Chicken Korma

I am a creature of habit, and one of the areas in which this is visible is my ordering habits in restaurants. When I find something I like, I stick with it. After all, wouldn't it be a shame to launch out and try something new and not like it, when I could have ordered what I know I like and been perfectly content? :)

Because of my habit of ordering what I know I like, Chicken Korma is what I ALWAYS get when we go to a certain Indian restaurant in our town; but we don't go there very often so I decided to look for a Chicken Korma recipe to make at home. I found one on Food Network, and I'll definitely be making this again! That ol' creature-of-habit thing is cropping up again. :)

What You Need

4 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp. julienned ginger

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 pound chicken, cooked

1 c. water

1 & 1/2 tsp. garam masala, or to taste

1/4 pint heavy cream

2 tsp. finely chopped coriander

What You Do

Heat oil in large deep frying pan, adding chopped onions, and fry for 4-5 minutes on a medium heat until the onions are slightly brown. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Add the salt, turmeric, and ground cumin.

Turn up the heat and further cook for another minute, then add the chicken. It is very crucial that spices are mixed within the pan at this point and stirred to ensure that the chicken cooks with texture and flavor. Add water after stirring the chicken into the spices. Turn down the heat slightly and stir in the garam masala and cream. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with green coriander.

* I didn't follow the recipe exactly. For one thing, I used ground ginger, because that's what I had on hand. For another thing, I didn't cook the chicken first, but just cubed the raw chicken and cooked it in the spices. Obviously it took a little longer that way, but otherwise, it worked out fine. I also omitted the coriander because I didn't have any. I served this over my favorite rice: jasmine rice.

Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook.

~ Chinese proverb