Dear Foodlovers and Vagabonds,

I am in Delhi in India! It is incredibly hot! ! The city is boiling with 44 degrees celsius and I really have to safe my energy for the day. Phew!

I have been to Delhi many times because i usually land here before taking the train to Bodhgaya, where i work at my NGO A Bowl of Compassion. Usually when it is this hot i am hiding in my room all day just lying under the fan and only go out for meals 🙂 If the guesthouse does have a rooftop restaurant i wouldn’t even go out because the crowded and noisy streets can be draining combined with the heat.
This time i pushed myself to get out and my main motivation was Food!!

Taking the metro to Neru Place where Neeta lives

A day before i was visiting the beautiful Mughal Monument ” Qutub Minar” What a coincidence we are cooking a Mughal dish today 🙂

I had an appointment with Neeta Khurana who is running cooking classes at her home in her apartment at Nerus Place in New Delhi. As my flight was in the evening i was so lucky to get an appointment with her in the morning at 10 am. Her apartment looks so inviting and the atmosphere is really warm.

Neeta lives together with her Husband and her cute Dog.

She is a very kind woman and a great teacher with 20 years of experience running cooking classes . I was so happy that i made it out of my cave on that morning. It was definitely worth it! If you ever come to Delhi and consider doing a cooking class then i highly recommend you to call Neeta. She has a big palate of food to teach you and the prices are very fair.

On her website you will find all details and her phonenumber.

http://www.neetakhurana.com/

We have cooked 5 Indian dishes this morning! I am sharing with you my favorite one:

THE CHICKEN KORMA

I always loved this nutty, creamy and savory dish and always wanted to learn how to cook it for my friends and family.
Korma is a dish that has been in India since the Moghul era in the 16th century. The word Korma means ” braised meat” in Urdu. It’s characteristic for Korma that the meat gets braised in a creamy broth or yoghurt with different spices and cashewnuts.
This dish is pretty fancy and not something that Indians eat every day for lunch.

It is something you can really show off with when cooking for your loved ones I had a wonderful morning at Neeta’s home and can highly recommend you this cooking class. I love her dog. It is the only dog that i have seen barking when somebody is leaving 🙂 But he remains quiet when you enter the apartment.
Here is Neetas Chicken Korma recipe, straight from her home in Delhi/India:

The Ingredients you will need:

1 whole chicken ( cut up)
1 Cup of Curd ( hindi: dahi)
2 tsp of gingerpaste
2 tsp of garlicpaste
2 onions ( sliced and deep fried)
3tsp coriander powder
4-5 Cloves
1 piece of cinnamon
4-5 green Cardamons (crushed)
1 Maceflower ( covering of a nutmeg, crushed) or some greated nutmeg
1 hand of cashew nuts
salt
3 tsp of Sunflower Oil

 

How to cook a delicious Chicken Korma!

Getting started!

1.First add vegetable oil to a wok and heat it up. Add the cinnamon stick, the crushed cardamon and the cloves to the wok and sauté on medium heat and let the aromas being released in the oil.

2.Next place the salt, the chili powder, the coriander powder , gingerpaste and garlicpaste into a bowl and mix it up with a tablespoon of water. Pour this into the oil as well and let it sauté for a few minutes.

3. After a few minutes place all chicken pieces into the pan and coat the chicken in the spice mix. Make sure that all the chicken gets coated generously in the yummy spice paste.

4. While the chicken is sautéing get another pan and deep fry your onion until its golden brown in color, but not black. Then set the deep fried onions aside. Also keep a few onions for garnishing later on.

5. To a blender add your cashewnuts together with little water and grind. Slowly add water if it is not enough. When the cashews are smoothly blended, add the deep fried onions and the curd, then blend again until it all becomes a smooth paste.

6.When the chicken in the pan is slightly brown and coated with the masala add your cashew paste to it. Stir gently and let it all simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes.

7. Season the Korma with salt and have a taste. The dish should be very rich and creamy. In many restaurants this dish contains cream. If you like a dash of cream you can also add it to the Korma.

8. It is time to plate the Chicken Korma. Sprinkle some mace flour or freshly greated nutmeg on top. Also place some of the deepfried onions and cashenuts onto the chicken for garnishing.  Done! Serve it with some nan bread or rice.

Now you should have some very beautiful minutes ahead of you because you can eat one of Indias most deliciouse dishes. Yumm!!! I hope you will like eat.

Note:

There is various ways of preparing a Chicken Korma in India. This is Neeta’s recipe and i found it incredibly tasty! You can always experiment with more spices such as star anise, bayleaf. Also some people do not deepfry the Onions but grind it raw. I prefer the fried version cause the taste is more intense. It is totally up to you.
The curd can be replaced by coconut cream and a dash of cream can rich it all up 🙂

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