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White Chicken Korma Featured Image.

Shahi Chicken Korma (White Chicken Korma)

Tanvi Srivastava
Rich and delicately aromatic indian chicken dish featuring tender pieces of chicken in a creamy cashew sauce.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 5 servings

Ingredients
  

For Cashew Paste

  • 90 g raw cashew nuts
  • 1 teaspoon white poppy seeds
  • ½ tablespoon melon seeds (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 2-3 green chilies (hot), adjust quantity to taste

For Korma Sauce

  • 4-6 tablespoon ghee korma is a rich dish, add ghee as desired
  • 1.5 teaspoon garlic paste
  • ½ inch ginger minced or use ginger paste
  • 2 green chilies (left whole or slit), optional
  • 2 lb (~900g) chicken thighs boneless & skinless, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 150 g plain greek yogurt whisked (or use thick yogurt)
  • ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • ¾ cup fried onions
  • 1.5 teaspoon salt adjust quantity to taste

Whole Spices

  • 1 inch cinnamom stick
  • 6 green cardamom
  • 1-2 twig mace or use ¼ mace powder while cooking
  • ½ teaspoon shahi jeera caraway seeds

To finish the Korma

  • ⅓ cup heavy cream or adjust quantity to taste
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
  • ½ teaspoon kasuri methi dry fenugreek leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder fresh grated
  • ½ teaspoon sugar or adjust quantity to taste
  • 1 teaspoon kewra water or 1-2 drops if you are using kewra essence

Instructions
 

PREPERATION

  • Pat dry the chicken using paper towels. Make sure that the chicken is not cold when you start cooking.I usually pull it out of the refrigerator 30-45 minutes prior to cooking.
  • In a small grinder jar, soak the cashews, melon seeds (if using) and white poppy seeds in ½ cup water for 10-15 minutes.
  • Once soaked, drain and discard a little bit of water. Add the fennel seeds, green chilies and grind to a smooth paste. Keep near. This step can be done a day ahead.
  • If you are using homemade fried onions, fry them and drain on a paper towel. Or use store bought fried onions. This step can be done a day ahead. Look at further instructions how how to use raw onions.
  • Whisk the yogurt very well and let it sit on the kicten counter. The less close it is to room temperature, the lesser the chances of curdling.

Make Korma Sauce

  • In a heavy bottomed cooking pot(4 qt or larger), heat up the ghee on low medium flame taking care it does not brown.
  • Add all the whole spices, ginger paste and garlic paste. I also add 2 whole green chilies (optional) for flavor. Fry everything for 30-40 seconds or until the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes away. Take care that the color does not change.
  • If you are not using pre made fried onions, add raw thinly sliced onions at this stage and brown for 6-8 minutes until deep golden before adding chicken.
  • Bump to medium heat and add a splash of water to the pot. Add the chicken. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon salt. Now we will sear the chicken on low heat while stirring intermittently for next 5-7 minutes or until you see the chicken is not pink on outside. You do not need to brown the chicken, a light sear is enough.Keep the heat constant else the chicken will get watery on low heat .
  • Once chicken is lightly seared, reduce heat to low and add the ground spices(except garam masala), beaten yogurt and fried onions to the chicken next. Mix well and continoualy keep stirring for 2-3 minutes else the yogurt will curdle.
  • Bump heat to low medium and then let the chicken cook with yogurt for 7-10 minutes. You may cover the pot if needed. As it cooks, you will see that the sauce is getting thin since water from yogurt and chicken is getting released. But don’t worry.
  • Once the chicken is about 95% cooked, add 1 teaspoon salt along with the cashew paste we made earlier.
  • Cover and let cook for another 6-8 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. You will have to keep an eye and stir the korma often since cashew paste has a tendency to stick to the bottom of pot. At this point you can adjust the consistency by adding ¼ -? cup water. Keep in mind that the korma sauce substantially thickens as it cools and rests so avoid making it to thick to begin with.
  • Uncover, taste and adjust the salt if needed. Mix in the heavy cream, sugar, garam masala, kasuri methi, kewra water and grated nutmeg. If desired, also add a sqeeze of lemon juice.
  • Let simmer (don't let boil after adding cream) for about 2-4 minutes on low heat. Your chicken korma is ready.

Video

Notes

  1. If you are using bone in chicken, adjust the cooking time( longer for 18-22 minutes) or until chicken is fully cooked or  the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
  2. If you don't want to use or make deep fried onions, add sliced onions to ghee (before you add chicken) and fry for 8-10 minutes on low medium heat until golden brown. Then proceed with rest of the recipe.
  3. Reduce the quantity of green chilies as per desired taste preferance. Similarly, if you like sweetish korma, add more sugar.
  4. This is a yogurt heavy sauce, so to reduce chances of yogurt curdling, I suggest using room temperature, whisked yogurt. Additionally, after adding yogurt to the cooking pot, continously stir for 1-2 minutes so that the yogurt is warmed through and becomes part of the sauce.
  5. You could add a handful of raisins while the korma is cooking for a sweet bite here and there.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!