Pakistani Chicken Korma

   Pakistani Chicken Korma (Authentic)

Ingredients

½ cup (125 ml) oil/ghee

2 (200 g) small onions sliced finely (about 2 small or 1 large onion)

2-2.2 lb (800-1000 g) chicken, bone in bone in, cut into curry pieces

3 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger

½ cup (130 g) full fat yogurt

½ cup (65 g) unsalted cashews ground into a fine paste with water (see notes for substitutions)

4 black cardamoms

16 green cardamoms

15 cloves

2 bay leaf

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 medium sized cinnamon stick

3 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1-2 teaspoon salt to taste

Kewra water 1 tsp or more as per preference

1 oz (20 g) almonds (1oz/30g

Instructions

Heat the oil/ghee in a deep pot or pan. Add the sliced onions and fry them over a medium to high heat, stirring often and keeping a very close eye on them to ensure they brown evenly. You may find you need to turn the heat down after a while if they look like they may be browning too quickly/unevenly.

Once the onions have turned a dark brown (not black!), use a slotted spoon to remove them and rest them spread out on a paper towel. Set aside - these will crisp up as we work on the korma. This entire process will take about 20-25 minutes.

Add the chicken, spices, ginger and garlic to the oil in the same vessel. Fry this over a medium to high heat, until the chicken no longer remains pink.

Add in the yogurt and cashews paste. Fry everything well, stirring the entire time, until the oil begins to separate from the sauce of the curry and looks glossy.

Add in 400ml/1 ¾ cups of water, bring everything to a boil and then cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes..

As the korma cooks, once the onions have cooled down completely and become crisp, you can crush them using your hands or a pestle and mortar until they are broken down into a textured mixture. Don't crush them into a fine powder or paste.

Take the lid off and stir in the onions. Return the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Add in the kewra water. Give everything a taste and adjust the chilli and salt if needed

Garnish with almonds just before serving.

Notes

If you don't want to use cashews, you can substitute them completely for either ¼ cup/ 65g of double cream, coconut milk or an additional ½ cup150g yogurt. Alternatively, you can use almonds instead of cashews, too.

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