Chicken Korma Recipe
Chicken in Coconut Almond Sauce
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Heat
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Serves
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Dietary Info
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Prep 10 mins
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Marinade 30 mins
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Cook 20 mins
Beautifully tender pieces of chicken delicately spiced and cooked in a thick coconut and almond flavoured sauce.
Hari says
This is one of my guilty pleasures. Chicken Korma is a dish that comes from the Mughal Dynasty when it was cooked for the wealthy and enjoyed a prestigious status associated with the royal courts.
There is so much about this dish that I could tell you, but the main thing is that if you don't like the heavy, sweet, creamy korma chicken curry served in restaurants then please, please, please forget what you know and try this Korma curry recipe. It is simply amazing. It's light, it's fresh and has a subtle sweetness which comes from the cassia bark rather than spoonfuls of processed sugar.
Just remember there is no rule book that says a korma has to be mild. I like the gentle blend o flavours in this dish, but I also love my food hot, so just dial up the chilli and you'll create something beautifully balanced and delicious. Come on, let's cook this now!
To buy the main ingredients for my Korma recipe, check out my Chicken Korma curry kit.And if you're looking for something with fewer calories, check out my Healthy Chicken Korma recipe!
- Ingredients
- Method
- 4-6 chicken thigh fillets, skinned and chopped into chunks
- Pinch of saffron
- 2 tbsp milk
Marinade
- 3cm ginger, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 150g Greek yoghurt
- 1 heaped tsp gram flour
- 1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
Sauce
- 1 tbsp butter ghee or vegetable oil
- 2 onions, minced
- 1-3 dried red chillies
- 3 cloves
- 3 green cardamoms
- 3cm pieces cassia bark
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 75g creamed coconut/400ml coconut milk
- 2 heaped tbsp almonds, ground
- 1 tsp white poppy seeds, ground
- Handful of finely chopped coriander leaves
- Squeeze of lemon juice
Method
- Crumble saffron into a small bowl, add the milk and leave to steep.
- Place the coriander seeds, salt and peppercorns into a pestle and mortar and crush.
- Then add the roughly chopped ginger and garlic and pound to create an aromatic paste.
- Place chicken into a large bowl and add the yoghurt, gram flour, turmeric and the paste from the pestle and mortar. Stir thoroughly, cover and leave to marinade for an hour or longer if possible.
- Heat oil or ghee in a pan and add the cloves, cardamom pods, cassia and the dried red chillies and fry for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Add the minced onions and fry gently on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until they just begin to brown.
- Add chicken and stir-fry for about 5 minutes on a medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Place the lid on the pan, reduce the heat and leave to cook for about 15-20 minutes.
- Pour in the creamed coconut, with the ground almonds and poppy seeds then stir to thicken.
- Increase the heat and simmer until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened to the consistency you want. Pour in the saffron milk for added decadence and remove the pan from the heat.
- Garnish with the garam masala and fresh coriander. You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice for added freshness, then serve.
Served with
Serve this chicken curry with just some plain basmati rice or some naan bread - this dish requires nothing more.
Nutritional information
| Typical values* | per Serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 454 |
| Fat (g) | 12 |
| of which saturates (g) | 3 |
| Carbohydrates (g) | 41 |
| of which sugars (g) | 4 |
| Fibre (g) | 17 |
| Protein (g) | 25 |
| Salt (mg) | 791 |
This goes well with
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Comments
Comments (64)
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Hari Ghotra
Hi Freya Thank you for your very kind words. I am so happy to read this, its wonderful to know the recipes are being enjoyed at home. If you took any pictures I would love to see them - you can share them with me on my free app. I will aim to keep helping where I can. Thank you for enjoying the dish. Hari
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lee
Have done this recipe numerous times along with the pasanda,recently i've been mixing and matching the two to great effect.Today i will be marinating the chicken korma style and the sauce will be pasanda style,for me they work brilliantly as they have obvious similarities but am i commiting 'curry' blasphemy? :-)
Love to know what you think Hari.
Great recipes i've been doing for years and the tube tutorials are an excellent back up if your not sure about something.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Lee It's ok if you like it it's not wrong! Enjoy and thanks so much for trying the recipes and your support! Hari
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Sivanya
Hi Hari!
I'm going to be trying this recipe out today, however, I'm curious as to how to adapt this to a Paneer Korma?
