Lucknowi Chicken Qormah

Lucknowi qorma made for a Ramazan iftaar. This one has a tiny pinch of saffron in it.

This is a Lucknowi style qormah and is fancy and tasted perfumey from
the spices and the keora jal. This is the style of qorma served in my
husband's family...I don't know if you
would regularly use some of these ingredients like keora jal or
roasted ground white poppy seed . If these ingredients are are exotic
for you, just leave them out. Also, you can use almonds instead of
cashews. Feel free to adapt as suits you!

¼ cup oil

1 skinless, bone-in chicken cut into 12 pieces

1 medium onion finely sliced, brown fried, and crushed
(My method for making brown fried onions)

Whole spices:
6 green cardamoms, husk popped open by pressing with knife
2 black cardamoms (bari elaichi)
2 bay leaves (tez patta)
1 piece of cinnamon bark, about 2 inches long

1 tsp garlic paste

Yoghurt spice mixture:
1 cup yoghurt with ½ tsp garam masala , 1 tsp red chile powder, and 1
tbs ginger paste whipped in

12 cashews  soaking in hot water to just cover
1 tbs toasted ground white poppy seed
1/2 cup water

Powdered spiced for finishing
¼ tsp mace powder (jaavitri)
¼ tsp nutmeg powder (jaiphal)
1/4 tsp freshly ground green cardamom powder
pinch of garam masala powder
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp of keora jal (pandanus water)

*Have brown fried crushed onions set aside. One fried onion will look
like 2-3 tbs of crushed fried onion.

*Grind cashews with a little of the soaking liquid to make a cashew
paste and set aside. (You can also use almonds if that's what you have
on hand.)

1.In deep pot that has lid: Heat oil and add in all whole spices for a minute.
2. Add in chicken meat and brown well, add in garlic paste and allow
to turn golden, lower flame.
3. On low flame (or even turn flame off to prevent yoghurt from
curdling) add in yoghurt mixture and stir well. When oil rises above
yoghurt, turn up flame.
4. Stir in 1/2 cup water and salt. Bring to boil, lower heat , and
cook for 20-25 min or so until chicken is fully cooked. Stir
occasionally.
5. Almost done: Stir in the crushed brown fried onions, and ground
white poppy seeds, and ground cashew paste. Keep covered on a very low
flame for five more minutes.
6. Finally, turn off flame and add in your finishing spices: stir in
powdered mace, nutmeg, green cardamom, pinch of garam masala, and 1/2
tsp of keora jal. Cover and let sit for 5 more mins, then serve with
naan and/or white rice.

*To make this even fancier, soak 12 strands of saffron 3 tbs  warm water while cooking, and pour this into the dish at the end of cooking when you add in your finishing spices. This will make your qorma 'zafrani' or perfumed by saffron.

All about South Asian Qorma (or Korma, or Qormah)

Qorma is one of those dishes that I love to learn and read about and compare recipes. Qorma is also one of those dishes that was traditionally cooked by South Asian Muslims for special occasions and only several times per year, but like biryani, it is now made much more frequently in the homes of the affluent and also in the homes of diasporic desis. Since desi Muslims are the direct culinary inheritors of the Mughlai tradition, the dish is theirs, but it is also widely loved in many interpretations by people of all backgrounds and faiths, and many vegetarian friendly and widely divergent recipes have evolved. (I have seen jackfruit korma!) But traditional versions of qorma are prepared in all of the main former centers of Muslim rule in India and Pakistan.

The word qorma came to South Asia from Central Asia and means "roasted, baked, browned" in reference to meat in Turkic dialects (kavurma). The Persians have their gormeh, prudent Nafees Urdu speakers of duroost shin-qaaf must say it Qormah. In both India and Pakistan it is widely pronounced as korma with no attention given to the Urdu original gutteral /q/ sound, which is approximated as /k/. But in the best Urdu diction it is Qormah/ قورمہ. It is an indeed a dish of Mughal legacy in S. Asia.

At least in South Asia it is traditionally made with mutton although these days chicken, fish, and pure veg. qormas are made to suit different preferences. I make chicken qorma much more often than mutton qorma, just because it is easy and fast cooking. My husband loves mutton qorma, though.

