Qorma is a festive dish, being served at weddings and special occasions. It is the most distinctive dish of Mughlai cuisine, the Muslim and royal version of Indian food culture. It is made with meat, contrary to the most popular foods of India as they are usually vegetarian. This cuisine is rich in spices blends with the main focus on the aroma: a royal fit for Mughal emperors.

It is said that a Mughal king decided to build a new capital in the middle of his empire: Delhi. When the city construction was nearly finished, the head of royal doctors came with concern and said that the air in Delhi is hazardous. The food turns bad very fast and it is bad for the stomach and overall health. The king confused asks him to find a cure. The royal doctor finds a solution that the food should be rich in oil, full of spices and chili. This prevents the food from going bad and healed people of their many symptoms. Thus birthing the Mughlai cuisine. The distinctive rounaq oil on top is infused with spices and red color of red chili. Changing soup to stew and veggies bhurta to tarkari.

This cuisine is originally made with mutton meat, which is considered by Muslims to be at the top of the list of meats, chicken is equally popular. This dish is made a little sweet with lots of golden fried onion. The meat is braised with clarified ghee with aromatic spices. The yogurt is the only source of liquid, no water add what's so ever.

I am giving you the most authentic recipe. Off course, you can add modern shortcuts like, chopping an onion in the machine or using ready-made golden fried onion. Or if you want to speed up cooking time and use the pressure cooker. Or you could just cook it the way the Qorma was cooked centuries back and glisten in the most royal treatment of meat that was fit for parties of kings.

Some tips

  • Fresh meat that has aged only a few hours and has not been frozen, is the best. It is tenderer and takes cooking-time less than the frozen one.
  • Use yogurt that is not too tangy. Some chefs add sugar to counter its sourness.
  • I like to go a step ahead and make yogurt myself the night before. If I don't feel myself up to it, I just add warm milk and yogurt in equal quantity and let them sit on the counter for 2 hours. Some people also like to add a little sugar if the yogurt is a bit tangy.
  • Having Crisp and golden onions is the hardest part of cooking Qorma. The finer you slice the onion and cook them submerged in ghee on the lowest flame, do the trick. Or you could skip and use prepared onion easily available in grocery stores.
  • No water added or only a sprinkle if necessary. Let the meat cook in its own water. Add yogurt when it is all used up. To prevent the water from escaping cook it on medium to low flame and cover or mutton. Chicken takes less cooking time, so it doesn't require covering up.
  • Best served with Sheermal or a nice soft Naan.

Ingredients

Chicken         bone cut pieced into 12 pieces usually called Qorma cut   1 kg

Onion             4 medium thinly sliced

Yogurt           Â½ kg

Oil or ghee                   Â½ cup

Ginger garlic paste      4 tablespoon

Coriander powder       3 tablespoon

Red chili powder          2 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Indian cinnamon whole 2-inch piece or two small pieces

Cloves whole        7

Green cardamom whole     7

Black pepper whole     7

Mace and nutmeg powder      1 teaspoon

Cinnamon powder         1 teaspoon

Back cardamom powder       Â½ teaspoon

Green cardamom powder ½ teaspoon

Method

  1. Heat oil in a pot. Fry onion on low heat till golden brown. Spread onion on kitchen paper to soak all oil. Cool to a crisp onion. Crush with hands till crumby. Set aside. If the onion is soft rather crispy, you can use a blender to chop it off.
  2. Now add all the whole spices to the oil and simmer for two minutes. Add chicken and ginger garlic paste. Let them cook on medium flame till the chicken changes color and leaves the water. Cook till this water is dried and you could see oil at the edges.
  3. Add salt, red pepper, coriander powder, and back cardamom. Leave for a minute. Add yogurt and cook till yogurt is halved in quantity. (For 20 minutes). Or till chicken is tender. If you are cooking with mutton (with the same quantity), cover at this point and cook for one and a half hour or till tender.
  4. Add crushed onion, powdered green cardamom, powder cinnamon, and mace and nutmeg. Cook covered for 2 minutes until you could see oil at the edges. Turn off the flame.

Enjoy this dish on a Mughlai date night or to seriously impress Indian friends.