In most of my friends’ households, Sunday afternoons were always reserved for a humble chicken curry. Mine, however, committed that time to goat meat curry instead.
But there were times during the week when my mom would prepare a delicious chicken recipe for us. She never made the famous yellow coriander-cumin curry because I would not eat it. On several occasions she tried to convince me to eat it but I always ended up eating just the potato and curry and none of the chicken. After a while she gave up. So she tried several recipes to satisfy her food snob kid. My dad would eat whatever she served, but I was one hell of a fussy eater.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, our lunch menu was a humble fish curry and dinner menu a special item with flatbread. On the days she prepared special chicken curry I would wait eagerly for it. I would repeatedly visit the kitchen to check if it was done. If not, she assured me that I’d get a sample bowl as soon as it was done. When I finally got it I would cut the chicken pieces and put a spoonful in my mouth. I remember loving each bite. I would say to my mom, “Darun hoeche (It turned out great).” Then I would go back to my studies with the bowl in my hand. It was so delicious that I always licked the bowl clean.
On those days I would eagerly wait for dinner. At ten at night, when she called for dinner, I would run to the table. The days she made chicken curry I always ate an extra piece of flatbread.
When I was considering this week’s menu, my first thought was to make a chicken curry with cashews and raisins. Then I abandoned that idea for something simpler. I asked mom what recipes she had in her diary. “Chicken korma,” she replied. When I told her that I don’t want to cook something cashew raisin flavored she assured me that it wouldn’t be.
You must be wondering why there aren’t any nuts in my mom’s chicken korma recipe. I asked her the same question. She said it’s called Lite Chicken Korma for a reason. I call it mom’s chicken korma. Fried onion brings out the flavor of the dish.
So I tried her recipe on a snowy Saturday afternoon. When the curry was done I got a bowl of rice and spooned in some chicken and curry from the pot. I tasted a spoonful and was in heaven. I closed my eyes and told M how good it was. He wanted to try as well. It was tongue burning hot, but we managed to inhale two bowls in an instant. It was that good!
I prefer to eat weekend dinner with him so that Saturday evening the two of us devoured the chicken korma with basmati rice and salad.
You can also prepare this in a microwave. In that case, after stirring cook in microwave at full power for 10 minutes.
I used half of the fried onion to cook the recipe and the rest for garnish.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds bone-in chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 piece (1 1/2 inches) fresh ginger, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 6 whole green cardamom pods,
- 2 whole black cardamom pods
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 dried red chile, whole
- 2 teaspoon coriander seed
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon kashmiri chile powder
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro(for garnish)
Instructions
1. In a bowl add chicken pieces.
2. In a non-stick pan, over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add onion slices and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring continuously until golden brown. Set it aside in a bowl.
3. In a food processor, add half of the fried onion. Work the mixture until it forms a paste. Transfer it to a bowl.
4. In the same food processor, without rinsing add ginger and garlic. Work the mixture until it forms a paste. Transfer to the same bowl.
5. In a coffee or spice grinder, work the green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, red chile, and coriander seed until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
6. Add ginger-garlic and onion paste, dried spices, turmeric, chile powder and yogurt to the chicken. Stir well. Cover the chicken with cling wrap and set it aside for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
7. In the same pan and without washing, over medium heat add marinated chicken and salt. Cover it and cook for 5 minutes. Open cover and stir well. Cook covered for 18 to 20 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Garnish with the other half of fried onions, cilantro and serve with rice and flatbread.
My oh my, this just makes me want to go out and make that chicken korma right now. I think adding browned onions is a fab idea and I also like the fact that it has no cashews 😛 I prefer lite version any time of the day 😀
Dolphia – Love you clicks and the way you used your props… 🙂
Thanks dear <3