South Indian chicken korma

Adapted from Curry by Vivek Singh

Called kozhi kuruma, this is a aromatic, nutty and mild curry typical of home cooking in south India. We like this dish because it makes the most of the sous vide method to maximise the flavour of the humble chicken.

Time

2 hours total: 20 minutes attended, 1 hour 40 minutes unattended

Storage notes

Keeps in a fridge for up to 10 days after being cooked sous vide without being opened.

Difficulty

easy

Yield

800 g (servings 4 )

Ingredients

Weight

Volume

Procedure

Ginger root; chopped

8 g

4 tsp

Garlic; choped

12 g

4 clove

Water

20 g

Process to a paste.* Set aside.

Coconut oil

40 g

3 tbsp

Heat in a large frying pan over medium-low heat to about 150°C / 302°F.

Cinnamon; whole

5 g

1 pieces

Cloves; whole

3 g

3 pieces

Bay leaves; whole

2 g

2 pieces

Cardamon pods; crushed

2 g

3 pieces

Add to pan and sauté for 2 minutes.

Onions; chopped

220 g

2 medium

Add to pan and stir well to combine.

Cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the ginger–garlic paste A.

Coriander seed; ground

2 g

1 tsp

Turmeric; ground

1.1 g

½ tsp

Chilli powder; ground

1.4 g

½ tsp

Tomato paste

12 g

2 tsp

Salt

5 g

2 tsp

Pepper (optional)

0.6 g

⅛ tsp

Water

125 g

½ cup

Add to pan and mix well.

Turn heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occadionally.

Chicken breast; fat trimmed and cut into cubes

500 g

3 pieces

Vacuum seal with the spice mixture.

Cook sous vide at 60°C / 140°F for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Drain the bag juices into a saucepan.

Cashew nuts; ground with 10 g water to make a paste

35 g

3 tbsp

Add to saucepan and stir thoroughly to combine.

Bring to a simmer and cook 3 minutes.

Divide meat among serving plates and spoon over sauce.

Coriander leaves

to taste

Garnish.

Adapted: 2016.

Notes

A: Use a small foot processor, spice blender or mortar and pestle to form the paste. A large batch of this paste can be made and frozen in ice-cube trays, 20 g each. Use 2 in the recipe.

G: To make the nut paste, Green Kitchen Stories shows that you do not need anything more than the nuts themselves. We love this idea, but we haven’t tried it ourselves yet. The technique may not work for small batches; we do those in a our mortar and pestle. A larger batch can be made using their technique, though, and will keep for a few weeks in the fridge. We like their idea of toasting the nuts before processing and think it’s worth a try.

(Chef’s notes) Can a nut paste be frozen? Is their any point to additional spice in the nut paste, like Green Kitchen Stories? Does it keep better if vacuum packed? Are the nuts easier to process if they are cooked sous vide to soften or pasteurise?

Making ahead

Make the cashew paste.

Nutrition

Serving size 200 g; calories 301.2 kcal, kilojoules 1259.7 kJ, protein 27.7 g, carbohydrates 9 g, sugar 3.2 g, fat 16.5 g, saturated fat 9.6 g, unsaturated fat 7 g, trans fat 0 g, fiber 2.9 g, cholesterol 75.4 mg,

Type curry

Author bhsimon

Yield

Servings

Serving size 200 g

Serve	Per serve
Energy (kcal)	301.2
Energy (kJ)	1259.7
Protein (g)	27.7
Fat (g)	16.5
Carbs (g)	9
Sugars (g)	3.2
Fiber (g)	2.9
Sodium (mg)	606.5
Cholesterol (mg)	75.4

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