Chicken Kurma is all round family friendly as it both mild with a slight kick and is rich in flavors. Surekha and Navasheen both love it with rice and it is often served in Indian buffets to counter the spiciness of the chicken and mutton on the menu. If you wish to make it more 'heart' friendly, replace the coconut milk with regular milk. You can also make a vegetarian kurma by replacing the chicken with firm vegetables like carrots, french beans and cauliflower (see in slide show below). The flavours can be further heightened if you use home made chicken stock instead of water.
Ingredients: 1 chicken (about 1 1/2 kg) - cut into 20 parts 2-3 large potatoes - quartered 2 tomatoes - quartered 2 inch cinnamon + 3 cloves + 3 cardamons + 3 star anises 2 cups coconut milk + 1 cup water 1 1/2 tsp salt + 1 tsp sugar 2-3 sprigs curry leaves 1 bunch coriander leaves cut roughly for garnishing
Grind together and make a paste using:
(From top clockwise) - 1 inch ginger - 10-15 cashew nuts ( I like to also combine walnuts into the mix) - 5-6 green chillies (leave the seeds in if you want it a little more spicy, also don't use red chillies as it will change the color of the kurma) - 1 tbsp dried raisins - 5-6 pips of garlic - 1 bunch coriander leaves - 2 large onions (middle) Add to the blender: - 1 1/2 tsbp black pepper powder - 1 tbsp garam masala (see separate entry on how to make this spice mix) Method:
Crackle cinnamon, cloves, cardamons and star anise in 2 tbsp hot oil.
Add ground ingredients and stir till aromatic.
Put in the chicken, salt and sugar.
Coat the chicken with the ground paste and then pour in water, close and bring to boil.
Pour in the coconut milk and put in tomatoes, potatoes and curry leaves.
Bring to boil and cook till chicken is tender and potatoes are cooked.
Dish out and garnish with coriander leaves.
Note: If making vegetarian kurma then only add in the harder vegetables first like carrots, when the tomatoes and potatoes are added as in the recipe above. Let it boil and then add in the french beans and cauliflower. Do not cook too long or the vegetables will disintegrate.
Kurma goes well with most types of rice dished (i.e white rice / ghee rice (nasi minyak)/ pulao / briyani / tomato rice), garam masala mutton and vegetables.
This recipe was featured in The Star Eats section on 14 November 2023: https://www.thestar.com.my/food/food-news/2023/11/14/chicken-kurma
Comments