Zafrani Chicken Korma
I love Korma !!! Love to cook them pretty often as the whole family are too fond of this delicacy . Korma has it’s origin in central Asia . With Mughals , some special Central Asian recipes too, took over the South Asia region , Korma is one of them . đ As time went by , it got too many variations and improvisation , having it’s root in Mughlai quisine. Basically the word “Korma” derived from the Urdu word korma or kormah , meaning braised meat . Urdu “Kormah” derived from the Turkish “kavurma” literally meaning “cooked meat” . The process of braising involves searing of foods at a high temperature and then finished in a covered pot with a variable amount of liquid, resulting in a particular flavor.
Ingredients:
1 chicken , cut in 8 pieces
1/3 rd cup of onion Paste
4 tbl spoon of fried onion or bereshta
1 and 1/2(half) tbl spoon of ginger paste
2 tea spoon of garlic paste
1 tea spoon of poppy seed powder ( optional)
2 tea spoon of nut paste ( I grinded cashew and almond together into a powder , then added little water)
Whole spices , like 4/5 green cardamoms , 1 cinnamon stick , 5/6 cloves
1/2 ( half ) teaspoon of white pepper powder
1/2 (half) teaspoon of mace powder
1/4 th tea spoon of nutmeg powder
1 cup of heavy cream + regular liquid milk ( half a cup of heavy cream + half a cup of regular milk)
Ghee ( or you can use both ghee and oil together)
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Handful of whole green chilies
Saffron soaked in 2 tbl spoon of milk ( if you wish , you can use little saffron food color)
Keora water
Procedure:
1. Heat ghee . Add the whole spices , fry for a while then add the chicken pieces and fry for few minutes .
2. In a small bowl combine onion paste , fried onion , ginger paste , garlic paste, nut paste , poppy seed powder, salt together . Now Add the mixture to the chicken and cook . Cook very well adding small quantity of water little by little , what we call in Bangla “koshano” . When the spices are well cooked add water , enough to make the chicken tender but not too well done .
3. When the water dried out add the cream and milk . Don’t cover with lid . When almost to the desired consistency add hand full of whole green chilies . Add white pepper , nutmeg and mace powder and little sugar. Add the saffron soaked milk. Sprinkle some keora water and turn off the heat . Keep the pot on the stove with lid on , until you serve.
Serve with polau or naan or paratha .
Enjoy!!!!!
Notes:
1. To get the best flavor from the mace , please dry roast them for a while befor you grind them.
2. Try to use home made bereshta or fried onion , as it gives you the best result . But remember , don’t over fry the bereshta , they may ruin the color of the korma .
Khadiza's Kitchen 