Chicken korma is a traditional Mughal recipe, from the era of Bajirao Mastani (the Mughals were the Muslim invaders that Bajirao and Mastani defeat in the story). Much like the film, korma is traditionally luxurious and over the top, with meat braised in a rich sauce of yogurt, cream, and nuts. I love the flavor of korma, but have always looked for a simpler—and healthier—way to prepare it. This is my solution. I start with thinly cut chicken pieces because they cook quickly and stay juicy the whole way through (there’s nothing worse than dry chicken breast). Of course, if you’re using regular chicken breast, all you need to do is place each piece between a folded sheet of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin or the smooth side of a meat tenderizer until roughly 1/4 inch in uniform thickness. Then, a quick yogurt marinade ensures the spices penetrate the meat to give it a faux-braised taste. And instead of simmering the gravy for an hour, I make a quick pan sauce that’s poured over the breast to give it that classic korma flavor. Think of this as twenty-first-century korma—made with simple techniques to suit our modern lifestyle, but with decadent flavors to suit the emperor inside us all.
— Sri Rao
Excerpted from BOLLYWOOD KITCHEN © 2017 by Sri Rao. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Photo by Sidney Bensimon. All rights reserved.
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (2% or whole)
- 1-1/2 tablespoons garlic paste (or minced garlic)
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste (or minced ginger)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Indian red chilli powder (or cayenne)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon grounf cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts thinly cut
- 2 tablespoons canola oil divided
- chopped fresh mint for garnish
- 4 shallots sliced (about 1 cup)
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds plus extra for garnish
- 1-1/2 cups milk (whole or 2%)
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- Buttery naan, for serving
- In a large bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients.
- Place the sliced chicken in the bowl with the marinade and stir well to coat all the pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes (if you have more time, 2 to 3 hours is even better).
- When you’re ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Using tongs and a spatula, remove the chicken from the bowl and scrape off as much of the marinade as possible (reserving the marinade in the bowl) before placing the chicken in the skillet in multiple batches. Decrease the heat to medium and cook (replenishing with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil as needed) for 5 to 7 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes on the other side. (You could also do this on an outdoor grill for a nice charred effect.) To check if the chicken is done, cut into the thickest part of each piece and make sure the meat is not pink. As each piece is finished, arrange on a platter.
- For the pan sauce, remove any of the larger, burned remnants from the pan (but don’t clean it out completely because the brown bits have tons of flavor). Decrease the heat to medium-low and add a touch of oil to the skillet if needed. Add the shallots and almonds and cook, stirring, until the shallots have softened, about a minute. Then add the marinade from the bowl, along with the milk. Whisk well. As soon as the sauce comes up to a bubble, decrease the heat, stir in the raisins, cover, and simmer, allowing the raw spices to be cooked, for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Taste the sauce. If it’s too intense or too thick, simply add more milk to thin it out.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts on the platter. Garnish with chopped mint and serve with buttery naan.