If I happen to be talking to a foodie, I always ask her how she makes her qorma, or how it is made in her community. A Pashto speaking acquaintance (Northern Pakistani) makes a liquidy stew with mutton and vegetables as her qorma. I think for Pashtoons qorma is any stew type dish and this is more in line with the original Central Asian qorma. I had a housekeeper who was a Bangalorean (South Indian) Muslim from a pure Urdu speaking family and she told me that they make their qorma with coconut milk, not yoghurt, and that it is mostly served on holidays and at weddings. My in-laws family (Urdu speaking North Indian origin Pakistani) qorma recipe is more of a typical North Indian Muslim-Pakistani qorma recipe: meat must be browned or well braised, lots of crispy brown fried onions are used (often ground to a paste), yoghurt is the liquid, the seasonings are garam masalas (whole and ground), ginger and garlic paste (heavier ginger to garlic ratio) ground coriander, a pinch of red chile, and at the very end of cooking, a second pinch of garam masala and ground green cardamom, and a tiny dash of keora jal (pandanus flower extract water which you may know as biryani perfume) are added at the very end of cooking...without the dash of pandanus water it doesn't have that qorma perfume taste by their family standards. A layer of oil is floating on the top of the semi-liquidy gravy. It is eaten with naan and basmati rice, never chapati. There is also "white qorma" which doesn't contain browned onions, only onions which are cooked until the rawness is fully gone. Ground almond or ground cashew pastes can be added to make the qorma "shahi" or royal, and also to serve the function of thickening it. Hyderabadis (of India) are known for white qorma. In Kashmir greens and vegetables can be added to the qorma, so it is more like the Central Asian-Persian type concept of qorma.

In my laziness I often use Shan Masala Korma spice mix, just 2 teaspoons, plus homemade garam masala and ground coriander powder, and a dash of roasted ground poppy seeds, but otherwise prepare it as described on the back of the box. I only use very fresh yoghurt (so it won’t have any hint of sourness) and rarely add cream as is prescribed on the Shan box, but if I do, I will add 1 tbs at the very end of cooking just to thicken the gravy. I also make a qorma biryani by using the same qorma recipe, making a slightly thicker gravy (by boiling to dry up the liquid) and then using qorma gravy to layer between parboiled rice then, then close the pot and finish off the rice.

When I am not feeling lazy, I make a more classic Lucknowi qorma based on my mother in law's recipe.

In Indian restos you will get a lot of interpretations of korma. Based on being a dish associated with Muslims, it gets classified in the restaurant 'Mughlai' genre of foods and therefore you will find, in line with the restaurant interpretation of what Mughlai means, lots of cream, nuts and even raisins/sultanas since that is what is taken as 'Mughlai.' This can be a tasty dish, though it doesn't look much like a qorma made in North Indian Muslims-Pakistani homes. I wouldn’t say that's “the wrong way” to make qorma (or perhaps I should write korma here), because it IS made in India by Indians that way, and this type of korma is also what we know at UK and US faux-Mughlai/Punjabi restaurants. Who has the copyright on qorma, anyway? What I see as the “authentic” North Indian Muslim-Pakistani qorma isn't much like the original Central Asian qorma, either. I do have creamy qorma like that at restaurants sometimes, and it is yummy, too.

Here are links to three non-restaurantish, Muslim home style chicken qormas, including one Lucknawi and one from Indian Hyderabad from two good websites, just in case anyone wanted to see a sort of tradional Muslim desi non-resto/no-cream type recipe example. Boneless chicken breast can be used but as far as I know, whether it is chicken or mutton it is traditionally bone-in, and with chicken it would be whole skinless bone-in cut in 12 pieces (not specified in recipes).


http://zaiqa.net/?p=260

The Zaiqa blog (a fave I learned about through Ambhi) is an excellent resource for Hyderabadi recipes...What to me stands out as Hyderabadi about this chicken qorma is that it includes coconut (Southern touch)and roasted peanuts (she used the term "ground nut"). It also has green chile in addition to powdered red chile, plus mint leaves. I don't think those would be in North Indian qormas.
And:


http://www.khanakhazana.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=5311

and

http://www.khanakhazana.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=1405


Khana Khazana is a user-added recipe site, has loads of good Pakistani and Indian stuff. The first qorma is very tradional and Lucknawi with its white poppy seeds (khashkhaash) and extra nutmeg and mace in addition to the garam masalas. The picture doesn't look too yummy but the recipe looks very good IMHO. The other recipe is very similar but without the white poppy seeds. Both users' recipes calls for the kewra water I mentioned above---very traditional.


Note that in all recipes the onions are brown fried seperately and ground to be added to the gravy.


I was happy to see the qorma with -q-, too on the recipes :-) as an Urduphile.


Anyway, just fun to see some regional variation.

