I was reading one of my recipe books the other day, trying to get inspired for a new dish to cook for the clan. This can be difficult as 3 of the 4 folks here never used spices and such in their cookin' before I arrived.
Fortunately, that has changed. However, I still have to be careful and sometimes disguise things that I know for a fact if I told two people here what was in it they'd opt for fish sticks or oatmeal.
This dish is one of those... About half of the ingredients my BIL thinks he hates, and MIL wouldn't touch it if she knew what was in it. So I just didn't tell them, it's better that way. Everyone loved it. Ha!
Now, the original recipe was for lamb korma and the only lamb I have is in the freezer. However, we had half a roast chook from the night before, so shredded chicken meat would have to suffice --it did.
I also had to substitute around half the ingredients, and also change the cooking times and techniques around a bit.
Because of that, I do believe I can call this my own recipe. What do y'all think? Lemme know, eh.
Chicken Korma
What you need:
1 tbsp crushed sesame seeds*
1 tbsp slivered almonds
1 tbsp shelled, roasted, slightly crushed, peanuts**
1 tbsp shelled, roasted, slightly crushed, cashews**
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced, pickled, ginger
1 scallion, finely minced
2 pinches of dried chilli flakes (or more if you'd like)
a few tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Cooked, shredded meat from half a chook
1 cup water
1 cup cream
1/2 cup sour cream
salt to taste
This is easy to cook in a wok, BTW.
* Just put some sesame seeds in a mortar, grind them around with the pestal for about 10 sec.
** Put the peanuts and cashews in palm of your cupped hand, use your thumb from the other hand to work the nuts around for a few seconds. Piece of cake!
What you due:
Add the first 8 ingredients to a DRY wok (or a DRY frypan). Notice how I separated the list to make it easy for ya? Dry fry on low heat for about 5 mins, stirring/tossing frequently. Set aside and let cool.
When the mix has cooled for about 10 mins, put it in a mortar and go to town on it with a pestel till it's pastey (should only take a minute).
Put the next 5 ingredients PLUS the paste from the mortar into your wok and fry it on medium for 1 to 2 mins, while stirring. You should be getting a seriously AWESOME scent from that thar wok by now!
Add the shredded chicken meat, plus the water. Give it a good mixing so all the chicken is thoroughly coated. Cook till the water is gone and the mix is dry --but don't let it burn!
Turn the heat to very low and add the last 3 things. That'd be the cream, the sour cream, and however much salt you want (do a taste test before adding any salt, you may not even need it). Give it a good stir and simmer till the cream is warmed through.
Serve over rice (I made curried rice; topic for another post) with Naan Bread (another post topic) on the side.
You'll like this, trust me.
