Chicken korma recipe with video and step by step photos – Korma is a delicious gravy usually made with onions, spices, nuts, yogurt, seeds, coconut, vegetables or meat. It originated in the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal Era & later became immensely popular across the world.
There are so many ways a korma is made, most of them are adapted to the regional cuisines. So ingredients like coconut, poppy seeds, almonds, cashews & yogurt are most commonly used based on the region.
My recipe is pretty straight forward and uses only pantry staples. It will help you make a very tasty, flavorful, creamy and delicious chicken korma.
It is best served with butter naan, roti, paratha or with steamed basmati rice & Jeera rice.
Onions, nuts and yogurt form the base for this chicken korma. To begin with, first onions are sauteed in oil until golden and then they are pureed with the nuts and yogurt. Nuts help the gravy to thicken and impart a creamy texture.
Later it is spiced and cooked with marinated & sauteed chicken.
Step-by-step photos
Preparation for chicken korma
1. To a mixing bowl, add
- ½ kg chicken (1.2 lbs)
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt (or coconut milk)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic (We usually rub the chicken with turmeric and then rinse off before cooking. Hence the yellow color here.)
2. Next add
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder (or paprika)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon salt
3. Mix all of them and set aside until needed. You can also refrigerate this overnight.
4. While the chicken marinates, go ahead with the recipe. Heat 1½ tablespoon oil or ghee in a pan. Add 2 to 3 cardamoms. I used a bit more here as we like the flavor.
Preparation for chicken korma
5. Add 1 cup sliced onions (2 medium onions). Saute them stirring often until golden brown & caramelized.
6. This is how the onions look – golden brown & caramelized. Turn off the stove. Add 4 almonds and 6 cashews. Cool this completely.
7. Add the onions and nuts to a grinder or blender jar. Pour ¼ cup yogurt or coconut milk.
8. Blend to a smooth puree. If you do not have a powerful blender, then you may pour half cup water and blend. (remember to skip adding water later for the gravy)
How to make chicken korma
9. Pour 1 tablespoon oil to the same pan and spread the oil. Then add the following whole spices: (skip if you don’t have)
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves
- 1 cardamom
- 2 inch cinnamon. I used Ceylon cinnamon so used more. If you are using cassia, just use a 2 inch thin strip. Saute the spices for a min.
10. Add marinated chicken and slit green chilli (optional).
11. Saute on a medium heat until the raw smell of ginger garlic goes away. This takes about 5 to 7 mins.
12. Add the onion paste. Pour ½ cup water.
13. Add ¼ teaspoon salt.
14. Add ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala and 1½ teaspoon coriander powder. You can also add little chili powder if you prefer red color korma.
15. Mix well. Cover and cook on a medium heat until the chicken turns tender and is soft cooked.
16. Taste test and add more salt if needed. Once done, if the korma is too thick, add some hot water to bring it to consistency. Sprinkle some coriander leaves.
Serve chicken korma with rice, jeera rice, roti, naan or paratha.
Tips to make chicken korma
- Bone-in chicken tastes best in this recipe as the juices from the bones seep to the korma and make the gravy delicious.
- Marinating the chicken is optional. It is just done to tenderize the meat. If you prefer to skip the step, add all of the marinade ingredients together to the pan along with chicken.
- A korma curry gets its creamy texture from yogurt and nut paste. Traditional korma recipe does not use any kind of starch to thicken the curry.
- The aroma comes from the fried onion paste, take care to fry the onions evenly.
- If you have a nut allergy just skip the nuts in the recipe and add more yogurt.
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Recipe
Chicken korma recipe | How to make chicken korma
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
marinade
- ½ kg chicken (bone-in) (1 to 1.2 lb)
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt or coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (ground or crushed in equal quantities)
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala or korma masala
- 1 to 1¼ tsp red chili powder (less spicy variety, minimum ½ tsp)
- ½ teaspoon salt
To saute & blend
- 1½ tablespoon oil or ghee
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 cup onions sliced (2 medium)
- 6 cashews
- 4 almonds (or substitute with cashews)
- ¼ cup plain yogurt or coconut milk
For chicken korma gravy
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 small bay leaf (optional)
- 4 cloves (optional)
- 2 inch cinnamon (optional)
- 1 cardamom (optional)
- 1 to 2 green chilies slit or chopped (optional)
- ½ cup water (more if needed)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- 1½ teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander)
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (optional, for color)
- 3 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro) chopped
Instructions
Marination for chicken korma recipe
- To a mixing bowl, add chicken, 3 tablespoons yogurt, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, ¼ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp red chili powder and 1 tsp garam masala.