Shan ki Shan: Sindhi Biriani

Some people will tell you that using Shan Masala is cheating. I say no way. Using Shan masala is perfectly fine if the end result tastes good. Shan is an auxiliary item. It doesn't create the 'maza' for you. Besides, no one just uses the packet of Shan Masala. Everyone always adds in their own medley of spices to a couple of spoonfuls of Shan for a dish. I have a post in mind about the rise in popularity  of Shan's connection to the birth of modern Pakistani cuisine. Shan has contributed to the homogenization of a diverse food culture in the young nation of Pakistan.  But in this post, I'd like to share with you my recipe (with a little help from Shan Uncle) for Sindhi biriani. Many people swear by Shan's Sindhi biriani mix. I use it, too as my favorite biriani. Here is my doctored up Shan masalay ki Sindhi biriani recipe. I add mango powder and extra dried plums (aloo bukharay) to the Shan masala to get a hot and sour taste in the finished biriani. Using Shan doesn't make it a bit easier, it is a complicated process. But it turns out great:

For the meat gravy you need:
1/2 cup of oil (which will be poured off of the gravy later, don't worry)
1 kg (2.2 lbs) of bone in mutton cut in large chunks (say 2/2 inch botees)
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
2 onions finely sliced and fried until crisp and brown (bhuni hui pyaaz)
1 tbs garlic paste
2-3 tomatoes roughly pureed
1 heaping tbs salt
1 tbs ginger paste
1 cup yoghurt
1.5 tbs Shan Sindhi Biriani Masala Mix
1 tsp coriander powder
1 heaping tsp ground mango powder (aamchoor)
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp garam masala
+/- 1 cup water
12 alu bukharay (dried plums/prunes available at Pakistani grocery)

Aloo Bukhara

Method: Mix the yoghurt with the powdered spices and the ginger paste and set aside. Heat oil in a pot and brown meat in two batches. Set the meat aside. Add cumin seeds, fried onions, and garlic paste to the oil.  Take care not to burn the onions. When the garlic is golden, stir in the tomato puree. Stir this for a while until the water has evaporated from the tomato puree and the oil is rising to the top of the gravy. Add in the salt. Stir in the meat and mix well. Turn down the heat and stir in the spiced yoghurt (lowering the heat will prevent the yoghurt from splitting). Mix well and turn up the heat again. Stir until oil rises to the top of the gravy. Add in the water and the aloo bukharay. Allow to boil, cover, simmer on low heat for about 1.5 hours until the meat is nicely tender. When it is done, remove the meat and aloo bukharay from the gravy with a slotted spoon. Turn up the heat and evaporate the remaining water from the gravy. You will have a thick biriani masala paste. Pour the oil that rises to the top of this paste off of the gravy to cut calories and to avoid a greasy biriani (yuck!). Add the meat and the aloo bukhary back to the dry gravy paste and keep ready for the rice. *You can add potatoes to this recipe. Peel and halve 3-4 potatoes and add in in the last 40 minutes of the gravy's cooking. Remove the potatoes at the same time you remove the meat for drying up the gravy.

For the rice:
3 cups of uncooked biriani grade basmati rice cooked according to these instructions: Lucky Delicious on How to Cook Basmati Rice  parboiling method. You will soak and parboil the rice according the specifications for biriani rice. Do this after the biriani gravy is done cooking. You will layer the rice with the biriani gravy in a pot soon after you have finished parboiling it. Take care to be gentle with the rice so as not to break the kernals.

Unmixed layered biriani before covering to fully cook (put on dam)

Perfuming the biriani:

16 fresh mint leaves
8 fresh whole green chiles, slit
1/2 tsp Kewra Water (available at the Pakistani grocery -keora jal-)
1/8 tsp of orange biriani food coloring added to 1/2 cup milk

mint and chiles

Bush brand biriani coloring, coloring mixed in milk, keora water

What to do: You have parboiled your rice. You have made a biriani gravy. Take a vessel and use a paper towel to grease it lightly with ghee. Add in a layer of meat and gravy. Distribut half of the mint leaves on top of this, and throw in half of the slit chiles. Now add in half of the rice. On top of this, add in another layer of meat gravy. Top this with the rest of the mint leaves and slit green chiles. Then add another layer of rice. Drizzle the rice with the keora water. Pour the orange colored milk into one area of the biriani rice. Now cover with a kitchen towel and close the lid. Put this on a high flame for 3-4 minutes to start some steam going in the pot. Then turn down the heat to the lowest setting and allow this to cook for about 18 minutes to finish off the rice and to allow the gravy and rice flavors to blend together. This step is called cooking on 'dam'.

biriani cooked on dam in a Sindhi sipri

When the biriani is cooked, turn off the flame and lift the lid to allow some steam to escape. Allow the biriani to rest for at least 10 minutes before mixing and serving it. This allows the rice to settle so that it won't break when you stir it. After the biriani has had a nice rest and you are read to serve, mix gently and set out on a serving dish. Garnish with finally chopped cilantro. Serve with plain yoghurt.

Freshly cooked and mixed biriani

Desi style Suraid (shredded bread with broth and meat)

Salmaan (R) said that the Messenger of Allah (S) said: Blessings are found in three things, the Group (Al-Jama'ah), Ath-thareed (a type of food) and As-Sahoor (the Pre-dawn meal)." [At-Tabaraanee, Abu Na'eem]

Al Thareed, meaning literally "small pieces (of bread or food) which have been cut" is a traditional Gulf Arab dish which is even mentioned in the above hadeeth, has its variations in South Asia, too. The Pakhtoons have versions, known as painda, randa chargha, or soobutt. This should ideally be made with very thin Pakhtoon bread. Further south, it is made with shredded wholewheat flat bread or roti, hence it is called "roti ke tukray." It is also known in Urdu as sareed or suraid, the -s- being the Urdu articulation of Arabic -tha-. It is basically a liquidy meat or chicken stew poured on top of shredded bread. Here is a Gulf Arab version, and here is a Pakhtoon recipe. Both recipes are highly worth checking out. There are many versions of this around the world, from fatta or similar dishes in other parts of the Arab world, to Mexican caserola with leftover tortillas, to Italian or French recipes using day old bread. It is basically a way to use up leftover bread and avoid waste. Perhaps that is why it is a blessed dish. The Arabian Gulf versions of thareed or margooga are sometimes eaten as an Eid dish, so it is simultaneously a humble and fancy dish.

I am forever fascinated foods which have distinct yet similar versions all over the world, like barbecued meats, stuffed dumplings, types of pasta soups, pickled vegetables, rice puddings, and of course this dish, suraid.

Below is my home recipe:

12-15 chappatis shredded into large pieces

or

6 giant extra thin Afghan flat breads (pasti), these are available where I live, but you can sub any very thin naan for this if you like. The pasti where I live is roughly the length and width of 2 sheets of A-4 paper put together, and less than a cm thick. But really, any thin flatbread should do.

I enjoy both the chapatti version and the thin naan version, and can't recommend one over the other.

For the shorba:
1/4 cup oil
1 chicken skinned and cut into 12 pieces
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 large onion chopped finely
1 tbs garlic paste
1tsp ginger paste
2 fresh green chiles finely chopped
2 fresh tomatoes pureed
1/2 tsp haldi
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tbs garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp dried fenugreek (qasoori methi)
2 tbs whipped yoghurt
3.5 cups water
a big dose of salt
1 tbs lemon juice
1 pinch garam masala for final ingredient

garnish: chopped fresh green chiles, chopped cilantro, small chunks of butter or a few tsps ghee, and lemon wedges

Heat oil in pan. Add cumin seeds and allow to sizzle. Add in chopped onions. Fry on high heat, stirring frequently until they become golden and have lost a lot of moisture. Stir in ginger garlic chile paste. When the ginger garlic are golden, add in the turmeric and chile powder. Quickly add in the tomato puree. Cook for a while until the tomatos have lost their moisture and the oil has risen to the top. Add in the chicken and stir, still on high heat, until the chicken has all changed color. Add in yoghurt and stir for a moment. Pour in water. Add in garam masala and coriander powder. Now you can salt the dish. You should add in double the amount of salt that you normally would for a waterless curry. The amount of salt should be enough so that the shorba flavor doesn't become bland when mixed with the flatbread. I'd estimate 2 heaping teaspoons or more. When the water boils, cover and lower heat. Cook until chicken is done, maybe 25-30 minutes. When the shorba (liquidy meat soup) is done, add in the fenugreek, a pinch of garam masala, and lemon juice.

Set the shredded flatbread in a wide flat dish like a casserole dish. Using tongs, place the pieces of chicken on top of the bread. Then pour the shorba on top of the bread. The bread should absorb the shorba but it shouldn't be too liquidy or soupy. Now add the garnish and serve.

