RecipesChicken Korma
I thought it was about time to try a recipe from a fellow food blogger after a month of writing my own, so after coming across "Back to the Chopping Board" by James Brewer (after he came up with the Farewell Floyd Food Blogging Event), I noticed he was a man after my own heart and enjoyed a curry or two!
Having wanted to make a curry from the ground up for a very long time, I thought his Chicken Korma would be ideal to try as you get to make the paste as well. I believe the recipe is an adaption of a Jamie Oliver one from his Ministry of Food book. The pictures of the curry being made on James" site made me want to have a go as part of a curry night I wanted to do.
After going through my spice cupboard, I realised I only needed to get a few extra bits, so popped to the shops to get a green chilli, some ground almonds and desiccated coconut, some fresh corriander, a tin of coconut milk and a pot of creme fraiche. This was going to be a cheap meal as well as fun to make! The only thing I didnt use from the original recipe was the chickpeas as I am not a great fan of them.
I got everything washed, chopped, cut, crushed and prepared, took my laptop into the kitchen (my printer had run out of ink, so I had no way of printing it off) and got to work cooking this recipe. At the same time as creating this dish, I also cooked a Vegetable Balti from the BBC Good Food site, as I wanted to make my life a little more difficult! I"ll write about that dish in another post.
This recipe was great fun to make and I would recommend it to anyone to try. Making the paste at the start was the best bit, rather than having to use a bought one. I was really pleased how it came out!
All I will say is, this is the best korma I have made, and even though there are some great sauces and pastes out there, nothing can beat making it yourself from the ground up. This is definately one I will be making again. It tasted delicious!
Korma Paste 2 cloves Garlic Ginger, thumb-sized piece 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper 1 tsp Garam Masala 1/2 tsp Sea Salt 2 tbsp Groundnut Oil 1 tbsp Tomato Puree 1 fresh Green Chilli 3 tbsp Desiccated Coconut 2 tbsp Ground Almonds Coriander, small bunch 2 tsp Cumin Seeds 1 tsp Coriander Seeds
1 Toast the cumin and coriander seeds together in a dry pan for a few minutes until they are golden. Remove from the heat and when cooled, grind them up in a pestle and mortar.
2 Peel the garlic and ginger and roughly chop.
3 Place all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until you have a smooth paste.
Chicken Korma 2 Large Chicken Breasts 2 Medium Onions Ginger, thumb sized piece Coriander, small bunch Groundnut Oil Butter, knob of Korma Paste (see above) 1 x 400 ml tin Coconut Milk 2 heaped tbsp Desiccated Coconut 1 heaped tbsp Ground Almonds Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper 4 tbsp Creme Fraiche
1 Firstly cut the chicken into cubes.
2 Peel and finely slice your onions, peel and finely chop the ginger, pick the coriander leaves and finally chop the stalks.
3 Put a large pan on a high heat, and add a few lugs of oil. Put the chicken into the pan and brown lightly on all sides for around 5 minutes, then remove from the pan.
4 Add the butter, onions, ginger and coriander stalks. Keep stirring it frequently to ensure none of it catches and burns, but turns golden evenly for around 10 mins.
5 Add the chicken back into the pan, and cook for another 2-3 mins.
6 Put in your Korma paste, stir well and cook for around 2-3 mins to help cook the rawness out.
7 Pour in your coconut milk, ground almond and desiccated coconut. Fill the empty coconut milk tin half with water and pour into the pan and give a good stir. Bring back to the boil, then turndown the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on. Check the curry regularly to make sure it is not drying out - if it does add a little water.
8 When the chicken is tender, season with salt and pepper and stir through Creme Fraiche.
Serve with Pilau Rice and sprinkle over the coriander leaves.
Enjoy!