Royal chicken korma
Once I had made chicken korma myself, I was never able to order it from a takeaway again. This is based on a recipe from my great friend Roopa Gulati and it’s simply stunning. Doubling the recipe – so it serves 12 generously – is easy, so you can really put on a feast. There are many variations on chicken korma, some include rose water and white poppy seeds, others coconut, but all are rich. I like this with a rice pilau with dried fruit. Wisps of edible gold or silver leaf added to the pilau is in keeping with the Moghul cooking style and will make your feast even more sumptuous. It’s a joy to put this on the table.
Ingrediënten
- 2 large onions finely sliced, plus 2 onions, finely chopped
- vegetable oil to deep-fry
- ½ tsp saffron strands
- 25 g 1oz raw cashews, plus 1 tbsp roasted, unsalted cashews, to serve
- 25 g 1oz blanched almonds
- 4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
- ½ tsp cloves
- 12 green cardamom pods bruised (not broken)
- 5 black cardamom pods bruised (not broken)
- 1 cinnamon stick halved
- 800 g 1lb 12oz skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into big chunks
- 4 cm 1½in root ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- ½ tsp red Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp toasted ground coriander seeds
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 50 g 1¾oz plain yogurt
- 75 ml 2½fl oz double cream
- good squeeze of lime juice
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander
Instructies
- Sprinkle the sliced onions liberally with salt, put in a sieve or colander and set aside for 30 minutes.
- Squeeze any excess liquid from the onions and pat them dry with kitchen paper.
- Heat about 12.
- 5cm (5in) of oil in a deep pan or a wok and deep-fry the salted onions in batches.
- When they turn golden, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
- Put the fried onions into a food processor with 75ml (2½fl oz) of hot water and process until you get a smooth paste.
- Set aside.
- Soak the saffron strands in 3 tbsp of warm water and set aside for 30 minutes until the liquid turns a deep auburn (you really do have to leave it this long, don’t rush or skip this step).
- Prepare a nut paste: soak the raw cashews and the almonds in warm water for 15 minutes.
- Put the nuts into a food processor with 50ml (2fl oz) of the soaking liquid and purée.
- Now you can start making the main curry base.
- Heat the ghee or clarified butter in a wok or heavy-based pan and cook the chopped onions for 10 minutes, until soft.
- Stir in the cloves, both types of cardamom and the cinnamon.
- Cook for a couple of minutes more.
- Now add the chicken thighs to the pan followed by the browned onion paste, ground nuts, ginger, garlic, chilli powder and crushed coriander seeds and white pepper.
- Season with salt.
- Increase the heat a little and continue frying everything together for another 10 minutes.
- Pour 150ml (5fl oz) of hot water on to the chicken and simmer gently until the thighs are tender; this takes about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the saffron liquid, yogurt and cream and heat through but don’t boil.
- Taste for seasoning, then add a squeeze of lime juice and sprinkle on the garam masala, toasted cashews and chopped coriander.
- Serve with naan bread or rice and chutneys.
