Mughlai Chicken Korma – Rich , Aromatic North Indian Chicken Curry made Cashews,Poppy Seeds and whole Spices.A quick Instant Pot recipe and slow stove top recipe included.
The word “Korma” is synonymous with opulent, rich creamy aromatic gravy made with nuts, yogurt,cream and khoya.It’s the food of the kings and the queens. At least it was before Monarchy was abolished in India. Nevertheless, Korma has a very rich history in India.
Off course there are a lot of korma recipes.Some authentic, some copies & some with regional twists, but all delicious!
The more elaborate the recipe- the richer the curry!But in this modern day, we don’t have the luxury nor the want to spend that amount of time in the kitchen so with this recipe, I hope to show you some quick fixes and steps which make the curry more achievable in an everyday kitchen.
The deep flavour from browned onions, the hit of whole spices and the tang from the yogurt, the richness from the cashew and the poppy seeds! Ah this chicken curry is a pure indulgence.
How to make the Mughlai Chicken Korma
Step 1 – Cook the chicken
Heat the ghee in a pan.Add the whole spices. Sauté the paste of raw onion till it’s brown.Add the aromatics- ginger garlic and chilli.Add the chicken with 1 cup of yogurt and cook.(scroll down for detailed step by step picture)
You can speed this process by pressure cooking it, either in an Instant Pot or a traditional pressure cooker.
Step 2- Prepare the Gravy
Brown the onions
You can either deep fry or shallow fry them.Recently, I have been air frying the onions with half a tsp of oil and the result is pretty awesome.You could also bake them till they are brown.This reduces both effort and calories!
Make the Gravy
Grind the brown onions, soaked cashews and poppy seeds together with 1/4 cup of yogurt.
Step 3-Combine all together
Once the chicken is cooked, add the gravy to it.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- For a richer curry- buy chicken with the skin on and finish the curry with some cream.
- You can replace cashews with almonds or melon seeds too.
- This Chicken Korma can be frozen for upto a month and refrigerated for 3 days.It tastes the best the day after it’s made.
- You can slow cook this if you want but if you want to speed up the whole process and cut the time to half then follow the following steps
- Brown the onions in an air frier for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.
- To speed up the process of browning the raw onion puree- Let the puree sit for about 10 minutes, discard the water that it releases and then start the browning.
If you are new to instant poting- then I suggest you read my review on instant pot for indian food here.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 500 gms Chicken on the bone
- 1 tbsp Ghee or oil
- 3 Green cardamom
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp Fennel seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1/2 Cup Onion – ground into a paste
- 1 cm ginger minced
- 4-5 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 Green Chilli minced
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri Chilli pr Paprika
- 1/2 Yogurt
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala optional
Gravy
- 1 Cup Onions sliced thin
- 1 tsp Oil or more if you are deep frying or shallow frying
- 1/4 Cup Cashews soaked in boiling water
- 1 tsp Poppy Seeds white
- 1/2 Yogurt
Instructions
To make the Gravy
- Soak the poppy seeds and cashews together in boiling water.
- Brown the onions – toss the onions in the oil.Fry them in the airfryer for 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees till them are brown. Alternatively, take 2 tbsp of oil and shallow fry them in a flat pan.Or you could deep fry them if you want.
- Grind toghether the brown onions,strained poppy seeds and cashews & yogurt into a smooth paste.
To make the Chicken- Instant Pot Method*
- Heat the instant pot in the SAUTE mode.Once hot,add the oil.
- To this add the whole spices- green cardamom,cumin,fennel,bay leaf,peppercorns & nutmeg.Let the spices steep in the oil for 20-30 seconds.
- Add the raw onions paste.(do not confuse with the fried onion gravy).Cook this till it starts to change color and turn brown.
- Deglaze the pot with 1 tbsp of water.Add the ginger garlic and green chillies,coriander and turmeric powder.
- Add the Chicken,1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup water.Cancel the SAUTE mode.
- Select the PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL MODE. Pressure cook on HIGH,in sealed position for 6 minutes.Let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid,add the prepared gravy and garam masala.Give it a mix.Cancel PRESSURE COOK mode and select SAUTE mode and bring to boil.If you want to thicken the gravy,boil the chicken in SAUTE mode till you get your desired consistency.
- Serve hot with rice or parathas or naans.
To make the Chicken- Stove Top Method
- Heat a deep pot.Once hot,add the oil.
- To this add the whole spices- green cardamom,cumin,fennel,bay leaf,peppercorns & nutmeg.Let the spices steep in the oil for 20-30 seconds.
- Add the raw onions paste.(do not confuse with the fried onion gravy).Cook this till it starts to change color and turn brown.
- Deglaze the pot with 1 tbsp of water.Add the ginger garlic and green chillies,coriander and turmeric powder.
- Add the Chicken,1/2 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup water.Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Open the lid,add the prepared gravy and garam masala.Give it a mix and bring to boil.If you want to thicken the gravy,cook the curry without a lid on high flame, till you get the desired consistency.
- Serve hot with rice or parathas or naans.
Notes
Here are some great indian chicken curries that you have to try!
Mughlai Saffron Chicken Chaap
Achari Chicken Curry
Indian Style Rosat Chicken
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