You could also do this dish with bone in goat or lamb, adjusting cooking time of the shorba as appropriate. Another variation would be to leave out the tomatos and yoghurt.

A delicious dish full of history and blessings.

Qabili Pullao

I have adapted this recipe from my in-law's family recipe served every eid. The recipe looks complicated, sorry if it is difficult to read...I promise you that it is extremely easy to cook, though.

This dish is simple but has several steps. The first couple of steps can be done a day ahead of serving. You can actually make the whole gravy a day ahead and add it to the rice the next day, as well.

1 chicken skinned, bone-in, and cut into small-medium pieces
1/2 cup dried channa daal (one cup cooked)

Ingredients assembled for the gravy

3-4 onions
2.5 heaping table spoons garam masala
1 heaping tsp red chile powder
3-4 whole dried red chiles
15 aloo bukharay (dried plums from Indo-Pak market)
1/4 cup water
salt to taste
3 tbs oil
3 cups basmati rice
1 tbs ghee or butter
some whole garam masale: 3 bay leaves, 10 black pepper corns, 5 cloves, 5 green cardamom, 2 big black cardamom, 1-2 shards of cinnamon bark, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds

The daal: soak 1/2 cup channa daal for one hour. Boil water with daal a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then keep on a low flame for 20 minutes. Strain from water. You should have just tender whole channa daal. Keep aside.

The tali hui pyaaz: Thinly slice 3 onions and fry until light reddish brown. Strain from oil and grind (crush or put in a grinder). Mix 1/2 of the ground fried onion with 1 tsp garam masala and keep aside.

The aloo bukharay: soak in water for about 10 minutes before adding them into the gravy. Strain before you add them into the gravy.

Now to make the gravy:

Alu bukhara soaking in water for a few minutes

Heat oil and brown the chicken pieces to seal in the juices. When the chicken looks browned, add in the remaining ground fried onion, the red chile powder, whole red chiles, the remaining garam masala, and salt to taste---be slightly heavy handed with the salting because you will later add the channa daal to this gravy. Stir for a moment and then add the aloo bukharay. Stir again, add 1/4 cup water, allow this to come to a boil, cover and cook until the chicken is done. When it is done and still hot, mix in the whole cooked channa daal. Close the lid and let it sit for at least 5 minutes to allow the channa daal to soak up the gravy flavors. The aloo bukharay should have disintegrated only very slightly, but should for the most part remain whole so that those who consume your dish get one or two in the mouth as they eat. If you serve this to people who have never eaten an aloo bukhara (pity the souls), remember to tell them to not eat the hard seed, lest they crack their teeth! Okay, your gravy is done. You could keep this in the fridge overnight or add it to the rice right away, as suits your needs.

Finished gravy ready to be layered with rice

Dum dad dum dum dum: The rice (this works for any biryani rice and is called the "dum" method):

Soak the rice for 1/2 hour. In the mean while boil a pot of water with the whole garam masalas. Allow to boil for 10 minutes to extract the garam masala flavor. I cheat sometimes and nuke the water with the whole garam masalas in the microwave on high for 4-5 minutes to get out all that garam masala flavor. Strain the water, keep the garam masalay to the side, return the water to a pot, and allow it to return to the boil. You may add in a few of the strained garam masalay such as the bay leaves, cinnamon, and cardamom into the water for looks. Or keep it out if you want and just throw the strained garam masalay away. You should salt the water double the amount you normally would for 3 cups of boiled rice because you will par-boil the rice al dente like pasta, and throw away the water, so the rice will be bland if it doesn't absorb enough salt.

Okay, now that your garam masala seasoned water is boiling, strain the soaking rice and add it to the boiling water. Keep the colander ready in the sink. Allow the water to return to a boil and let it boil away for 3.5 minutes. Watch the beautiful basmati. kernels lengthen. Now strain the rice. Quickly add 1 tbs ghee or butter to the bottom of a deep pot. Keep the ground onion and garam masala mixture on hand. Add in the strained rice, sprinkling it with the fried onion and garam masala mixture, then a layer of rice, then more onion garam masala mixture. Turn up the flame to high and cover the pot. After two minutes of high flame, put the flame to the lowest possible point and cook the pot of rice for 20 minutes. Turn off the flame. Allow the rice to rest for about 10 minutes before you mess with it further to avoid the kernels breaking.

For a party you can put the rice in a large platter and spread the chicken gravy on top of it. Alternatively you can layer the rice and chicken gravy like a biriani (as shown in the pic). It is up to you.

I hope you enjoy!

Qabili pullao