Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking: Korma-style chicken curry
This is my version of one of the nation’s favourite curries. It’s a little fiddly to remove the pods of the cardamom seeds, but you then get all the flavour and none of the green husk left in the curry sauce when serving. Give the pods a quick bash with a rolling pin or use a pestle and mortar, and they will split easily so you can pick out the seeds.
SERVES 4-6
PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 30 MINUTES
5 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp medium curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
10 green cardamom pods, crushed to remove the seeds (see recipe introduction)
450ml (15fl oz) chicken stock (see note on page 54)
125g (4½oz) ground almonds
2 tbsp mango chutney
juice of ½ lemon
200g (7oz) full-fat natural yoghurt
coriander leaves, to garnish
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large, deep nonstick frying or sauté pan until piping hot and add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Quickly fry the chicken for 4-6 minutes until sealed and slightly golden. (You may need to cook the chicken pieces in batches if they don’t fit in your pan in a single layer.) Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan with the onions, garlic and chilli and fry over a medium–high heat for 10 minutes or until the onions are golden brown (see note). Add the spices and fry for another minute, stirring well to coat the onions. Stir in the stock, ground almonds and mango chutney then bring to the boil and allow to bubble for 2-3 minutes.
- Return the chicken to the pan and stir in. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for about 5-7 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in the lemon juice and the yoghurt, check the seasoning and serve with boiled or steamed rice and garnish with coriander leaves.
COOK’S NOTES
Make sure the onions are golden as this will add to the colour of the sauce.
PREPARE AHEAD
Can be made up to a day ahead but leaving out the yoghurt. Reheat and stir in the yoghurt to serve.
FREEZE
Freezes well without the yoghurt.