Hello again, first of all, sorry for being off the net for such a long time! My recovery from the hip replacement operation is going very slowly and I just haven’t had the energy to sit down and write. Besides that, I haven’t had much to write about lately – as the weather has been pretty grim and I’ve hardly been out in my garden the last 10 days – hence no garden photos today. Yes, I know it’s August, and supposed to be the summer month of the year, but someone has messed up, again – and we have ended up with all the rain we didn’t get last winter. Ehhh…I would have preferred to have the rain back in February, thank you very much!
As I am writing this, the rain is bucketing down and hammering on my living room windows. It doesn’t help that it’s 23 degrees outside, what am I going to do with 23 degrees when I can’t step outside without getting soaking wet?? Last time we had a really nice warm August was in 2005, that’s a very long time ago…even if we get a nice September it really isn’t the same as a long warm summer, and the winter feels so much longer when the summer weather hasn’t been that great. OK, enough about the weather, it’s not really what this post is going to be about. As you probably have guessed from the title, I am about to dish out another recipe. I can see from the statistics for this blog that the recipes I have posted already are doing quite well and are visited regularly, so I thought I would post some more whilst waiting for the garden to recover enough to get the next batch of photos.
Today’s recipe is of my favourite Indian meal, Chicken Korma. However, this recipe has been altered a bit over the years, so it won’t taste like your regular Chicken Korma Take-Away or supermarket variety. I really like the creamy sauce with almonds and the type of spices traditionally used in this dish, especially the cardamom, but I like my dishes spicier; not hot, just a bit spicier. A Chicken Korma is usually very bland; this one is far from bland, but won’t scare anyone who is afraid of things being too hot. It is more a dish with lots of flavour rather than spicy, if you know what I mean. I have served this dish many times to dinner guests, and it always creates a bit of a smile; me being a Norwegian living in London serving Indian home cooked food. But I love Indian food, and I have several more dishes for you so if you like this one; watch this space :-)
I know I should have had a lovely photo here of a plate laden full of steaming hot food, but this was a bit of a spur of the moment post so I am afraid I haven’t got a picture for you. But I will put one here next time I make a batch, promise. Yes, I actually make a batch of this, a double portion, and I freeze it in one portion size plastic boxes. Heat it in a microwave, it tastes just as delicious as the day you made it – if not better! If the sauce is a bit too thick, add a couple of tbsp of water. This recipe serves 4 people.
Chicken Korma
Ingredients
• 2 + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cm/1½in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed or 3 tsp garlic paste
• 4-6 cardamom pods, crushed, remove the pod pieces
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp mild chilli pepper
• 250ml/8fl oz chicken stock
• 200ml/7fl oz whipping cream
• 75g/3oz ground almonds
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 50g/2oz flaked toasted almonds
Preparation method
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan or frying pan and fry the chicken pieces until they get a colour, but not until cooked through. Leave the chicken in a dish for now. Fry the onion with 1 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan until it begins to soften.
2. Add the chicken, garlic and ginger to the onions and, after frying for a few minutes, add all the remaining spices. Stir around in the pan, allowing them to release their flavour into the chicken for another few minutes.
3. Add the tomato purée, ground almonds, stock and cream and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes until reduced to the consistency of thick cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Scatter over the toasted almonds and serve with naan bread and rice.
This dish is lovely with poppadoms and mango chutney, both of which you can get ready made in most supermarkets. If I am having dinner guests I often serve homemade samosas with cucumber raita as a starter. Recipe for that I think will have to wait for another rainy day :-)
See you next time, take care.
Today’s recipe is of my favourite Indian meal, Chicken Korma. However, this recipe has been altered a bit over the years, so it won’t taste like your regular Chicken Korma Take-Away or supermarket variety. I really like the creamy sauce with almonds and the type of spices traditionally used in this dish, especially the cardamom, but I like my dishes spicier; not hot, just a bit spicier. A Chicken Korma is usually very bland; this one is far from bland, but won’t scare anyone who is afraid of things being too hot. It is more a dish with lots of flavour rather than spicy, if you know what I mean. I have served this dish many times to dinner guests, and it always creates a bit of a smile; me being a Norwegian living in London serving Indian home cooked food. But I love Indian food, and I have several more dishes for you so if you like this one; watch this space :-)
I know I should have had a lovely photo here of a plate laden full of steaming hot food, but this was a bit of a spur of the moment post so I am afraid I haven’t got a picture for you. But I will put one here next time I make a batch, promise. Yes, I actually make a batch of this, a double portion, and I freeze it in one portion size plastic boxes. Heat it in a microwave, it tastes just as delicious as the day you made it – if not better! If the sauce is a bit too thick, add a couple of tbsp of water. This recipe serves 4 people.
Chicken Korma
Ingredients
• 2 + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cm/1½in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed or 3 tsp garlic paste
• 4-6 cardamom pods, crushed, remove the pod pieces
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp mild chilli pepper
• 250ml/8fl oz chicken stock
• 200ml/7fl oz whipping cream
• 75g/3oz ground almonds
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 50g/2oz flaked toasted almonds
Preparation method
1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan or frying pan and fry the chicken pieces until they get a colour, but not until cooked through. Leave the chicken in a dish for now. Fry the onion with 1 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan until it begins to soften.
2. Add the chicken, garlic and ginger to the onions and, after frying for a few minutes, add all the remaining spices. Stir around in the pan, allowing them to release their flavour into the chicken for another few minutes.
3. Add the tomato purée, ground almonds, stock and cream and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes until reduced to the consistency of thick cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Scatter over the toasted almonds and serve with naan bread and rice.
This dish is lovely with poppadoms and mango chutney, both of which you can get ready made in most supermarkets. If I am having dinner guests I often serve homemade samosas with cucumber raita as a starter. Recipe for that I think will have to wait for another rainy day :-)
See you next time, take care.
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