Chicken Kurma, aka White Chicken Rezala

I do like a chicken kurma on special occasions, not the ones you get in Indian restaurants, but proper Bengali style at home. My mum never cooked this when I was at home, purely because it was white, and she disliked curries that do not look like curries. Lol, I know.

Anyway, after searching high and low on the internet, I finally came across a few that sounded as though they were right, and tried it out. Needless to say, I loved it! I think my version has an ingredient that may sound odd, but it was in the recipe and I didn't want to take it out.

So you will need:

1 chicken, curry cut
3 green chillies
1 inch piece ginger
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
1 large onion, pureed
1/2 cup cashew nuts (soaked for 30 minutes before use)
3 tbsp. ghee
1/2 tsp. Garam Masala powder
1/2 tsp. Cumin powder
1 cup yoghurt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
Salt to taste
2 onions, cut into rings
6-7 large dried red chillies

Taking the green chillies, ginger, garlic, salt and oil, blend into a paste. Marinate the chicken pieces with this paste and the onion puree for at least an hour (I did this overnight as I didn't need to cook until the next day).

In a large pan/saucepan (I used a wok), add your ghee and once melted, add your garam masala and cumin powder. Stir for 30 seconds, then add your marinated chicken and cook on a medium - high heat turning occasionally for about 5-7 minutes until the chicken has got a nice colour all over.

During this time, pour the yoghurt into a bowl, and add the sugar and salt. Whisk the yoghurt, then add this into the chicken. Blend the cashews with water until you have a paste, and add this to the chicken also. Put in your onion rings and stir well. Cover and cook on a low heat for about 5 - 10 minutes checking regularly so the curry doesn't burn. This needs to remain white and you don't want any brown bits.

Add water, adjust according to how much sauce you want, and cook under a lid for a further 15 minutes until chicken is fully cooked. Garnish with the dried red chillies. And et voila, you have Chicken Kurma, which is usually eaten during special occasions. Ah, I can smell the lingering fragrance of ghee even now!

Hope you enjoy!

Yaz