghee instead of sunflower oil. Let’s jump to the recipe.

Ingredients

*measurement for cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml

For the Chicken Marinade

450 grams (1 pound) boneless skinless chicken breasts
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon curry powder or garam masala
¼teaspoon salt
1teaspoon sunflower oil or extra virgin olive oil

For the Sauce

2tablespoons sunflower oil
2 mediumonions, peeled and roughly chopped
4cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoonfreshly grated ginger root
½ teaspoon cumin
A pinch of asafoetida
5 whole cloves(I didn’t had powder)
1teaspoon turmeric
2teaspoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon red chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
½ cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 teaspoonground almonds
1 teaspoonbrown sugar(heaped)
1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Step by step– chicken kurma

Step 1. Wash and clean chicken thoroughly under running water. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. In a mixing bowl put chicken pieces, add ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon curry powder or garam masala, ¼teaspoon salt, 1teaspoon sunflower oil. Mix it well and keep aside for at least half an hour (2 hours recommended).

Step 2. Heat a heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat. Fry the marinated chicken for8- 10minutes until it’s cooked. Don’t forget to flip the chicken pieceswhen halfway done.

Preparing Korma Sauce

Step 3. In a large saucepan heat2 tablespoons ofsunfloweroil over medium heat. Once the oil ishot, add cumin seeds and cloves (lavang)to crackle.Then add asafoetida, saute for 30 seconds.Add the chopped garlic and ginger,saute for 30 seconds. Then add onion and cook for a 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns togolden brownin color.

Step 4. Once onion is cooked, add turmeric, 2teaspoons curry powder, 3/4 teaspoon garam masala, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder. Saute mixture for about 1 minute on low heat. Be careful thatspices shouldn’t burn at this point else curry will turn bad.Turn off the heat.

Step 5. Let the mixture cool down. Blend the mixture in a blendertill itturns tosmooth consistency.

Step 6. Now pour the mixture into cooked chicken pan (in step 2). Place the pan on low heat.

Step 6. Add the full can of coconut milk and yogurt. Stir it continuously for 1 or 2 minute on low heat so that yogurt doesn’t get split. Now increase heat to bring boil to the mixture.

Step 7. Add brown sugar and 2 teaspoon almond powder.

Step 8. Lastly add salt to taste. Cook for 5 minutes and turn off the gas. You can adjust the consistency by increasing water or decreasing by simmering for few more minutes.

Chickenkurma is ready to serve with naan, chapati or rice.

Recipe card – Chicken kurma