Do I fry the Paneer and then marinate in the yoghurt? Or not marinate and just add the yoghurt directly to make a sauce and add the Paneer last?-
Hari Ghotra
It's not going to do any harm to use the method as is with the marinade. Or you can add ginger and garlic to the onions and add the spices (ground coriander, black pepper, turmeric) to the yoghurt and add with the coconut then add the panner. Let me know how yo get on.
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Kevin
Have been making this Indian Korma for the last 3 years , it’s what introduced my daughter to the delights and flavours of Indian food. Still making it , still enjoying it , thanks-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Kevin - I am so happy to read this - thrilled that you are still cooking it Thank you so much!
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Maree
Hi Hari
I'm looking to do this dish as part of a group of Indian dishes - is it ok to make the day before then reheat gently on the day?-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Maree Yes is sure is!! Just heat until hot all the way through. Enjoy and take pictures to post in the app please. Thanks Hari
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John Sissons
this curry is outstanding and a great way to use left over roast chicken
I've never left a comment about anything from hotels to satisfaction with service but this curry is exceptional and compelled me to leaving a comment
I thank the chef for sharing her recipe which is loved by my whole (x2 young children and wife) family-
Hari Ghotra
Hi John I am truly humbled thank you for your lovely words! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the dish and that your family loved it too. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and I hope you will be trying more of the recipes! Thanks Hari
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Duncan Campbell
Hi Hari, Thanks for the swift reply. Once you remove the chicken from the marinade do you discard all of the marinade?, Thanks-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Duncan - no add all the marinade as well. I'd love to see pictures! Thanks
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Duncan Campbell
Hi Hari, Could you tell me if all these ingredients (cloves, cardamom pods, cassia and the dried red chillies) are left in the finished dish? If you bite on a clove or cardamon pod it can be quite unpleasant for some folk (wife). Should I grind the cloves and use like that and use just the seeds of the cardamon. It is quite hard to remove them before serving. Love your recipes and how they are presented on your website.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Duncan Thanks for your comment - totally understand that many people don't like whole spices. If this is a problem then either blitz the whole spices to a powder, or remove the cardamom husk and crush the seeds and use those. Add these powders when you add the chicken and not at the beginning as they are too delicate. The cassia and whole chillies add at the beginning, just remove them before you serve. Is that ok? Thanks Hari
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Steve Walsh
I'll be making your Khorma tonight for about the fifth time. In the last couple of years I have been introducing my kids to Desi food, and they absolutely love it. I have one complaint, though... they like your recipes better than restaurant food, so now I am forced to cook constantly!!! Thanks for the great food, and for making dinner fun and delicious!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Steve That has filled me with no end of joy. Thanks so much for using the website and even more for introducing your kids to home made Indian food. So sorry that it means you are in the kitchen all the time but its great to share home made food with the ones you love so keep doing it. Thanks Hari
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Richard
Hi,
I first cooked this to eat with my son after a day hiking round the Pentland hills in the snow. We were famished and this seemed like the nicest meal ever, and it is now a firm family favourite, absolutely delicious, although I sometimes omit the saffron milk step if pushed for time.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Richard - Its really wonderful to hear that the recipes are creating memories for you guys. Thanks so much for sharing that and I'm super pleased that it's a family favourite now! Thanks so much Hari
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Annelise Tyler
Love this korma! Have made it several times with breast of chicken and thigh - both really yummy. I was wondering - would it work well with lamb do you think?-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Annelise Lovely comments - thank you for trying the recipe! Yes it would work with lamb but it would need to be cooked for longer on a low heat. Personally I'm not a fan of this light sauce with red meat but give it a go and let me know what you think. Thanks very much. Hari
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Ktulu
Hari, do you think I can replace gram flour with coconut flour? Will it work the same way? I have made chicken korma twice so far and my main problem was splitting yougurt, which doesn't look pleasant...-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Katarina You can use coconut flour but the yoghurt shouldn't really split. Which yoghurt are you using? you can also whip the yoghurt first which should help. Ideally, a thick greek yoghurt should work. Also, try not to have the heat really high until the yoghurt has incorporated into the sauce. Let me know how you get on. Thanks Hari
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Anne
Well, my white poppy seeds finally turned up and I made the korma with the creamed coconut........and it was fantastic! I would never normally order or buy korma as I found it bland, but this is full of fresh flavours, and as someone else said, very Moorish! Planning on doing this for a football evening along with the lamb madras, another dish which I cannot praise enough.
