- Prep time20 mins
- Cook time50 mins
- Servings4-5
- DifficultyMedium
- CategoryDesi
Qorma is the dish that separates a good cook from a celebrated one, and the gap is smaller than you think. It is not about more spices — it is about the right few, added at the right moments. Golden-brown fried onions give the body, yogurt gives the silky danedaar texture, and a final sprinkle of freshly ground nutmeg-mace masala with a few drops of kewra gives that unmistakable wedding-dawat aroma. Give it a patient hour and it rewards you like nothing else.
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) chicken, bone-in pieces
- 1 cup (240 ml) oil or ghee
- 3 medium onions, thinly sliced lengthwise
- 250 g (1 cup) plain yogurt, whisked smooth
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 green cardamoms
- 3 cloves
- 7-8 whole black peppercorns
- 1 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- For the final qorma masala: 1/2 tsp green cardamom seeds, 2 black cardamoms (seeds only), a small piece of nutmeg, 1/2 mace flower
- A few drops of kewra essence
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, julienned, plus fresh coriander leaves, to garnish
Method
- Heat the oil in a heavy pan and fry the sliced onions over medium-low heat, stirring, until deep golden and crisp, about 12 to 15 minutes. Do not let them burn — dark edges turn the qorma bitter. Drain on a plate and crush into a coarse powder once cool.
- In the same oil, add the bay leaf, green cardamoms, cloves and black peppercorns. Sizzle for 30 seconds, then add the chicken and fry, turning, for 4 to 5 minutes until the surface is golden.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook 1 minute. Stir in the red chili powder, coriander, cumin, turmeric and salt, then pour in the whisked yogurt. Keep stirring on medium heat until the yogurt is absorbed and the oil starts to separate.
- Lower the heat, cover, and let the chicken cook in its own moisture for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Do not add water unless the masala is catching.
- Stir in the crushed fried onions and mix well — the gravy will thicken and turn glossy. Cook 5 minutes more on low heat.
- Dry-roast the final masala spices, grind them fine, and sprinkle over the qorma with the kewra essence. Cover and let it rest 10 minutes off the heat.
- Garnish with ginger juliennes and coriander. Serve with naan, sheermal or steamed rice.
Tips for success
- Fry the onions to a deep golden — pale onions make a bland qorma, burnt ones make it bitter.
- Always whisk the yogurt smooth and add it to a steady, not roaring, heat so it blends instead of splitting.
- The final masala and kewra go in last, off the heat if possible — their aroma is the whole point of qorma.
Watch video tutorial
Prefer to watch it being made? This from Chef Nomi walkthrough covers the same chicken qorma step by step — the spoken narration doubles as an audio tutorial.