Chicken Korma (Creamy Cashew Curry)
Quick answer
Chicken korma developed in the kitchens of the Mughal courts, where cooks built dishes around layered subtlety rather than raw heat.
What makes this special
- Chicken Korma incorporates a creamy cashew and almond paste to create a velvety sauce.
- Cashew paste base gives velvety body without cream alone
- Whole spices marinated in yogurt build layered warmth
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Soak 40g cashews in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain them well.
- 2 Cut 700g chicken thighs into bite-size pieces.
- 3 Heat oil in a pan and cook 2 thinly sliced onions over medium-low heat for 25-30 minutes.
Chicken korma developed in the kitchens of the Mughal courts, where cooks built dishes around layered subtlety rather than raw heat. 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.
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.
After the steps
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