I am very happy that I found your site Hari, as is my partner and quite a few of my friends, keep the recipes coming please.
Anne x-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Anne Thank you for your wonderful comments i'm so glad you enjoyed the Korma. Thank you for using the site I am so happy you are finding it useful and that you are loving the recipes. Thank you so much and I will do my best! Thanks
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Anne
Hi Hari, have made a few of your recipes so far and they have been amazing! Would really like to make this but it says 75g creamed coconut/400ml coconut milk, do you add both or is just one of them depending on what you have in the cupboard?
Thanks
Anne-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Anne it's one or the other. Creamed coconut is thicker so you don't need as much. Hope that helps. let me know what you think. Hari
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Diane martin
Hi hari we have tried a few of your recipes and we tried the chicken korma tonight and it was amazing. It was the best one yet but we made it a little more spicy. Thank you.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Diane I like my korma more spicy too, wonderful to hear that you loved this one. Thanks so much for commenting I love to hear that the recipes are being cooked and enjoyed. Hari
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Chris Stark
Hello Hari. I cook korma all the time, but was looking for another version. I find that my chicken is always overcooked (but tasty), due to the simmering time. Is the inclusion of flour ur marinade to speed up the thickening of the sauce? Or for some other reason. If it is, I shall knock some in. Kind regards, Chris-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Chris it stops the yoghurt in the marinade splitting and helps with the thickening too. What chicken do you use? Try using thigh fillets these will stay lovely and moist. Did you try the recipe? Thanks Hari
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mixy
I made a typo in my comment... I meant "tsp of salt" but it went down as "tsp of sale"... sorry for the confusion :-)
Basically, I wanted to know if you add more salt in any other steps of the recipe
Thanks-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mixy thanks for clarifying. The salt is added to the marinade and a little to the sauce too. You can adjust this when you taste it so don't add too much. I hope that helps thanks for trying it and let me know how it comes out the next time you try it. Thanks
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mixy
I forgot to ask...
apart from the tsp of sale that goes into the marinade, do you put any more salt ?
Also, do you add salt to the water when cooking basmati rice?
Thanks again. I love your site!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mixy Glad you love the site - I didn't really understand the question but the marinade should be 3cm ginger, roughly chopped 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped, 150g Greek yoghurt, 1tsp gram flour, heaped, 1tbsp coriander seeds crushed, 6 black peppercorns crushed, 1tsp turmeric, 1 tsp salt or to taste. Doe that help?
Yes you should add salt to your rice, I have to admit I don't always depending on what I'm having it with - if it's a really intense sauce then I don't bother. Hope this helps. Hari
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mixy
Hi hari,
I cooked Korma last night and it is getting better. :-)
There is just one thing: I got the right sauce consistency (liquid-coconut cream-almonds-poppy seeds), but there was still some coconut taste missing in the sauce. I am not sure if this makes sense, but the taste was a bit "woody", I guess that the suspects would be cassia, cloves or cardamon?
Thanks-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mixy Thanks for your feedback - What coconut are you using? One thing I have found is that they do vary significantly so what I tend to do is only use either coconut cream which is thicker and more intense or if im using a tim of coconut milk I only use the solid coconut but that sets at the top and not the watery bit.another thing that gives a more intense coconut flavour is using coconut powder. it shouldn't really be woody maybe reduce that amount of cassia used you only need a small stick. Let me know if you have any questions and do let me know how you get on next time. Thanks Hari
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mixy
Hi Hari,
I had a great chicken korma in an Indian restaurant last week and I had to ask for the basic recipe steps to the waitress. She told me they don't use yogurt in the marinade and they use double cream at the end of the cooking process. Is that the decadent replacement to your "milk + saffron" step ?
All great! but It seems to be there is not too much consensus in the dairy part? Milk, yoghurt, cream, coconut milk...
