Mar 17, 20243 min read

Chicken Korma Recipe

Updated: Jun 15, 2024

Chicken Korma is a wonderful creamy curry, quite often hot, but usually a medium heat making it one of the restaurant favourites.

This classic dish is marinated in yogurt, garlic and ginger then cooked with

light whole spices and finished with cream, coconut, almonds with a squirt of lemon juice.

This Chicken korma recipe has always been one of my favorites.

Serves 4 Preparation time 15 minutes, Marinating time 1 hour minimum, Cooking time around 50 minutes, Overall time around 65 minutes.

Recipe Difficulty level - Beginner-Friendly

Special equipment - None

Heat level - Mild - Medium

So what is a Korma? it is mostly thought of as a mild creamy curry with spices and coconut. korma originated from Mughlai cuisine from the Indian sub continent dating back to the 16th century. Today Korma is thought of as a style of cooking it is basically a braised dish cooked in stock or yogurt with spices over a low heat, incorporating the meat juices into the dish. For the purpose of this recipe, we will marinate the chicken in yogurt and some whole spices and then cook it in a pot with a lid on.

I have to say Chicken Korma is one of the finest Curries that I have ever cooked its always a winner at parties and is a great introduction for non curryholics to try new and exciting cuisines.

Recipe for Chicken Korma

This recipe is easy to follow: No special equipment is needed, your basic kitchen equipment should be suffice, but a heavy pan with a lid will work best. Read the recipe first then get your prep done.

Ingredients:

There are two sets of ingredients one for the marinade and for the rest of the main recipe, you should be able to find most of this in a supermarket or Indian store.

For the marinade:

1 inch piece of root ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
6 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
4 tablespoons of thick natural set yogurt

Ground Spices (Place in a small dish ready to use)

1 tablespoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon powdered black pepper
1 teaspoon of garam masala
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
½ teaspoon of chilli powder

For the rest of the recipe:

2 - 4 chicken breasts diced,

Or if you prefer use skinned chicken thighs for a fuller flavour

6 tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
300ml water
75g creamed coconut, cut into small pieces
100ml double cream
1¼ teaspoon of Celtic sea or Himalayan salt
2 heaped tablespoons of ground almonds
2 heaped tablespoons of desiccated coconut
Juice of ½ a lemon
large Knob of butter
fresh coriander leaves for garnish

How to make Chicken Korma

Click here for Kitchen Timer

Mix the yogurt, garlic and grated ginger together in a large glass bowl, then add the cardamom and cinnamon stick. Finally add the chicken pieces fully combine and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour, but it is better if left longer, even overnight.
In a shallow pan fry the sliced onions, in half of the oil or ghee, over a medium / high heat until they are golden brown and then put to one side.
Add the remaining ghee or oil to the pan over a low heat, add the ground spices and briefly fry to release the flavour, be careful not to burn the spices! (use a tablespoon of cold water and combine one at a time to cool the spices to prevent burning).
Now add the chicken along with all the marinade, bring the heat to high, and gently fry until the chicken has changed colour, sealing the chicken .
Add the 300ml of water, the fried onion slices, salt and creamed coconut, then simmer over a low heat with the lid on the pan for around 30 minutes, until the chicken is tender.
When the water has reduced keep the heat on low stir in the ground almonds, desiccated coconut and the double cream cook for a few minutes.
Turn off the heat, and allow to cool a little, then stir in the knob of butter, (if too hot the butter will separate or curdle) squeeze in the lemon juice, garnish and serve.