“Chicken Hara Korma” … a famous non.veg Mughlai delicacy famous in the northern parts of India, though it has now traveled almost all round the globe … tastes best served with nan, roti, pulav or kori rotti … this one is for my non. vegetarian friends, veggies please excuse, however, you can try it out with paneer, soya chunks or mixed veggies too, it will taste great … Yummilicious ....
** It's been a long time since I prepared a new recipe of chicken curry at home as I always fell short on time or lets say not upto mood as it meant a lot of work. I had saved plenty of recipes to try out not to mention those in my old diaries which I intend to share too, again with a few stll lying in draft mood. No, these are not excuses, everybody out their who is a blogger and needs to click, edit, write, re- write, blog it will understand the time restraint that's involved and that is just what I am not finding these days.
** Without running into my hues let me move on to the recipe of Chicken Hara Korma, a mughal delicacy. It’s mainly prepared with coriander leaves, green chillies, coconut and other spices along with almonds, though I have included even melon seeds. There are many names to this curry as per the region, however it’s believed to be a Mughlai version that was created somewhere in the 16th century by Rajput cooks in the royal kitchens of Emperor Akbar after which it traveled all over the world.
** Kurma and Korma are actually different though many refer it either way these days. Kurma is a word given to spicy dish prepared rather differently in the southern parts of India, while Korma is used with addition of almond etc. along with minimum spices and is rather a sweetish tinged dish. You will find plenty of Korma dishes on net with lot of difference, and while I have reffered to plenty of them, I must admit I have made my own adaption to suit the taste to our needs and you may do so too if desired.
** Here is my recipe for “Chicken Hara Korma” … my style …
** Ingredients :
Chicken Drumsticks or pieces : 6/ 500 gms
Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 2 medium sized
Tomato : 1 large sized
Ginger/ Adrak/ Alle’ : ½ inch
Garlic/ Losun/ Lehsun : 2-3 cloves
Turmeric/ Haldi Powder : ¼ tsp
Garam Masala Powder : ½ tsp
Coconut Milk/ Narla Rosu/ Nariyal Doodh : ¾ to 1 cup
Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 6-8
Lemon/ Nimboo/ Limbiyo : 1 small
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
Oil/ Tel/ Tela : 3-4 tblsp
Butter/ Loni : 1 tblsp
** For the Masala to be Ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : ½ cup freshly grated
Coriander leaves/ Kothambari Pallo/ Dhania : ½ cup
Green Chillies/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 6-8
Ginger/ Adrak/ Alle’ : ½ inch
Garlic/ Losun/ Lehsun : 3-4
Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 1 medium sized
Fennel Seeds/ Badisep/ Sauf : 1 tblsp
Coriander Seeds/ Dhania/ Kothambari : 1 tblsp
Cumin Seeds/ Jeera : 1 tsp
Whole Green Cardamom/ Ellaichi/ Yellu : 3-4
Cinnamon/ Tike Sali/ Dalchini : 1 inch piece
Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 4-5
Almonds/ Badam : 10- 12
Dry Melon Seeds/ Magaj (Kharbhuj ke Beej)/ ChibbadaBee : 1 tblsp
Oil/ Tel/ Tela : 1-2 tblsp
** For Garnishing :
Coriander leaves/ Kothambari Pallo/ Dhania : 1-2 tsp
Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : some of the fried ones
** Clean the chicken drumsticks and pat them dry. Now add a little bit of salt- haldi powder- red chilly powder, mix well rubbing in the powder well to the pieces. Let marinate by keeping it aside to rest for about 10-15 minutes. I have used drumsticks for this curry, you can use curry pieces too, if desired, it tastes equally great.
** To prepare “Coconut Milk/ Narla Rosu/ Nariyal Doodh” : You will need freshly grated white part of the coconut gratings. If desired you may check out the method of preparation in the link shared at the bottom of this recipe. You can also use any branded readily available coconut milk from the stores if desired too.
** For Masala to be Ground : Wash, pat dry and cut the green chillies and ginger. Peel off the outer skin of onion, garlic and chop them to fine pieces. Keep them all together ready aside. Soak almon in hot water for 10 minutes, remove the outer skin and then chop them also to medium sized pieces and keep it aside ready.
** Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai/ pan when hot add coriander seeds, fennel seeds, whole green cardamom, cumin seeds, cinnamon and fry all together for a few seconds. Add in the finely chopped onion, green chilies, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and continue frying on medium heat until they turn soft and aromatic.
** Note : You can increase/ decrease the number of green chillies as per your family/ individual requirement. However, do not add red chillies as this Korma is a dish prepared with minimum spices along with green chillies.
** Add almond pieces, melon seeds and continue frying for 2 minutes. Lastly add freshly grated coconut, mix well and continue frying all together on low heat for just a minute only. Do not raise the heat or brown the coconut as we just need it mixed in that’s all else the curry will turn darker shade which is not what we want.
** Note : Do not add excess almonds or melon seeds for masala as it will turn the curry too rich and thicker in taste. Also, do not add too much coconut gratings as we will be adding coconut milk too which will balance the curry well.
** Remove and let the fried masala cool well, then add in the fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped and mix well. Add all into a mixer grinder and grind to a smooth paste with required amount of water, remove and keep it aside. The masala should be very soft, smooth and thick in consistency with a green shade color (check pic).
** For preparing the Curry : Peel off the outer skin of onion and slice them thinly lengthwise and keep it aside ready. Clean, chop the ginger garlic and grind to a smooth paste. Wash, wipe dry and finely chop the tomato and keep it aside ready.
** Heat Oil in a thick bottomed wide mouthed vessel, when hot add sliced onion and fry until they turn crisp and golden brown. Remove half of it and keep it aside for garnishing (Option, only if desired). Now add few curry leaves, ginger- garlic paste, finely chopped tomato and fry till the oil separates. Be careful, If you find ingredients being burnt, you may sprinkle some water and continue to fry until done.
** Now add marinated chicken pieces, turmeric powder, little bit of salt and stir fry on medium- high heat for 1 minute. Add 2 cups of hot water, mix well, cover and let cook on medium heat till chicken is 70% done (about approx. 7-10 minutes). To check if the pieces are cook just insert a fork on few pieces, if not further cook for few minutes.
** When cooked add ground masala, garam masala powder, required amount of water to bring the curry to desired consistency and mix well. Check and add salt if required and bring all to a rolling boil stirring often in between to avoid being burnt. Lower the heat and add lemon juice, and cook cover on low heat for 5-10 minutes till done.
** Note : At this stage the chicken should be cooked 100%. If not continue to cook for another few minutes and use the fork method for checking. If you use country chicken it gets cooked fast while broiler chicken takes longer time.
** Lastly add the prepared and kept coconut milk, mix well, check and add in more water if required, cover and cook on low heat for another 5 minutes only. Remove from heat, garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and kept aside fried onions. Also add butter (Optional) and allow to rest aside covered for 10-15 minutes.
** Note : Resting time for chicken curry is a needful step as it helps the flavours to be well infused within the curry making it turn tastier.
** “Chicken Hara Korma” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served hot with pulao, naan, paratha or kori rotti, though you may serve it steamed rice/ mildly spiced rice or any other combo of your choice too OR you can serve it with hot steamed Idlies the way I served and we loved the combo very much.
** For the method of preparing “Coconut Milk/ Narla Rosu/ Nariyal Doodh” from fresh coconut gratings, follow the link given below ….
** Sharing a common link below to all “Chicken” recipes shared in the Blog, do browse through in leisure and try them out, they are all tasty ….
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks.