Chicken Korma
Chicken in a mild, fragrant cashew and yoghurt gravy.
Ingredients
- 700 g Chicken
- 2 Onion
- 60 g Cashews
- 150 g Yogurt
- 1 Ginger
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 4 Green cardamom pods
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- 1 tsp Salt
- 240 g Basmati rice
Method
- Rinse the basmati rice until the water runs clear, then cook it in twice its volume of water, covered, until tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Slice the onions, grate the ginger and garlic, and put the cashews to soak in a little hot water.
- Melt the ghee in a pan over medium heat and fry the sliced onions, stirring often, until deep golden and soft.
- Tip the fried onions and the drained cashews into a blender and blend to a smooth paste with a splash of water.
- In the same pan over medium heat, brown the chicken with the ginger-garlic and cardamom pods until the chicken is sealed on all sides.
- Stir the onion-cashew paste through the chicken to coat.
- Lower the heat, whisk in the yoghurt and salt off the boil, then cover and simmer gently until the chicken is tender.
- Stir in the garam masala off the heat.
- Serve with rice or naan.
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About Chicken Korma
Chicken Korma is one of the gentler jewels of North Indian and Mughlai cooking, a braise defined by richness and fragrance rather than heat. What sets a proper korma apart is its luxurious gravy, built here from onions fried slow and deep-golden, then blended with soaked cashews into a silky paste that gives the sauce its body and pale, ivory color. Whole green cardamom pods and garam masala perfume the pot with warm, sweet spice, while yogurt whisked in off the boil lends a subtle tang and creamy finish without curdling.
The flavor is mild, nutty, and deeply aromatic — the sort of dish that comforts rather than challenges, making it a favorite for anyone easing into Indian food or cooking for a mixed table. The chicken is browned with ginger-garlic first so it stays succulent inside its blanket of sauce, and the cashew-onion base does the heavy lifting on texture, no cream required. Traditionally korma appears at feasts and celebrations, and it's best served with warm naan or basmati rice to soak up every bit of the fragrant gravy. Keep the heat low when the yogurt goes in and you'll be rewarded with a sauce that's glossy and smooth.
Chicken Korma: frequently asked questions
What's the difference between chicken korma and butter chicken?
Chicken korma is a Mughlai braise where the sauce is built from a base of onions, yogurt or cream, and ground nuts (typically cashews or almonds), giving it a pale, mild, delicately spiced gravy with little to no tomato. Butter chicken (murgh makhani) is a Punjabi/Delhi dish in which tandoori-roasted marinated chicken is simmered in a tomato-forward sauce enriched with butter and cream, producing a tangier, reddish-orange, slightly sweet gravy. In short: korma leans on nuts and yogurt for a nutty, pale sauce, while butter chicken leans on tomatoes plus butter for a richer, tangier red one.
How many calories are in Chicken Korma?
A serving has about 842 calories — 42.4g protein, 63.6g carbs, 45.8g fat, 3.1g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 42.4g of protein, roughly 20% of its calories.
Is Chicken Korma gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Chicken Korma has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Is Chicken Korma dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Yogurt, Ghee. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Chicken Korma take to make?
About 50 minutes start to finish, but only around 36 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Chicken Korma make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.