CHICKEN KORMA…MAKE MINE HOME-MADE!

Chicken Korma…home-made & finger licking good!

There was an article in the ‘Daily Mail’ a while ago, which was republished in the’ Mail Today’, here in India, more than a month ago (May 16, 2008 pg 15). It talked about junk food as ‘seen by most of us as an unhealthy but occasional treat. A survey in the UK has revealed just how bad a takeaway can be. Most meals surveyed exceeded safe limits of fat & salt content, the doner kebab being the worst offender, which can contain as much fat as a wine glass full of cooking oil’! PHEW!! ‘Overall, 86 percent of the meals had dangerously high fat content and 72 percent had high salt content, according to the research by UK’s Hampshire County Council.’

‘The chicken korma, with a fat content of 95.4g (136% of a woman’s GDA) & a salt content of 1.1g 18.3% of GDA, made it to the list too. Others included a king prawn chowmein, a lamb curry, a medium pizza with garlic bread.’ It was heartening to read that ‘there are attempts in UK to encourage chefs to use less fat & salt.’ To quote Jen Green, a scientific consultant on the survey, ” If the chef is looking to make a curry or a stir-fry, it would be useful if they had in mind how much fat & salt they put in it. It is surprising how little you need to put flavour.” I couldn’t agree more…with health issues looming large, in an already hectic & stressed lifestyle, this is food for thought!

To convert the thought back into food, here is a flavourful, simple chicken curry for the soul & spirit!

The korma is a mild, pale, creamy, curry dish originating in India. Korma has its roots in the Mughlai cuisine of North India. It is a characteristically creamy and silky Persian-Indian dish which can be traced back to the 16th century and the Mughal incursions into the North-Western parts of India and modern day Pakistan and Bangladesh.

This recipe comes from my sis in the US, also known as our family’s ‘chicken queen’, for never failing to come up with chicken in every avatar possible, from varied cuisines. North African, Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian, Middle-Eastern…the list goes on. This particular recipe is one she put together as an ‘amalgamation’ of several versions; fits the bill for a perfect & simple korma; one that uses everyday ingredients found on an Asian spice shelf. It’s been bookmarked in my folder for eons, so has to be on its way to Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments for her Bookmarked event….

Recipe…

Ingredients:
Chicken – 1 broiler cut into pieces, the smaller the chicken the better , about 800gms (on the bone)
Onion – 3-4 md/ 250 gms, sliced fine
Green cardamom / Choti elaichi – 8-10
Cloves – 10-12
Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
Peppercorns – 8-10 are optional
Ginger paste – 2 tbsp
Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Coriander / Dhania pwdr – 5 tsp, sifted
Chili pwdr – 2tsp / as per taste
Paprika/Deghi mirch – 1tsp
Yogurt – 250 gms / 1 cup, whisked

Method:

• Take oil in a heavy bottom pan and fry onions till a dark golden brown. Take them out, drain on kitchen towel and grind in a coffee grinder. Should be crisp dry when cool. (I crushed them between 2 sheets of absorbent paper; that absorbed some of the oil too, overall reducing the fat content)
• In the same oil, put in cardamom, cloves,cinnamon & pepper and roast a little till the cloves swell up.
• Immediately add ginger and garlic paste followed by the chicken and roast really well till the water reduces and the chicken looks light brown on all sides.
• Cover and simmer for a few minutes on low heat.
• Add coriander pwdr, chilli pwdr and paprika and mix well..keep heat medium-low…
• Then add well beaten yogurt, a little at a time, and roast for a while till it is well incorporated and makes a thickish gravy and the oil comes to the side.
• Turn flame to simmer (very low), cover pan and cook for 10 minutes till the chicken is almost done. The chicken will cook in the water left behind by the yogurt.
• The colour of the curry, at this point, will look insipid; don’t worry. The curry will come to life with a rich colour once the onion paste is added.
• Now add the ground fried onion paste and mix well. Add some water, if required to make gravy…as much or as little as you like.
• Let it come to a boil, then cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes for a last time.
• Serve hot with naan, parathas or steamed rice.