- Mix all of them well. Cover and set aside until needed.
Make onion paste
- Heat a pan with 1½ tbsps oil and add 2 cardamoms.
- Add sliced onions and fry them evenly until golden brown. Next add cashews and almonds. Cool these completely.
- Later add the cooled onions and nuts to a blender jar along with yogurt. Blend these to a smooth puree. Set this aside.
How to make chicken korma
- To the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and heat it.
- Optional – Saute whole spices – bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom in oil for a min.
- Add green chilli and marinated chicken. Saute on a medium heat until the raw smell of ginger garlic paste goes away. This takes about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Then add the onion nut puree. Pour ½ cup water and mix well.
- Add salt, coriander powder and garam masala. If needed you can also add more chili powder for color.
- Mix well. Cover and cook on a low flame until chicken is cooked to tender.
- Cook further till the gravy reaches a desired consistency. If it is too thick then pour some hot water to bring it to consistency.
- Garnish with coriander leaves.
- Serve chicken korma with jeera rice, plain basmati rice, butter naan, roti or paratha.
Video
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Lucy says
Hi, I’m doing a dinner for 11 people. If I make 4x the amount of chicken on this recipe I’m hoping it will be enough. How many people does your original recipe serve? Also… Would I have to also use 4x the spice? Thanks in advance!
swasthi says
Hi Lucy,
My recipe serves 4, assuming there would be other sides. Yes 4 x should be good enough. 4x the entire recipe except water. You will have to adjust the quantity of water as it depends on the chicken. I have mentioned in the notes. Hope this helps.
Jennifer says
Where do you recommend getting garam masala? I bought some from my local whole foods style market, and it is nothing like what I expected based on dishes that I have ordered before, and it ruined my dish. I would like something authentic. Thank you!
swasthi says
Hi Jennifer,
I would suggest a homemade garam masala. I have a link to mine in the recipe card. Store bought spice powders most times don’t work out well. You can find all of the spices mentioned in my recipe on amazon. Hope this helps.
Lana P says
Should the entire cardamom pod be blended in the puree with the onions and nuts or should the hulls be removed so only the seeds are pureed?
swasthi says
Hi Lana
Yes the entire cardamoms are pureed with onions and nuts
Jess says
This is my favorite curry at my go-to Indian restaurant, so I was really excited to try making it myself. I have to say this turned out even better than the restaurant version (my partner thought so too!) I made this with chicken thighs (with bones) and I used greek yogurt and had to add more water than called for to get the right consistency. I also ground up three whole dried red chilis for the chili powder. The flavor was so complex and layered. The taste in my mouth was soo good I didn’t even want to drink water after eating for a while!! Yummy. Thank you so much!
swasthi says
Hi Jess,
Haha! You are most welcome! So glad to know you loved it. Thank you so much for leaving a comment.
🙂
Elaine says
I’m not a fan of yoghurt in curry’s well when it’s to overpowering.. so I was sceptical..
THIS IS THE BEST CURRY EVER!
I didn’t taste the yoghurt and it was just delicious.. so authentic.. my fussy kids were well impressed and loved it too .. I didn’t put chilli in as they were eating it to .. thanks for this amazing recipe
swasthi says
Welcome Elaine
Glad you all loved it. Thank you!
Angel says
Tried this and be it turned out to be Amazing . It has the authentic taste of lucknow chicken korma.
swasthi says
Thank you Angel
Glad it turned out great!
Janine Proudlock says
I made korma recipe tonight for my husband and I, it was absolutely delicious thank you I’ll definitely make it again 😊
swasthi says
Thank you
D says
This is the BEST KORMA ever ❤️
swasthi says
Thank you
Emma says
Wow. Recipie and QTY’s are on the money! I am dairy free so I subbed the curd for plain coconut yogurt and it was amazing. I’m so relieved. I tried a different Korma curry Recipie and it just tasted like Tumeric, So I was very relieved when this tasted so authentic and yum. Good job!
swasthi says
Thanks Emma
Glad to know you liked it.
