Moghul Chicken Korma

Mughlai cuisine is a style of cooking developed in the Indian subcontinent by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking styles used in North India(especially Uttar Pradesh and Delhi) and Pakistan as well as in parts of Dhaka in Bangladeh and the Indian city of Hyderabad.

The cuisine is strongly influenced by the Muslim Persian and Turki cuisines of West and Central Asia, and has in turn strongly influenced the regional cuisines of Kashmir and the Punjab region.

The tastes of Mughlai cuisine vary from extremely mild to spicy, and is often associated with a distinctive aroma and the taste of ground and whole spices. A Mughlai course is an elaborate bufft of main course dishes with a variety of accompaniments.

Dishes

The names of the dishes are quite often Persian, the official language of the Mughal court. Dishes include various kebabs, kofta (meatballs), nihari, pulao (a.k.a. pilaf in Central Asia), and biryani.

This recipe is from one of my favourite Brittish TV chefs, Rick Stein. And from his book Far Eastern Odyssey. I love this book, the recipes seems to be really authentic,

I have made few dishes from this book and one of them is Nasi Goreng which is really yummy and something I do make often and then there is this Thai Yellow Curry with Shrimps. I can go on with the list but these are the two dishes I have posted in my blog.

This is a very mild curry and if you are not used to spicy food this is really perfect.

When i saw 2 table spoon rose water I was reluctant to add so much but I am glad I did it, as the rose water taste was really mild. Could be also my brand of rose water I used TRS brand.

You can serve with Naan, roties or rice like I have done it.

It is a easy chicken to make, just take a little time to grind the spices etc...
I did add extra things int he dish that i have written below too.

Serve 6.
2 tbsp white poppy seeds

2 tbsp Rosewater

1/2 tsp looslet packed saffron strands ( I used powder)

40 gm peeled ginger grated

25 gm garlic grated

2.5 cm cinamon sticks

Seeds from 10 green cardamom pods ( I only used 5 but my Hans think if the recipe asked for 10 i should have added that)

2 tsp corriander seeds.

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
(1/2 tsp turmeric powder)

250 gm natural wholemilk youghurt

700 gm skinless and boneless chicken , cut into 5 cm pieces

350 gm onion roughly chopped

50 gm ghee ( I used oil)

50 gm ground almonds

1/2 tsp freshly dround peper

3 green chillie halved lengthways

75 - 100 ml double cream.

Salt to taste.
Also added few sprigs of corriander leaves when the dish was done.

Heat a dry , heavy based frying pan over a medium heat, add the poppy seeds and shake them aorund for a few seconds, until they darken very slightly and smell nutty.

Tip into a spice grinder, leave it to cool, then grind into a fine powder.

Put  into a bowl and set aside.

Warm the rose water, add the saffron and set asdie to soak.

In the same pan over a medium heat add the cinamon, cardamom pods and corriander seeds, lightly roast them, and grind them into a powder.

Put that garlic,ginger,ground roasted spices, nutmeg, youghurt and 1 tsp of salt into a bowl and mix together. Put the chicken pieces and leave it to marinate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile put the onions into a food processor and blend into a smooth paste.

Heat the ghee/oil in a wok or heavy based pan, add the onion paste and fry gently for 5 - 6 minutes until it just starts to brown.
Add turmeric.

Add the chicken and all the marinade and 5 tablespoon of water.

Bring up to a gentle simmer, partly cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes.

Uncover the chicken, add the green chillies, ground poppy seeds and saffron rosewater and simmer uncovered for futher 5 minutes,by the time sauce should be quiet thick.

Add the cream and simmer for a futher 1 _ 2 minutes,  Sprinkle with coriander leaves ,then serve.