Thanks!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mixy Thanks for your comment - Yes you are right there are different ways to make most dishes and all restaurants do it differently. For me I didn't want to use too much cream as I wanted to get away from the cloy heaviness a Korma can have. I also didn't want to add any sugar to add the sweetness so opted for the yoghurt, coconut and cassia. The key ingredients in a Korma are almonds and poppy seeds for the flavour. This is way I love cooking there are many ways to create awesome dishes, there are very few right and wrongs and you make food to suit your tastes. Thanks so much for your very interesting comments - sounds like they do a pretty tasty Korma at that restaurant. Hari
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Dominique
This is my usual order at the curry house, but this recipes is just out of this world, full of flavours, very morish. It does make the curry house one so bland, This has a bit of a kick without leaving you mouth totally on fire!! We've not been to a curry house since doing Hari's recipes, there's just no comparison. keep the rcipes coming Hari , we love them.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Dominique I will do my best - I have just added a whole selection of lamb dishes, thanks for trying this one and thanks for your comments too. Glad you loved it! Hari
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Richard
I prepared and cooked this dish for the first time on Saturday for my dinner guests.
It was a tremendous success in every way.
It's far superior to any Chicken Korma one would ever expect to get, or would have had in a Restaurant.
It tasted truly traditional and was full of flavour. Adding the Garam Masala to the dish as a final ingredient brought all the flavours together and added an amazing fragrance to the dish. -
Barbara
Hello Hari
I love cooking various Indian and Bangledeshi dishes and we grow our own chills at home and use them fresh and dried! I had a great Hot Korma in Devon which was lovely spicy and hot = it tasted much darker and less sweet than the conventional versions. - therefore I googled your recipe as looking for a hot korma. I will let you know how it goes! Thank you so much for your video…-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Barbara Oooh that sound like a traditional Kurma rather than a Korma. My one is a bit of a half way between the traditional and what you get in most restaurants but I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for getting in touch. Hari
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Hari Ghotra
Hi Kevin It is fairly toned down I would just increase the spice a touch and reduce the amount of coconut milk so it's not so sweet. Let me know how you get on. Thanks Hari -
Kevin
Hi Hari
This dish was good, unlike the inedible takeaway version which bears no resemblance. However I did find it too creamy and a little bland compared to the version I had in Mumbai.
Any suggestions. Thanks. -
Hari Ghotra
Hi Dominique Does your friend like a bit of chilli heat even though she can't have chillies? Is it all varieties of capsicum she is allergic to? If so may be try black pepper for a bit of a kick. Hope that helps. Thanks -
Dominique
Hi Hari, we've got a friend who's allergic to Chillies and peppers, what can essentially chillies be replaced with if anything at all? Looking forward to hear from you. Many thanks. Dominique. -
Hari Ghotra
Hi Darragh That's fine - it usually auto corrects to Hair so Hard is a new one! Thanks for getting in touch really lovely to hear that you are about to embark on Indian food journey! You can use a little cinnamon fora similar flavour but it doesn't give the sweet warmth but its a good alternative. It you struggle to get it let me know I can pop some in the post to you. Looking forward to hearing how you get one. Thanks Hari -
Darragh
... Sorry, I obviously meant to say "Hi Hari" in the last messege... Autocorrect :-P
Darragh -
Darragh
Hi Hard,
I'm a young Irish student, I love Indian food and have been looking for some real authentic recipes with natural ingredients with little luck until I stumbled upon your website. I haven't tried anything yet but just wanted to let you know everything looks and sounds amazing, I can't wait to get stuck in and basically wanted to say thanks for all your hard work in sharing all of these recipes :)
Before I try this though, I wondered could you suggest an alternative to cassia bark as I love in a small town and it is next to impossible to find...
Thanks again!
Darragh -
Hari Ghotra
Hi Mixy, Great to hear from you. In answer to your questions.
Fresh turmeric is fine for most people turmeric powder is more convenient.
Poppy seeds add a thickness to the sauce so using them whole is fine but because this is a nice creamy smoothish sauce I say ground - You can whizz them up yourself in a spice grinder but you don't have to.
The reason I add the coconut milk later is that I want the chicken to cook in it's own juices first so you have more depth of flavour. You will find that the amount of juice from the chicken will vary every time and by letting it cook before you add the coconut means you can judge how much coconut milk to add so it doesn't get too watery. That said there is nothing wrong with doing it your way if it become too watery you can just levee it to cook and thicken.
I'm so glad you are enjoying this dish. I really hope this helps. Thanks Hari -
mixy
Hi Hari
I cooked your korma again, and it was delicious!
