Bangladeshi Style Creamy Chicken Korma with Crisp Shallots

from Food 52 Chicken Korma, Bangladeshi Style

Chicken again ? Here’s a recipe that I was bound to try for a cardamom use, first up, modify the size of the recipe to reflect what I have on hand and the size of the servings, since I didn’t have a whole chicken around, 2 chicken thighs would be used, skin on. I’ve done recipes before that require the yogurt marinade but this recipe looks deceptively simple on the spices, I mean like where’s the curry, coriander, cumin ?

I halved all the ingredients to go with the 2 chicken thighs which weighed in at about 1 lbs.

Some processed ginger root and garlic were added to the yogurt and then mixed up, bagged with the chicken thighs, about 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of each to 1/2 cup plain full milk yogurt. (is it only me that has a hard time finding PLAIN full fat yogurt at the market?).

Gather the rest of the ingredients while the chicken marinades.

• 1 and 1/2 tablespoon ghee (unsalted butter, clarified)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (if you use chicken with the skin, you may want to cut back on the oil, my result was on the oily side, but I prefer the skin on and the result.
• 1 large onion , minced
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon ground almond
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon raisins, golden if you have them
•  chiles, here it’s open for interpretation, I had some dried serannos, sliced thin and the amount to the level of heat that they are.
• slivered almonds
• 1 shallot thin sliced and fried

Ok the usual start, fry the diced onions in the ghee and olive oil for about 5 minutes, till golden.

Do you like an aromatic kitchen and home or are you the type to run the exhaust vent full blast when frying onions and cooking spicy dishes?

(frying onions is an appetizing odor to me) Ahem! back to the stove, add the cinnamon stick and bay leaf with the cardamom pods. Stir in and activate the aroma for a few minutes.

Add the chicken with the marinade yogurt and the salt, now raise up the temperature at least medium, and cook , not to brown, the juices will separate, keep stirring, no browning !

Mine gives off a fair amount of oils from the chicken, so I call it a more westernized style!

Keep the mixture moving, about 10 minutes, you see a reduction, add in some liquid, several tablespoons or as needed to partially submerge the chicken. I used hot stock. Now cover and stir occasionally 20-30 minutes, to an active simmer, this may be less time in this case as the recipe volume is less than the full specifications.

Meanwhile during the simmering, thinly slice the shallot, if you haven’t already, and in a fair amount of oil, fry them crisp, set on paper towelling or brown paper and reserve for garnish.

Check on the chicken occasionally and when the liquid reduces and the oil rises add the lemon juice, ground almonds, sugar, raisins, and chilis. Taste for balance, and cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Take off heat. Prepare warm plates.

It’s apparent that my result is a bit more gravy-ish than the pictures on the recipe website.

The crisp shallots and almonds make this an attractive dish.

An unlikely companion, roasted sweet potatoes fries, yes the thighs are on the dish, just covered with gravy, this recipe begs for some steamed basmati rice.

Though the recipe does not comment on fishing out the cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom, chilis etc. I like to serve it as is. It won’t be a homogenous mix, you may bite into a cardamom pod or get a burst of spicy heat from  the pepper, that’s OK by me! Or it could be served simply as family style, bringing the hot pot to the table.

The simple additions of the spices and aromatics, both in the marinade and recipe combine for a many layered finish than seems possible. I would definitely repeat this dish with the required whole chicken and a side of rice.

Also the habit of using fruit and nuts (raisins and almonds) in a recipe such as this is appealing as the sweetness of the raisins do show through versus a sugar only sweetness for the balance, and the ground almonds give a slight nutty background and thickness to the dish.