Authentic one-pot Chicken Korma recipe made in traditional Pakistani and North Indian style. Follow this step-by-step guide to make rich, flavorful Chicken Korma at home.
This Mughlai-style Chicken Korma is perfect for Eid, family dinners, or when you’re craving a rich and aromatic chicken curry. Chicken korma is ideal one pot chicken curry for family dinner.
This korma recipe regularly makes round to my dinner table along with other chicken curries like Butter Chicken, Boneless Chicken Karahi and Tawa Chicken.
What Is a Korma?
Korma or Qorma is a classic Indian Subcontinent dish made by braising meat in yoghurt, onions and aromatic spices. This is Pakistani or North Indian version of Authentic Chicken Korma. Its mildly spicy with smooth sauce and is very aromatic.
Korma made from scratch is definitely worth trying as it is a thousand times better than using premade sauces and pastes. You won’t ever go back to them once you have tried Authentic Chicken Korma recipe from scratch.
INGREDIENTS FOR AUTHENTIC CHICKEN KORMA ?
Before you read on, let me just tell you, don’t get scared by long list of spices. Korma is all about spices and their main purpose is to give the rich taste and aroma to the gravy .
The ingredients required for Chicken Korma are below:
Chicken – Chicken with bones cut into small pieces. The boneless chicken simply doesn’t work with Korma.
Yoghurt – Plain/Greek yoghurt is the used in korma, it makes the gravy thick. Tomatoes are not used in korma so it relies on yoghurt to form the gravy. The gravy is made from fried onions and yoghurt.
Spices – lets break the spices into 2 groups . First is the regular spices like red chilli powder, paprika, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder. The second is aromatic spices, this includes green cardamom, black cardamom, black pepper corns, cloves, bay leaves and lastly mace. Mace is dry coating of nutmeg seed. If you are unable to find it, substitute it with pinch of nutmeg.
Coriander/Cilantro – is used as sauce ingredient not as a garnish. Add it in the end and leave it to cook with the sauce. It releases its flavours and gives an amazing flavour to korma.
HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC CHICKEN KORMA?
The method of making Chicken Korma is fairly simple.
- Firstly, fry the onions in the oil and take them out once golden brown. Keep the heat on medium and stir them to ensure they get colour on them evenly. Aim for light golden colour as darker onions will result in dark coloured curry.
- In the same oil add all the aromatic spices and temper them for a minute. Add ginger garlic and chicken. Fry for few minutes untill chicken changes it colour.
- Add the remaining spices and fry for few minutes. Add water, cover and cook until chicken is fully cooked.
- Mix yoghurt and fried onions together using stick blender. Add it to the chicken, allow the gravy to simmer until its thick and it absorbs all the flavours from spices.
- Garnish with garam masala and coriander/cilantro
WATCH HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC CHICKEN KORMA
TIPS FOR MAKING AUTHENTIC CHICKEN KORMA
- Don’t cut back on oil. It seems that this recipe is using a lot of oil, but it is very essential. Korma has this distinct layer of oil on top of it and it’s the characteristic of a good korma.
- When frying onions make sure they don’t get too dark. The darker the onions, the darker will be the gravy colour. Just aim for light golden brown.
- Make sure to cook the chicken enough to be tender but don’t over cook which will result in meat falling off the bone.
- When adding yoghurt, its important to remove the pot from heat or turn the stove off. It prevents yoghurt from getting curdled which doesn’t make good appearance in gravy and it makes it grainy. Mix the yoghurt in and then return it to the medium heat.
KORMA FAQS
Q: Can I make chicken korma without yogurt?
A: Yogurt is essential for traditional korma. However, you can substitute with sour cream or coconut milk for variation, though the flavor will differ.
Q: Is chicken korma spicy?
A: It’s mildly spiced with rich aroma from whole spices. You can adjust heat by controlling chili powder.
Q: What’s the difference between korma and curry?
A: Korma is usually creamier, made with yogurt and fried onions, and contains aromatic spices rather than a tomato base.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH KORMA?
Its best to eat Chicken Korma with naan/flatbread. The scrumptious sauce definitely deserves a naan to be dipped into it.
Some people like Korma with rice you can try it with Pea Pulao
MORE DELICIOUS CURRIES TO TRY:
Authentic Chicken Korma
Ingredients
- 700 g Chicken with bone ( cut into Small pieces)
- 1 Large Onion
- 1 cup Plain Yoghurt See Notes
- 1 Tbsp Garlic and Ginger Paste
- 1½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli See Notes
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 1½ tsp Cumin
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 6-8 Blackpepper Corns
- 3-4 Green Cardamoms
- 1 Black Cardamom
- 2 pieces Mace
- ½ cup oil
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- Salt to Taste
- Coriander/cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a pot heat oil and fry onions untilgolden brown.
- Takes them out on paper towel and set aside.
- In the same oil add bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, cumin, mace, green and black cardamom. Temper for a minute and add garlic ginger paste.
- Add Chicken and fry until it changes colour.
- Add salt, red chilli, paprika, turmeric and coriander powder. Fry the meat for around 5-7 minutes. Add a dash of water if spices are sticking to the pan.
- Once you see oil separating, add 3/4 cup of water, cover and cook for around 15 minutes
- Blend yoghurt and fried onions together using stick blender. Alternatively crush fried onions with hands and mix them in the yoghurt.
- Remove the pot from heat and add yoghurt to the meat. Stir in until well combined.
- Return it back to heat and cook on medium flame until water from yoghurt evaporates and oil starts to separate.
- You can add little water to adjust the consistency of gravy. Cover and cook on low flame for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle garam masala. Garnish it with some cilantro/coriander.
Notes
- Use lamb leg or shoulder pieces. Trim off the excess fat.
- Use Greek style yoghurt, Pot style yoghurt can also be used. Ensure that it’s at room temperature when adding to the curry, this prevents it’s from splitting and getting curdled.
- Kashimiri red chilli is mainly for colour, if you dont have it use Paprika as an alternative
- Mace is outer covering of nutmeg. You can use whole piece or powder. Don’t add to much as its quite overpowering in flavour.