🙂
Caroline says
Hi there,
Doing a dinner evening with a few different types of curries.Could i do your ‘chicken korma’ a week before & freeze it ? so as not to be so busy last few days ? ( as i see theres no cream in it)
swasthi says
Hi Caroline,
I don’t have experience freezing chicken curry or korma. Sorry couldn’t help you!
jenny says
I’ve made this recipe twice, once with chicken breasts and the second time with a mix of thighs and drumsticks. Both times the dish was excellent. I followed the recipe fairly closely except tripled the quantities to yield enough food for my group. The one question I have is how much water and long to cook out the water (next time I may try decreasing the water amount as I’ve found my gravy to be a little watery; flavor is still great but I prefer a thicker sauce. Yet the chicken has definitely been done and I didn’t want to overcook.)
swasthi says
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for trying. The exact amount of water to use depends on the kind of chicken. Young birds don’t take lot of time to cook and don’t need much water. I will recheck my personal notes on the recipe and update it here.
Sita says
This chicken korma was surprisingly easy and quick…. and delicious! Very filling and satisfying but not very greasy/fattening. The creaminess comes from a little bit of cashews! This dish made my family so happy.
swasthi says
Glad to know Sita
Thank you!
Victor Emilio Esteve says
Just excellent, love to bring a bit of India all the way to Argentina, this is my daughter’s favourite dish.
swasthi says
Thank you!
Praveen says
Thanks for the recipe. Tastes delicious.
swasthi says
You are welcome
Glad to know
Bronwyn says
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. I made this but my paste ended up curdled and separated and my sauce wouldn’t thicken at alluntil I added cornstarch. I wanted to ask what I might have done wrong… I tried to follow the diagrams exactly 😕 would it be possible next time to use a slow cooker for this? Also can I replace Yogurt with Coconut cream? Thanks so much again 😊
swasthi says
Welcome Bronwyn,
Cashews and almonds used to make the korma paste prevents the yogurt from curdling. They work similar to cornstarch. Also there is very little yogurt used to make the paste.Cooking yogurt based curries at high temperature can cause curdling. Other reason could be the proportions – onions:nuts:yogurt. If the ratios are not right then it can curdle. I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker so don’t know about it. Yes coconut cream can be used.
Hope this helps.
bushra says
i have tried this.its so yummy
swasthi says
Thank you
Martina Mizzi says
hi! does the korma taste as good without the optional spices? don’t have any available but if they make a big difference i will get some before trying this.. thanks!
swasthi says
Hi Martina
You can skip the whole spices in the curry. The 2 cardamoms that are pureed with onions makes a difference. You can add about 1/4 tsp of ground cardamoms as a substitute to whole cardamoms. Add it along with the garam masala. Hope this helps.
Daneyal says
I made it tonight exactly as stated. It was really, really good. I wish I had blended the cashews a little better, next time I will blend them longer. I’m not an experienced cook and this tasted exceptional even with my limited skills.
I’m not sure how many servings this is supposed to make but 2 of us ate it all. Next time I will double everything so there is some for the next day. Thank you for posting it!
swasthi says
Hello Daneyal,
Glad it turned out good. Yes the texture of the ground cashews and onions must be very smooth. You can also pass this through a filter. This recipe makes 2 adult and 2 kids servings(below 5 yrs).Hope this helps. Thank you
Daneyal says
HI Swasthi,
Sometimes recipes call for heavy cream and sometimes coconut milk. I find that I am slightly more partial to the cream in flavour, but I have never substituted heavy cream for coconut milk when the recipe calls for one over the other. Is this an OK substitute to make or not a good idea in your opinion? I’m going to make this today.
Thanks!
swasthi says
Hi Daneyal,
Same here! I too prefer cream and not coconut milk much. They don’t yield the same results.Coconut milk is just a substitute and the taste will not be the same. So I prefer cashew milk when I am running out of heavy cream. I make cashew milk just by blending 1/4 cup of cashews with 1/2 to 3/4 cup water until very very smooth. This gives almost the same taste and texture to the gravy as that of heavy cream. Hope this helps
Rahul Thacker MD says
Thanks
Cooked yesterday, turned out to be superb! Same kind of color and great taste.Great for my Keto lifestyle.
I will try out your other recipes as plenty of time during CONVID-19 shut down in California and of course everywhere else.
swasthi says
Hi Dr. Rahul,
Glad to know it turned out good. Thank you! Stay safe
Sarrah Ghor says
Hi do i need to fry the onions fresh can i use previously fried onions and if yes, do i cook the nuts separately or do i dorectly put it all in the blender to make paste?
swasthi says
Hi Sarrah,
Yes you can use fried onions. You can add the raw nuts directly to the blender.