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Chicken Korma


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 really spicy Indian food. I think it has to do with the curry. I just cannot get the taste for it, I’ve tried AND TRIED.

So I 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 this  was not spicy, my oldest son happily ate it while my curry loving husband 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 basmati 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, until lots 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.

Print Recipe

Chicken Korma

Recipe from: Cathy Pollak | Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 large red onion, 1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced
  • 1 (1") 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 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
  • 4 pitas (pocketless if you can find them, regular if you cannot)
  • chopped cashews for garnish
  • hot sauce for garnish

Directions

  • 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, until lots 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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Comments

  1. 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!

    Reply

  4. 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!

    Reply

  6. 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.

    Reply

  15. 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.

    Reply

  19. 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

    Reply

  29. 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…!!!

    Reply

  32. 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!

    Reply

  33. 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!

    Reply

  36. 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 🙂

    Reply

  44. 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!

    Reply

  46. 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.

    Reply

  48. 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!

    Reply

  49. 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.

    Reply

  51. 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!

    Reply

  52. 5 stars
    So good. After living abroad & enjoying all the international tastes available, it was tough coming back to the USA & having ‘American-ized version’. This was fabulous & although not totally authentic, brought back memories. Thanks

    Reply

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