This was our Valentine's lunch, a very untraditional chicken korma that I am absolutely head over heels in love with. You see, I have never been a big lover of reallyspicyIndian food. I think it has to do withthecurry. I just cannot get the taste for it, I've tried AND TRIED.
SoI am absolutely no expert on korma but I think it can be either mildly spiced or fiery using lamb, chicken, beef or game meats. The meat would more traditionally be in larger chunks, braised and then subjected to long, slow cooking for tenderizing.
In this dish, ground chicken has been used, which obviously speeds up the cooking time, making it a quick and easy dish for dinner or lunch. It had such great flavor as the chicken is simmered in a fragrant sauce with onion, garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander. The yogurt adds a nice tang and the cilantro and peas bring in fresh flavor.
Because thiswas not spicy, my oldest son happily ate it while my curry lovinghusband doused it with hot sauce. Perfect.
I am telling you, it was so yummy. We served it in pita bread and folded it up like a taco to eat it. It would also be great with naan or over batsmati rice.
One heck of a meal, I wish there were leftovers.
You are first going to make a watery-paste in the food processor with the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 cup water.
Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.Add the sliced onion and cook until golden, 4 minutes.Add the paste and cook, stirring, untillots of the water is cooked out(10 minutes will do it). Add the chicken and cook until opaque, breaking up the meat. Mix the yogurt with 1/4 cup water, add to the pan and simmer over medium-low heat until the meat is cooked through, 2-3 minutes more. Add the peas and the cilantro and season to taste with salt.
Meanwhile, heat another skillet over high heat. Brush the pitas with oil, season with a tiny amount of salt and toast in the skillet, about 1 minute per side.
Divide the chicken mixture among the pitas. Top with more yogurt and cilantro. Garnish with cashews and/or hot sauce, if desired.
Chicken Korma
Adapted from Food Network
1 large red onion; 1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced
1 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Kosher salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
3/4 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
4 pitas (pocketless if you can find them, regular if you cannot)
Chopped cashews and/or hot sauce, for garnish (optional)
You are first going to make a watery-paste in the food processor with the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 cup water.
Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and cook until golden, 4 minutes. Add the paste and cook, stirring, untillots of the water is cooked out(10 minutes will do it). Add the chicken and cook until opaque, breaking up the meat. Mix the yogurt with 1/4 cup water, add to the pan and simmer over medium-low heat until the meat is cooked through, 2-3 minutes more. Add the peas and the cilantro and season to taste with salt.
Meanwhile, heat another skillet over high heat. Brush the pitas with oil, season with a tiny amount of salt and toast in the skillet, about 1 minute per side.
Divide the chicken mixture among the pitas. Top with more yogurt and cilantro. Garnish with cashews and/or hot sauce, if desired.
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A korma really is much better with chicken breast or cubed lamb. Add 100 g creamed coconut or a tin of coconut milk which imparts a really mild taste and a creamy texture. Also, if you can cook it one day and not eat it until the next, it becomes ambrosia!
What a tasty plate of food, yummee snack food!! I like Chicken Korma a lot, this looks like a delicious “light” version!!!
Wow! this really looks delicious! I love anything on a pita.
Yum!! This is going on my must-try list. We’re huge fans of Indian food but sometimes it’s hard to make them lighter and less fatty. Looks like you have done that hard work for me, with this recipe!
Can’t wait to hear how the grape planting preparations are going!
I am a big curry girl! This is just beautiful!
looks good, think i’ll try it. you might wanna consider naan rather than pita. also thinkin i might roll the ground chicken up into little balls first and leave them intact.
OK…this REALLY looks good! I have a pound of lamb in the freezer that would be perfect and an easy-peasy recipe for homemade naan. It’s what’s for supper tonite!
This does look really good Cathy. I’ve been experimenting a little with Indian Food. A new client of mine is Indian, however vegetarian. She’s taught me some good stuff.
think of it as ‘Chickpeas Korma’…
I’m not a huge fan of curries either but when we make dishes like this we can add the spices to suite our own tastes. What comes out is something to die for:D
It looks gorgeous. I do love curry, but anything with cumin is a must try in my book. We had southwestern steaks last night over fettucini with coriander. Valentine’s is for spices:)
This does look delicious and rather easy to put together. will have to step away from my comfort zone and try the curry!
This sounds terrific – something my husband would really love! Love the addition of cashews!
it’s NOT a curry! Cathy doesn’t LIKE curry!
Oh, this sounds absolutely amazing, and so simple! My husband does not like curry, either, so this will be perfect. I am going to make this today even though I don’t have pitas, rice or naan, and am snowed/iced in.
