P
Indian · Mughal Empire
Korma
Korma is the Mughal court's most refined curry — chicken or lamb braised in a sauce of yoghurt, cream, fried onion, and aromatic whole spices. The colour is pale golden; the flavour is mild but complex with the warmth of cardamom, mace, and kewra water. It is the mild, rich end of the Indian curry spectrum — restrained in heat, generous in aromatic complexity.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
600g
chicken breast
cut into 3cm pieces
Your own market
100ml
Greek yogurt
Your own market
30g
raw cashews
soaked
Origin · IndiaNot yet stocked in British Columbia
15ml
vegetable oil
Your own market
1
large onion
sliced thin
Your own market
20g
8g
garlic
minced
Your own market
4g
Kashmiri chilli powder
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2g
ground turmeric
Your own market
3g
ground coriander
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2g
ground cumin
Your own market
1g
ground cardamom
Your own market
1g
ground cloves
Your own market
400ml
coconut milk
full fat
Your own market
10g
fine sea salt
Your own market
5g
Tellicherry black pepper
Your own market
15ml
fresh lemon juice
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
10g
fresh coriander
chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Blend yogurt, soaked cashews, and 60ml water until smooth — soaking softens the cashews so they break down completely into the paste, eliminating any gritty texture in the finished sauce.
2
Heat oil in heavy-bottomed pan; render onion slices until deep golden, 8 minutes — this depth of caramelisation builds the korma's characteristic sweetness and body, which paler onions cannot provide; remove.
3
Add ginger and garlic to pan; bloom 90 seconds — raw heat drives off the harsh, acrid volatiles so their sweeter aromatic compounds come forward — then add all ground spices; toast 2 minutes, which opens the fat-soluble flavour compounds in the spices and fixes them into the oil, where they will disperse evenly through the sauce.
4
Return onions; add chicken pieces and seal briefly on all sides, 3 minutes — this light searing firms the surface proteins, preventing the pieces from breaking apart during the long simmer that follows.
5
Stir in cashew-yogurt mixture and coconut milk — adding these together moderates the temperature drop, preventing the yogurt from splitting under sudden heat — season with salt and pepper.
6
Simmer gently 25–30 minutes until chicken is tender and sauce coats the back of a spoon — a vigorous boil would cause the yogurt and coconut milk to separate, producing a greasy, curdled sauce rather than the velvety emulsion the dish requires.
7
Finish with lemon juice — added off the heat at the very end, it lifts and sharpens the richness of the coconut and cashew without cooking off its volatile brightness — and adjust seasoning.
8
Serve garnished with fresh coriander and reserved crisp onions.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Where it lives or dies. The moment where korma lives or dies is the birista — the deeply golden, crispy fried onion that is the structural foundation of the sauce. The onion must be fried slowly (45 minutes) until genuinely deep golden throughout, then drained on paper and allowed to crisp completely before grinding. Pale, soft fried onion produces a flat, sweet sauce; properly caramelised, crispy birista produces a complex, mellow, deeply savoury base.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Whisky
From British Columbia
SOV Wheated Rye Whisky
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · Metro Vancouver
Sons of Vancouver Distillery · North Vancouver →Whisky
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
GT's Living Foods · Los Angeles
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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