This chicken korma is a rich and creamy mild chicken curry with lots of flavour, made with coconut cream, yogurt and a small amount of ground almonds. Perfect for kids and adults to enjoy.
It’s all cooked in one pan with no marinading required and it’s ready in less than 30 minutes!
It took a little bit of experimentation to get this korma to taste exactly the way I wanted to it. Creamy, but not cloying, mild but not flavourless. I really wanted it to stand out as a curry the adults would love, as well as the kids, but also for it to be quick and simple.
This certainly won’t disappoint. No marinating needed, no removing bits from the pan and adding them back later – just adding ingredients in to build up the flavours, then letting it simmer for a few minutes before serving.
📋 What do we need?
🔪 How to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- We start by softening onion in a pan in a ghee or oil, then adding chicken. It just needs to cook until it’s sealed as it will continue to cook along with the rest of the ingredients.
- Next in are the aromatics and spices – we’re talking garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, garam masala, a little mild chilli powder (leave it out if you want NO heat at all), turmeric, salt and white pepper. I also add in a little tomato puree (paste if you’re in the USA) to add richness and help really coat the chicken in the spices.
- Now we add in natural yogurt – use full fat as it’s less likely to split, coconut cream, a couple of tablespoons of ground almonds and a tiny bit of sugar for a little sweetness.
- Simmer for 6-8 minutes – by which time the chicken should be cooked, the stir in 4 tbsp of double (heavy) cream and serve.
👩🍳PRO TIP You can replace the double (heavy) cream with single (half-fat) cream if you prefer, just be sure to turn off the heat before stirring it in.
Serve topped with a little freshly torn coriander (cilantro).
🍽️ What to serve it with
Let’s just have a close look at that creamy curry one more time….
📺 Watch how to make it
🍲 More mild Curry recipes
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Chicken Korma
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee or sunflower oil
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 3 chicken breasts (approx. 525g/1.1lbs), chopped into bite-size chunks
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1 ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp mild chilli powder (this is to add a tiny bit of warmth, but you can leave it out if you prefer no heat at all).
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 2 tbsp tomato puree paste for US
- 120 ml (½ cup) full-fat plain/natural yogurt
- 120 ml (½ cup) coconut cream *see note
- 2 tbsp ground almonds
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 60 ml (4 tbsp) double (heavy) cream
To Serve:
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander cilantro
- boiled rice and/or chapati
Instructions
- Heat the ghee in a large frying pan over a medium heat, until hot.2 tbsp ghee or sunflower oil
- Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until softened.1 onion
- Add the chicken breasts and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is sealed.3 chicken breasts
- Add the minced garlic, minced ginger, cumin, ground coriander, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric, salt, white pepper, and tomato puree.2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp minced ginger, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1 1/2 tsp garam masala, ½ tsp mild chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp white pepper, 2 tbsp tomato puree
- Cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until the chicken is coated.
- Add the yogurt, coconut cream, ground almonds, and sugar.120 ml (½ cup) full-fat plain/natural yogurt, 120 ml (½ cup) coconut cream, 2 tbsp ground almonds, 1 tbsp sugar
- Stir everything together, bring to a gentle boil, then simmer for 6-8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in the double (heavy) cream and turn off the heat.60 ml (4 tbsp) double (heavy) cream
- Serve the korma topped with fresh coriander (cilantro).2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander
- Serve with rice and/or chapati.boiled rice and/or chapati
Video
Notes
If you only have coconut milk, you can chill the tin overnight, then open the tin and use the solid portion at the top of the tin, leaving the liquid behind. Can I make it ahead? Yes, you can make this curry ahead, then cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Reheat in a pan over a medium heat, stirring often, until the chicken is piping hot throughout.
You may need to add in a little water or cream to loosen when reheating, as the sauce will thicken. Can I freeze it? Yogurt can sometimes be difficult to work with when freezing as it can sometimes split or go a little grainy on defrosting. However I’ve frozen and reheated this curry and it was fine. The key here is to ensure you’re using full fat cream and full fat yogurt. Lower fat dairy products are much more likely to split/curdle.
- Also ensure you cool the korma quickly and freeze as soon as possible after cooking.
- Ideally freeze in portions so it defrosts quicker.
- Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat in a pan until piping hot throughout. Be sure to heat on a medium heat (rather than a high heat) and stir often while re-heating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Such a great recipe for those that don’t like a spicy curry. Its full of flavour and is just the perfect consistency for a sauce.
I have just made this yummy chicken korma it tasted lush, never made this before a great recipe and so quick and easy to make. It will be a regular for me yum yum.
Not as good as the madras
I made this a couple of nights ago and we were absolutely thrilled with it. The spices blend perfectly and create such delishousness you will think you died and went to heaven. Two days later, we ate the leftovers … and my goodness this was even better on the reheat. I think I could eat this every day. Thanks for an excellent and truly easy, authentic tasting Chicken Korma. I would imagine you could use this same recipe for a lamb dish.
This is the second recipe from Nicky which I have cooked and it is amazing – I had a can of coconut milk and no coconut cream so used that and less yoghurt but it was delicious. Cant wait to try more of your recipes, they are wonderful and easy to follow, thank you so much.
Hi Nicky. So if I use the Coconut Cream Blocks, how do I accertain the amount of water to mix it with?
Loving the recipes 👍😁
Hi Graham,
I usually crumble the blocks and keeping adding in hot water, a bit at a time, whilst stirring, until I get the consistency of cream.
It’s usually about 5 parts water to 2 parts coconut cream.
Delicious!
Planning to make this for supper tomorrow. Just wanted to say that I love the new instructions with amounts in the method. I’d continually be scrolling up and down in the old recipes to double check amounts, and my phone screen would end up quite sticky!
Nicky, this curry is super easy and super delicious 😋 thanks for giving us another fantastic family curry to enjoy!
Greetings from Australia! I have made lots of your curries and they’ve all been super tasty. Also thank you for adding the weight (525g) for the chicken as sizes of chicken breasts often vary. Looking forward to cooking this for my family 🙂