🇮🇳 Indian
Chicken Korma
⏱ 45 min
🍞
🍽 6-8 (family pot — korma was a banquet dish, made big) servings
⭐ 5/5
⚠️ Estimates only — not medical advice. Carb counts vary by brand and portion. Always verify with your endo or CDCES.
🌍 Cultural note
Korma traces back to Mughal royal kitchens — mild, creamy, fragrant curries built on yogurt, nuts, and warming spices like cardamom and cinnamon. It's the most kid-friendly Indian curry because there's basically no heat, just gentle warmth and richness. Mughal kitchens cooked korma in huge brass *deghs* for the court; Indian families cook it in a big *kadai* on the stove and feed everyone from it. Below, the kid carb math is broken out so your T1D baby gets the same plate, dosed right.
🍽️ Kid's plate — the carb math
From this pot, build your child's plate:
| Kid portion | Carbs |
|---|---|
| ¼ cup basmati + ¼ cup korma + sauce | ~14g |
| ⅓ cup basmati + ¼ cup korma + sauce | ~18g |
| ½ cup basmati + ⅓ cup korma + sauce | ~26g |
| ½ cup cauli rice + ¼ cup korma + sauce | ~5g |
| ¼ cup basmati + ½ cup cauli + ¼ cup korma (sweet spot) | ~15g |
Adults take their full plate (¾-1 cup basmati + ½ cup korma). One pot, whole family.
Why this recipe is T1D-friendly
- No sugar, no thickening flour — creaminess comes from yogurt and ground cashews/almonds (healthy fats!)
- Nuts and cream slow glucose absorption significantly
- Mild enough that picky kids will actually eat the protein (which is the whole T1D win)
- Easy portion control: ladle by the ½ cup
Ingredients
- 2½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp ghee or butter
- 3 green cardamom pods
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 large yellow onion, very finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ tbsp grated ginger (or 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste in place of garlic + ginger)
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked in hot water 15 min
- 3 tbsp blanched almonds
- 1½ tsp ground coriander
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- ¾ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder (mild, color only)
- 1½ tsp garam masala
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup water as needed
- Fresh cilantro to finish
- Basmati cooked separately (each plate gets its measured scoop)
Directions
- Toss chicken with yogurt and ½ tsp salt. Set aside 15 minutes.
- Drain soaked cashews. Blend cashews and almonds with ⅓ cup fresh water until completely smooth — this is your "nut cream." Set aside.
- Heat ghee in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. Sizzle 30 seconds.
- Add onion. Cook slowly, 10-12 minutes, stirring often, until deeply golden but not burnt. This is the flavor base — don't rush it.
- Add garlic and ginger. Cook 1 minute. Stir in coriander, cumin, turmeric, Kashmiri chili, and remaining 1 tsp salt.
- Add the marinated chicken. Stir to coat and cook 5 minutes, browning lightly on all sides.
- Reduce heat to low. Stir in the nut cream and ¾ cup water. Cover and simmer gently 18 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender. Add splashes of water if it tightens up too much.
- Stir in heavy cream and garam masala. Simmer 2 more minutes — don't boil hard, just heat through.
- Top with cilantro. Build plates at the table — kid's plate first.
Dash's kid tips 🐆
- Batch-freeze single-serve portions of korma (without rice). Indian curries deepen in the freezer — pull a single-serve out, microwave, ladle over fresh basmati for an instant dosed-right kid dinner.
- Dash says: korma is the dish to use when introducing Indian food to a hesitant kid — almost zero heat, butter-chicken-adjacent flavor
- Pluck out the whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves) before serving little kids — they're flavor bombs, not for chewing
- For a fun "dipper night," serve the korma in a small bowl with measured low-carb tortilla strips (toasted in the oven)