Chicken Korma (Simon's House Style)

Tempo

Picante

Dificuldade

Médio

Rende

4porções

Ingredientes

onions, finely chopped

Olive oil (or ghee, more traditional)

cloves

green cardamom pods, lightly bruised

750g chicken (coxa de frango sem osso, cubed — about 3cm pieces; or filé de peito if preferred)

2 tbsp

curry powder (a good Madras-style — Casa Santa Luzia, Mundo Verde)

¼ tsp

ground nutmeg

1 tsp

ground cumin

2 tbsp

plain flour

small pots (about 400g) natural yogurt (iogurte natural integral, NOT Greek-style — too thick)

200ml coconut milk (or chicken stock; coconut milk is richer)

2 tsp

grated fresh ginger

Black pepper

Juice of ½ lemon

Fresh coriander, chopped

Handful of slivered almonds (optional, for garnish)

To serve

Curried rice (basmati cooked with a few cardamom pods + a pinch of turmeric + a knob of butter)

Naan or chapati

A simple cucumber-yogurt raita

Modo de preparo

01**Sauté onions.** PCC20 on P5 (Refogar). Heat olive oil or ghee. Add chopped onions, cook **10 minutes** over medium until soft and pale gold (Mughal cooking tradition uses lighter-cooked onions than Punjabi).
02**Bloom whole spices.** Add cloves and cardamom pods. Fry **2-3 minutes** until fragrant.
03**Toast flour.** Stir in flour. Cook 1 minute — coats the onions and absorbs moisture.
04**Add chicken.** Tip in cubed chicken. Add curry powder + nutmeg + cumin. Stir well to coat. Cook **3-4 minutes** until chicken is white on the outside (not browned).
05**Add yogurt slowly, one pot at a time.** This is critical — adding all at once can split the yogurt. Add one pot, stir, let it reduce slightly (1-2 minutes). Add the next, stir, reduce. Continue until all 4 pots are in.
06**Add coconut milk + ginger + pepper.** Stir. Should look like a creamy sauce coating the chicken pieces.
07**Pressure cook.** Lock lid, P14 (Carne — but adjust time), **15 minutes** high pressure. Natural release.
08**Adjust.** Open lid. Stir in lemon juice. Taste — adjust salt (it'll need more than expected). Add a splash more coconut milk or chicken stock if too thick.
09**Plate.** Spoon over curried rice. Scatter chopped coriander and slivered almonds.

Chicken Korma (Simon's House Style)

A mild Mughal-style chicken curry — yogurt-and-coconut sauce, warm spices (clove, cardamom, ginger), no chile heat by default. Less famous than tikka masala but more elegant; the flavor profile leans on dairy and aromatics rather than tomato. Pressure cooker handles the chicken-in-yogurt simmer faster and more reliably than stovetop.

Heat: 1/5. Aromatic warmth, not chile heat.

Tame it

Already mild (1/5). The dish is naturally non-spicy.

Sub: bottled chiles only

Doesn't apply — this dish is gentle by design. If you want some heat, add ½ tsp Cepera Mexicano at step 4.

Slow cooker variant (PCC20 P6)

After step 6: P6 (Cozimento Lento), 4-6h (or 8h if your unit doesn't allow time adjust). Result is even creamier; works well with delayed start.

Serving

Mounded over curried rice. Naan torn for scooping. A bowl of cucumber raita to cool. A glass of off-dry Riesling, Gewürztraminer, or cold lager.

Notes

Yogurt choice. Brazilian "iogurte natural integral" (4-pot tray) is what's intended here. Greek-style yogurt is too thick and may need thinning. Don't use sweet yogurt; don't use low-fat (splits more easily).
Add yogurt slowly. The 1-pot-at-a-time technique prevents the yogurt from breaking. If your yogurt does split (small curds visible), it's still edible but less elegant — the pressure cook smooths some of it out.
Curry powder quality matters. This recipe leans on a good blend. Casa Santa Luzia and Mundo Verde sell decent Madras curry powder. Cheap supermarket "pó de curry" can be flat or harsh. Build your own if you cook Indian food often: mix 2 tsp cumin + 2 tsp coriander + 1 tsp turmeric + 1 tsp paprika + 1 tsp ground ginger + ½ tsp cinnamon + ½ tsp cardamom + ½ tsp pepper.
Almonds garnish is a Mughlai signature — toast lightly in a dry pan before sprinkling.
Variations:
- Lamb korma: swap chicken for 750g cubed lamb shoulder; pressure 35 min instead of 15
- Veggie korma: swap chicken for 600g paneer (or firm tofu) + 200g cauliflower florets; pressure 8 min
- Add raisins at step 5 for a sweeter Mughlai variant
- Add saffron (½ tsp) bloomed in 2 tbsp warm milk, stirred in at the end
Make ahead. Day-2 better. Freezes 2 months.
Cross-reference: for a tomato-based, more pungent Indian curry see lentilha_dal-makhani.md or paleta-cordeiro_hyderabadi-haleem.md. For a hot Indian curry, see paleta-porco_goan-vindaloo.md.