I have a couple of final questions :-)
- turmeric: any reason for not using fresh?
- white poppy seeds: i found them in the shop, but not ground. Does it matter? They are very small seeds anyway.
- chicken liquid: because I did not want to risk the chicken not releasing enough juice and getting dry, I added the coconut milk after stir frying it for 5m. You add it one step later, after the chicken cooks for 20m. Does it matter? Or is it important for the chicken to release the juices before adding the coconut milk?
Thanks!!! I can cook good korma now :-) -
Hari Ghotra
Hi, sorry I haven't been able to respond but I'm in India at the moment. I hope I'm not too late ... if you want a little spice in your Korma I would leave the chilli in.
Thanks. Hari -
Eileen
Hi Hari, I am making this today for a family cookoff. Do I take the chilli peppers out of the ghee before I add the onion?
thanks Eileen -
Hari
Hi Mikel The amount of sauce you get does depend on the amount of chicken you use and this can vary anyway but just as you did if you want more of a sauce just add either more coconut or water as you did.
With the ginger just cut it to about a 3cm block - if its easier you can grate it and measure about a tbsp. Let me know when you try it again and remember you can just use this as a guide and increase or decrease the different spices depending on how you like it. Hope this helps
Thanks for your support
Hari -
Mixy
Hi Hari
I cooked it yesterday and it was very tasty indeed. I feel I need to cook it again to get it 100% right. I will. ha ha...
Cooking the chicken for 20m in the pan with a close lid (step 8), did not make as much sauce as the chicken in your video. In other words, the chicken didn't release too much juice in my case. Could it be the chicken thighs i used? Or the quantity of chicken? in my first attempt I only used 3 thighs in case it did not work .. :-)
So, I had to add water before adding the creamed coconut, but I did not add enough and it turned out quite thick.
It tasted great but next time i will try to get it more juicy.
Also, by 3cm ginger, do you mean 3cm long? A 3cm cube? Gingers can have different widths so i was wondering
Thanks again for sharing this great recipe with us
Mikel -
Jay
Making this now for dinner tomorrow will let u know how it goes's -
Hari
Hi Mixy
Thanks for the feedback its great to hear that you are using and enjoying the content.
Creamed coconut - you can buy this in cartons it's just thicker then coconut milk so gives a richer sauce this explains it a bit better http://www.harighotra.co.uk/cooking-guides/indian-cooking-ingredients/coconut-facts. What I sometimes do is get a tin of coconut milk and just use the thick white creamy bit and not the water that's at the bottom. If you feel it's too thick then yes add some water.
Poppy seeds - these are used to thicken the sauce as well as a little flavouring but if you don't have them you can just miss this out.
Yes you can make this the day before - These dishes taste better on the second day anyway. Just make sure you cool it and refrigerate it.
Hope that helps - let me know how you get on. Thanks Hari -
mixy
Hati, your content is definitely addictive
It is so well presented with clear instructions, quick and long videos that you just want more and more...
I am gonna try your chicken korma this weekend. A couple of quick questions :-)
- If you use creamed coconut, should you add water? I had the feeling that 75g of creamed coconut would not be interchangeable with 400ml if coconut milk without the added water?
- I could not find poppy seeds, but I have sesame, sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Would that work?
- Finally, can you cook this dish 1 day ahead of time? I wanna have guests on Saturday, and I am not 100% sure I will get this right the first time, so I was thinking of doing it on Friday and judge... :-)
Thanks again! -
Julia
Awesome recipe Hari! Looks delicious! What restaurant have you had the best chicken korma? Remember to add it to your Besty List! http://www.thebesty.com/harighotra -
Jack Catford
Made this last week and it was absolutely delicious, I took the cassia bark and chillies out too soon I think which meant it lacked some flavour, but it was still amazing despite my lack of knowledge in cooking Indian food - Great recipe I will definitely be making this again. -
Emma Elliott
I made this last night and it was gorgeous - the nicest korma I have had! Really easy to follow the method too.
Freya
I always come back to your website and your recipes. Yesterday, I made the Chicken Korma and the Pashwari Naan for Kate (daughter), we loved them both. Extremely flavourful, it took slightly longer than I anticipated but the result was delicious.
I do think you do a marvellous job of encouraging, sharing your knowledge and helping us all enjoy Indian food made in the best environment, Home! Thanks, Freya
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