Korma-style chicken curry Korma murg curry

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 cinnamon stick, broken up into small pieces

2 onions, roughly chopped

1 green chilli, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

50g (1¾oz) cashew nuts

1 tablespoon white poppy seeds

100ml (3½fl oz) water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon chilli powder

200ml (7fl oz) boiling water

650g (1lb 7oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 5cm (2 inch) pieces

1 tablespoon double cream

20g (¾oz) fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

Directions

Heat the oil in a pan and add the cinnamon. Once it starts to sizzle, add the onions with the green chilli and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until they start to colour.

Add the garlic, ginger and cashew nuts and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until lightly golden. Stir in the poppy seeds and then pour in the measured water.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and blitz until smooth, then return to the pan.

Stir in the salt, ground spices and measured boiling water, then add the chicken pieces. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Add the cream and coriander, then serve.

Notes

When you have a chicken korma in a restaurant, it tends to be sweet, sometimes with raisins and quite pale. I am not a big fan of that style of korma and once you have tried my version you may well prefer mine, too. The simple spices used in the sauce lend the chicken a lovely warmth, while you get a beautiful creaminess from the cashews, poppy seeds and onions, resulting in a deliciously delicate curry. Serve with Spiced Layered Flatbread, chapattis or naan, or with rice.