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Easy chicken korma served in a bowl with rice
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Easy Chicken Korma made at home!

Chicken Korma is a delicious Indian dish that's mildly sweet from caramelized onions and fragrant from whole spices and garam masala. It's a rich gravy that's creamy and luxurious.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Diet Halal
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6 Portions
Calories 300kcal
Author Richa

Ingredients

  • 1 kg Chicken boneless skinless thighs ,cut into 1.5 inch pieces
  • ½ cup Yogurt
  • 2 teaspoon Salt divided
  • 1 teaspoon Black Pepper ground
  • 4 tablespoons Ghee
  • 4 Onions large (sliced)
  • 10 Cashew nuts soaked in water for 30 minutes
  • 6 Garlic cloves peeled
  • 1 inch Ginger peeled
  • 3 Green Chillies / Serrano Peppers
  • 2 Cardamom Pods
  • 1 Bayleaf
  • 3 Cloves
  • 1 inch Cinnamon stick
  • 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Chilli Powder / Cayenne Pepper
  • ½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
  • 3 tablespoons Cream
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Marinate the chicken in yogurt, salt and pepper and set aside for 20 minutes. Soak the cashews in water at the same time so that they soften by the time you are ready to use them.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons ghee and cook the onions till golden brown. Browning the onions takes a while, because it’s important to brown them without burning. Keep stirring them every few minutes as they cook to prevent them from sticking to the bottom. Once they are evenly deep golden brown and soft, you know they are ready (or refer to the video above for colour).
  • Transfer them to a mixer grinder along with soaked cashews, garlic, ginger, green chillies and a little water and grind till smooth.
  • Heat the remaining ghee and add whole spices (cardamom pods, bayleaf, cloves, cinnamon) and the chicken. Stir fry the chicken on high heat for a few minutes till slightly brown. Add the onion paste with ½ cup water, coriander powder, chilli powder and salt. Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally while the chicken cooks, and and add more water if necessary.
  • Once the chicken is cooked, add garam masala and cream, mix well and turn it off. Serve hot.

Notes

  1. Onions: You can use white or red onions in this recipe. I prefer white onions because of their flavour but they can be hard to find sometimes. We've tested the recipe with both.
  2. Slicing Onions: Slicing four onions can seem like too much work. So either get some help, or use a mandoline if you own one. It makes this really fast and you'll get even, thin slices
  3. Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs is my meat of choice for this recipe because they remain tender and juicy. If you'd like to use chicken breasts, skip the step where we stir fry the chicken on high heat to get some colour and just add them directly along with the onion paste and simmer so that they don't overcook.
  4. Is korma unhealthy? Not really. The richness in the gravy comes from onions and cashews and not from too much cream or butter.

Nutrition

Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 727mg | Potassium: 277mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 291IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg