Chicken Korma (Creamy Cashew Curry)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 9
About this dish
Chicken korma developed in the kitchens of the Mughal courts, where cooks built dishes around layered subtlety rather than raw heat.
Read more
The sauce begins with cashews or almonds soaked overnight and ground into a fine paste, which gives the gravy a velvety body and toasted-nut richness without any cream. Chicken is marinated in yogurt with whole spices - cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and mace blades - then brought to a low simmer where the warm aromatics slowly infuse the liquid and meet the tang of the yogurt, producing a flavor that is complex yet entirely without aggression. Saffron dissolved in warm milk and stirred in near the end stains the sauce a deep gold and adds a faint floral quality, two elements that mark a properly made korma. The dish is frequently recommended to diners encountering Indian food for the first time because of its mildness, but the dense nut-paste base, the careful balancing of a dozen aromatics, and the slow integration of yogurt make korma one of the most technically demanding preparations in the North Indian canon - far more than a simple mild curry.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Season
Soak 40g cashews in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain them well.
Blend until the paste is thick and completely smooth, scraping the sides so no hard pieces remain in the sauce later.
- 2Prep
Cut 700g chicken thighs into bite-size pieces.
Mix with 6 tbsp plain yogurt, 4 minced garlic cloves, and 1 tbsp ginger, massage until coated, and marinate at least 15 minutes so the surface softens evenly.
- 3Control
Heat oil in a pan and cook 2 thinly sliced onions over medium-low heat for 25-30 minutes.
Stir often, lower the heat if edges darken too fast, and blend once they are deep golden brown.
- 4Control
Warm the same pan over medium heat and add the marinated chicken.
Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring from the bottom, until the outside turns opaque and the yogurt marinade stops looking raw.
- 5Control
Add the onion paste, 1 tsp garam masala, and 1 tsp ground coriander.
Reduce to low heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring whenever the sauce thickens so the nutty onion base does not catch.
- 6Control
Stir in the remaining yogurt, cashew paste, and 80ml heavy cream in that order over low heat.
Simmer gently for 5 minutes, stopping before a hard boil, until the sauce is pale cream with a light oil sheen.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Chicken Korma incorporates a creamy cashew and almond paste to create a velvety sauce.
- Finish cue
- Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring from the bottom, until the outside turns opaque and the yogurt marinade stops looking raw.
- Storage and reheating
- The sauce begins with cashews or almonds soaked overnight and ground into a fine paste, which gives the gravy a velvety body and toasted-nut richness without any cream.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
55min, 9 ingredients
Category median
48min, 8 ingredients
Based on 247 recipes
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