Sounds delicious! Your photo looks great as well.
Super photos!
I’m not a big fan of curry, so this would be perfect for me! I do love the combo of coriander and cumin…and on naan, it would be divine.
Cathy – that looks amazing! I am on the fence with curry and I like spicy! Hope you had a great V-Day!
Hope you had a fabulous Valentine’s day. Have to admit to being extremely jealous re your Facebook entry about the wine & chocolate tastings in the Willamette Valley and now I get to be envious over your lunch too. Geez, Cathy. I need to get a life! LOL
This looks fantastic. I have a taste for something different and this just might do the trick. Have a great day. Blessings…Mary
This looks so good and something new I have not heard of before. We will be trying this very soon! ~LeslieMichele
Let me just say tis is a lovely, quick recipe…I love how easily it comes together, making it for sure…dinner tonight in fact.
delicious as always! I just signed up for a Twitter account…still not sure what to do!
This looks so good. Lo and I just made a bunch of pitas over the weekend, so this will be my vote on how to eat em up!
I must try this! Ben loves Indian food and I love anything resembling a taco.
I’ve never had this, it sounds great!
Making for dinner!!
We are not fans of curry, either. I can’t even stand the smell of it. Looks like a nice chicken meal!
OK, i’m stickin with my story… it ain’t curry, and i’ve already bought the ground chicken, I’m gonna make it up into small ‘meatballs’ and we can call it ‘kofta korma’ for all I care — but Cathy, i’m smelling a big WIN here…!!!
This looks wonderful and jummy! And I do love curry.
never had this. but damn, I must try it. is it supposed to be used on pita? what a brillant idea?
Let me just say I ran to the store this morning for ground chicken and made it for lunch, what a lovely bunch of flavors and quick and easy preparation!
I love Indian food but, like you, not a fan of the spicey. I always omit the hot peppers and I make something Indian at least twice a week. Try experimenting with recipies and use bell peppers and smoked paprika in place of hotter peppers and powders.
good luck and well done!
OK, I’m right in the middle of the recipe and don’t know how i’m suppose to use the “sliced” onion – any help here would be appreciated-
OMG, I updated and cannot believe I left it out…saute the chopped onion in vegetable oil before adding the paste!!!
I am the same way with Indian food, and it’s also because of the curry! I really don’t care for the smell of it. Everyone tells me how fabulous Chicken Curry is, but I just can’t bring myself to make it LOL
THIS looks really good, and if you say it is, I bet I would like it
Cathy, this looks incredible. I made your coconut chicken chili for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Thanks for a fun new recipe.
The chicken looks super! I thought I was the only person out there who wasn’t crazy about curry. It’s not a taste I grew up with and I just can’t develop a love for it.
i’m anti-curry as well, so i’m excited to see an indian recipe that i might really enjoy! peas, cashews, cilantro–all awesome. happy v day indeed.
I’m vegetarian but this looks and sounds OH SO GOOD. I also love the colors. Yummy!
One of my goals for this year is to learn more about and spend more time cooking Indian food. I love the flavors, and this quick korma looks great!
*sigh*
like I said before, just think of it as ‘chickpeas korma’ and proceed thru the recipe…
mmm YUM! I love a good korma. This looks delicious
This turned out wonderfully tonight! The smell of the paste intimidated my husband a bit but when it all came together with the ground meat and yogurt, it was exquisite. We topped with bits of goat cheese, added a nice sharp flavor note and gooey decadence. Thanks for a great dinner, Cathy!
Cathy I am loving all these recipes. Great for trying some new things.
My husband, being a Brit, LOVES curries. I don’t know what it is with Brits and curries, but they are a national treasure over there. I’m definitely making this because it doesn’t have a lot of the spices in it that make me HATE curries. And I can leave the peas out (I can’t stand them…gag just thinking about them!), and make a separate little steamed dish of peas just for him.
Just leave out the peas; he won’t miss them.
Yum! I made this last night, and it was really tasty. Modified it a bit by using about a tbsp of olive oil instead of the 1/4 cup vegetable oil (trying to eat healthy, here!), and about tripling the amount of peas. Result… delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
This is delicious! My whole family loved it. We had on greek naan and added extra peas. You know it is good when they want it again AND want to try variations– lamb and mint etc. Tasty.
Greek naan? Do you mean pitta bread?
Long time lurker. Have tried and loved many of your recipes, but loved this one SO MUCH that I had to comment and tell you it was DELISH! Thanks for the recipe!