Kormas are a North Indian Curry. Typically made by marinating the main ingredient, in this case chicken, in yoghurt, nuts and spices like ginger, garlic, chilli, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coriander and fennel. It is then cooked in its own juices and a sauce made of onions, lots of green chillies and whole spices. It may also contain tomatoes and coconut milk.
The chicken needs to be marinated for at least one hour and up to 1 day for best results.
Ingredients
500g chicken breast cut into large cubes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
2 star anise
4 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick or cassia bark
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
150g green beans chopped in 3 cm pieces
450 -500 ml coconut milk
20g fresh ginger, cut into very fine stripes
5 tablespoons fresh coriander chopped
1 lime, juice and zest
Curry Paste
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced
30g fresh ginger, chopped
10 garlic cloves, chopped
½ cinnamon stick or cassia bark
3 whole cloves
2 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp coriander seed
4 green cardamoms pods
4 -8 green chillies (depending on type of chilli and your heat tolerance)
60g cashew nuts
100g natural yoghurt
Garnish
Coriander leaves
Lime wedges
Instructions
Curry Paste
Heat oil in a heavy bottom saucepan. Add sliced onion, ginger, garlic, all spices mentioned in the paste section, green chillies (seeds removed) and cashew nuts. Fry over medium heat until onions are soft and slightly brown. Let mixture cool and puree in a blender with the yoghurt to a fine paste.
Place the chicken into a bowl, cover with the curry paste, mix well and leave to marinate in a cool place for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
Curry
Heat oil in a heavy bottom saucepan. Add the bay leaf, the star anise, the cloves and the cinnamon. Fry for 1-2 minutes. Add onion and fry over low heat until soft and translucent.
Add chicken including marinade and the beans, fry over low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add coconut milk and ginger and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Remove immediately from heat when cooked.
Serving
Before serving, remove the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, star anise and cloves, then add the fresh coriander leaves and the grated rind and juice of the lime.
Serve with rice and garnish with coriander leaves and lime wedges.
