Chicken korma

There has never been a cuisine so flavorful and aromatic as Indian. I have had an ongoing love affair with Indian food ever since as a young teen, I broke free of the diet encouraged by my parents consisting mostly of Korean food and began to explore the culinary world. Naturally, when I began cooking for myself, Indian cuisine was among the first I sought to learn; however, I found the exquisite blend of spices to be rather intimidating, and relied on store-bought sauces and restaurant Indian food for the longest time to get my Indian fix.

Chicken Korma

My favorite Indian dish of all is the korma, which possesses a creaminess with a distinct flavor that I couldn't place for the longest time. I foolishly assumed the secret ingredient was something magical, something beyond my reach, something I could never duplicate on my own - that is, until a coworker and friend of mine brought homemade korma to work (though I admittedly should have looked up the recipe a long time ago).

Turns out the magic ingredient is none other than pureed cashews and milk/cream. Surprising, since I am not much of a nut person (my obsession with peanut butter notwithstanding), but I bought a pack of halved cashews the next time I went to the grocery store, determined to replicate the chicken korma I had been idolizing for so long.

I had tried making Indian food from scratch in the past and came up with a mediocre concoction; I attribute this failure to my lack of measuring anything ever. I consider cooking to be more of an art than a science, and therefore believe that measuring is a waste of time. In this case, however, I find that maintaining a certain ratio of spices vastly improves the outcome, and I would suggest you do the same.

Before I started cooking, I made my own mix of curry powder and garam masala. The recipe is as follows:

Curry powder:

• 2 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp coriander
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Garam masala:

• 1 tbsp cardamom
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves

Once you blend these spices, I find that a 3:1 curry powder: garam masala ratio does the trick; too much garam masala can be overpowering.

But first thing's first, we have to soak a 1/4 cup of cashews in half-and-half (my rather literal compromise between milk and cream). I microwaved the mixture for 30 seconds to really soften them up.

After you set that aside, cut some onions and chicken into bite sized pieces. Saute the onions until translucent, then dump the chicken on the pan.

Once the chicken is halfway cooked, immerse the chicken and onions in unseasoned tomato paste. Season with the pre-mixed curry powder and garam masala in the aforementioned 3:1 ratio (for 1.5 lbs of chicken, I used 3 tbsp of curry powder and 1 tbsp of garam masala). While that simmers, puree the cashews and half-and-half in your Magic Bullet (or any blender of your choosing), along with 3 cloves of garlic.

Pour the cashew puree into the chicken-tomato mixture and revel in how good your house smells right now.

I made some saffron rice to go with the korma, which is basically white rice cooked with saffron threads and a pinch of garam masala (1 tsp for 2 cups of rice, to be exact).

And you're done! It tasted just like the chicken korma I've had at some restaurants. And I'm not even Indian. I'm so proud of myself right now, you guys.

Random asparagus - gotta get my greens in somehow.

Indian food is love. Indian food is life.