I’m sharing another pour and cook recipe! This is the easiest and fastest way to make creamy white chicken korma.
A pour and cook chicken korma recipe? Yes, it’s true! This korma is crazy delicious and basically effortless.
To make this white chicken korma, you blend yogurt, garlic, ginger and few spices together and then pour that yogurt sauce over chicken and cook. No need to cut the raw chicken into pieces.
Once the chicken is done, you stir a creamy cashew sauce into the curry and then either shred the chicken right in the pot or use kitchen shears/scissors to cut the chicken into cubes (so it looks more chicken curry-like? I do this sometimes only because my (ahem, picky) husband has something against shredded chicken… 🤷🏽♀️😂).
WHAT IS WHITE CHICKEN KORMA?
White chicken korma is a mildly spiced, creamy and nutty curry. It’s also known as safed murgh (translation: white chicken).
What’s really cool about this dish is that it calls for ingredients typically used in royal dishes from Mughlai cuisine and yet it’s simple to make. So not only is this a great weeknight dish, it’s fancy enough to serve on a special occasion.
Speaking of royal cuisine, rumor has it (not above gossip here…) that white chicken korma was served at the completion dinner of the Taj Mahal, you know – the famous white marble mausoleum that Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built for his wife Mumtaz.
My recipe is made with yogurt, cashews, sesame seeds or white poppy seeds, and a bit of heavy cream. As for spices, I use cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and garam masala. No ghee necessary, but add it if you want – ghee will never hurt a dish.
WHY SHOULD I MAKE THIS WHITE CHICKEN KORMA?
This is a great family-friendly dish because the kids can eat it as is and adults can top it with sliced green chilies to make it spicier. Fresh mint is a nice touch but cilantro works too, of course.
Another good reason to make this? Because it’s what I call a “unicorn recipe” (okay, I literally just made that phrase up and wouldn’t actually use it in real life… probably). What’s a “unicorn recipe” you ask? I’m not talkin’ about those rainbow-colored recipes (clearly). A “unicorn recipe” is when the taste of a dish far exceeds the amount of effort required to make it – in like, an unbelievable kind of way. Other “unicorn recipes” include green chicken, coconut curry chicken and Thai chicken curry.
Alright, go make this and come back to let me know how much you love it! 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
Yogurt Sauce:
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 green chili
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon white or black pepper
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Add Later:
- ½ cup cashews
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds or white poppy seeds
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup water
- mint and green chilies garnish
Instructions
- Blend the ingredients listed under “yogurt sauce” and pour this over the raw chicken. Mix well.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- While waiting for the chicken to cook, add the cashews, sesame seeds or poppy seeds and heavy cream to the blender (I don’t bother rinsing) and let this sit (to allow the nuts and seeds to soften).
- Naturally release pressure or wait 10 minutes then release pressure.
- Blend the cashew sauce. Press sauté on the instant pot, pour the sauce into the pot and cook for a couple of minutes.
- You can either shred the chicken right in the pot or use kitchen shears/scissors to cut the chicken into cubes.
- Garnish with mint and green chilies.
Video
Notes
- Don’t worry about using black pepper, the dish will still look white overall. Oh you weren’t worried? Heh, alright then…
Siobhan says
I poured the korma over frozen hash browns, topped with panko, and baked at 375 for 25 minutes, made an amazing casserole. I also substituted Gardein chick’n strips for real chicken and reduced the cook time in the instant pot to 3 minutes and did a quick release to keep the fake chick’n from getting mushy. Thank you for this delicious recipe.
Chrissy says
I didn’t think I could like this as much as regular korma, but it’s amazing. I used 1.5 tbsp of 50:50 garlic ginger since I already had it on hand and we grilled onions and peppers coated in garam masala to stir in which really took it over the edge. Served it with jeera rice. Loved the mint on top!
Lani says
I have to admit, I recently gave away my instant pot, so I made this on the stovetop. The recipe turned out delicious and delicate. I had been searching for an Indian dish outside the realm of flavors and ingredients I already use, and this was spot on. The delicate spices, creamy nutty sauce, and mint were delicious together. I paired with the Kasuri Methi Potato recipe and brown basmati rice.
Carol M Steele says
Is there a substitute for the green chili? Thanks!
Kamal says
Can you suggest a vegetarian replacement for the chicken? Would paneer or tofu work well? Another vegetarian alternative?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
I haven’t tried with a vegetarian replacement but hopefully another reader can chime in if they have!
M says
I’d like to make this in the crockpot…can you suggest how to modify?
Susan T says
Chicken Korma is my favorite! I had never seen a white korma though. My favorite local restaurant’s Korma is a golden yellow color. I can’t wait to try this ‘unicorn recipe’ but I am curious about the cashews. I see roasted cashews in most stores, does it matter if we use raw/ unroasted cashews versus roasted ones? In most of the dairy-free recipes I have seen, they usually specify raw cashews when making cashew cream. Thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Susan, that’s great! I can’t wait to hear what you think of this 🙂 I haven’t tried roasted cashews for this but I think it’ll be fine. You should be able to find raw cashews at Trader Joes – my ALDI has had them since winter and they’re also available at all Indian grocery stores. Whole Foods has them too much it’s much pricier there.
Anoop says
We made this last week. Is pretty good. Different taste. Good variety but we liked the brown kurma better.
Thanks for sharing.
Anoop.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Anoop, glad to hear that 🙂
Sam says
I made this on a stovetop with chicken breasts. The flavors were very good but there was a lot of gravy, perhaps a full cup of desi dahi is too much? I added a tablespoon of ghee to compensate for the lack of fat in chicken breasts and a teaspoon more garam masala at the end. A couple cups of peas made for a healthy meal, served over basmati rice.