Low Carb Chicken Korma is a keto friendly take on tradition - easy to make, and with ALL of the flavour! Serve with Cauliflower "Jeera Rice"!
Many years ago, I posted my Chicken Shahi Korma recipe on my main blog, Celebration Generation.
Fantastic recipe, a replica of one of my favourite dishes from my favourite Indian restaurant in Minneapolis - Taste of India.
Unfortunately... it's pretty carby.
After the wild success of my Keto Chicken Biryani, I decided it was time to de-carb my korma recipe!
Oh, this was FANTASTIC!
In no way did it taste or feel like eating diet food!
All of the flavour of the original was there, along with the rich mouth feel. It was rich, thick, and comforting - and tasted like proper Indian takeout!
My husband - who is not low carbbing - exclaimed that in NO way did he feel like he was missing out on anything, while eating this!
It is a bit ingredient-intensive - as was the original - but it’s totally worth it! Once you’ve got everything measured out, it’s not actually that much work to make this dish.
Low Carb Chicken Korma
This was a multi-faceted operation, btw.
First off, the dish got a demotion. Now it’s just chicken korma, rather than chicken SHAHI korma.
“Shahi” is a royal reference, and that recipe was a dressed-up korma, with paneer and raisins in it.
The paneer and raisins add a fair amount of carbs, so they were an easy choice to nix.
From there, minor changes: coconut milk swapped out for heavy cream, and sugar swapped our for a sugar substitute. (I use Stevia).
Finally, there’s a matter of how it’s served.
Generally speaking, we always served our chicken shahi korma with a pile of rice and some naan... neither of which are low carb friendly.
So the Naan is nixed, and the rice was swapped out - more on that in a bit.
Finally, I shrank the recipe overall. My original made a TON of korma - which is great!
Low carbbing has screwed with my appetite, though, and I haven’t been eating a lot of leftovers. Figured it would be nice to have this as an easy, small, 4 serving preparation.
If you need more, it’s easy to double or triple the recipe!
Equipment Needed for Low Carb Chicken Korma
Aside from the basics - a pan, knife, cutting board, etc - there are two pieces of equipment that I recommend having.
Mini Food Processor
I like to use a mini food processor for this. Mine holds just 2 or 3 cups of food, and is perfect for this.
Large food processors don’t always do a great job of things, when dealing with small amounts of ingredients.
Also, as a note: I make the marinade in the food processor, dump it over the chicken, then make the cashew sauce in it.
I don’t bother washing or wiping out the food processor between the two.
Mortar and Pestle
I pretty much ONLY use my mortar and pestle for Indian or African cooking at this point, but it definitely comes in handy for those dishes!
If you’re looking at getting a set, be sure to buy something nice and heavy - and read the reviews!
Keto Chicken Korma Variations
While this recipe is fantastic on its own, there are a few variations that you can do, to better suit your needs. Some ideas:
Swap Out The Chicken
We use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this, as that’s what works best for us... but it’s not gospel!
Feel free to swap out the chicken thighs in favour of:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, as a way to decrease the fat content.
- Beef or lamb can be substituted if that’s more your taste or dietary needs.
- Chunks of firm tofu can be used to make a vegetarian version. (Just use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth!)
Toast the Whole Spices
If you want even more flavour, you can measure the whole spices out into a dry nonstick pan and toast them, before crushing them.
Just heat over low - stirring constantly - until fragrant. It gives it a really great flavour!
Then, simply crush them in the mortar and pestle, and follow the rest of the recipe.
Make it Even Lower in Carbs
My goal in making this was to be as close as possible to my original korma, which means it’s a bit higher in carbs (9 grams net carbs / serving) than it COULD be.
If you’d like to lower the carbs further, there are a few things you can do.
These can be done mix and match - feel free to use one, two, or all three suggestions to customize your batch!
- Swap out the cashews in the sauce for blanched almonds.
- Lessen or just completely leave out the tomato paste.
- Leave out the cashews in the last step, or swap for almonds.
Low Carb “Jeera Rice”
You know that amazing rice you get from Indian restaurants? All decked out with fragrant cumin seeds, just glorious?
That’s called Jeera (cumin) rice, and it’s something that you can make a quick and easy low carb version of!
How we make it:
- Heat up a bag of frozen riced cauliflower. We usually cook it for about 7 minutes, right from frozen.
- Drain any water that may have formed in defrosting.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of butter to the “rice”, stir well to combine.
- Season with some cumin seeds. Go light, go heavy - do whatever you want.
- Squeeze a small amount of fresh lemon over it, stir well.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
.... SO GOOD!
How to Make Low Carb Chicken Korma
Full recipe follows, here's the pictorial overview:
Cut chicken into large cubes, place in a large bowl.
Put ginger, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil into a mini food processor – process till it’s a thick paste. Pour over chicken, toss to coat, and marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
Grind cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods, and fennel seeds with a spice mill or mortar/pestle.
In a small food processor - you don't need to wash it out after the marinade - combine freshly ground spices with cashews, chicken broth, and olive oil, process until fairly smooth.
Add sugar substitute, cinnamon, cumin, tumeric, coriander, pepper flakes, Garam masala, and ground cardamom, process till combined. Set aside.
In a large pan, cook chopped onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil until tender and translucent.
Add chicken and tomato paste, cook until tomato paste starts to brown and/or gets very aromatic.
Add chicken broth/spice mixture, along with heavy cream and yogurt.
Stir well, reduce heat to low, simmer for about 15 minutes.
When the sauce has thickened, cashews, parsley and cilantro.
Stir well, continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve over cauliflower rice.
More International Keto Recipes
Looking to add some international flavour to your menu? Try some of these low-carb versions of my favourites!
Keto Cabbage Rolls
Keto Chicken Biryani
Keto Doro Wat
Keto Gyoza [Potstickers]
Keto Jamaican Beef Patties
Keto Manakish
Easy Keto Ramen Recipe
Keto Orange Chicken
Keto Pad Thai
Keto Perogies
Keto Sauerkraut Buns
Keto Sushi Rice
Low Carb Shanghai Noodles
Low Carb Vietnamese Noodle Salad
Paleo Stuffed Grape Leaves
Sugar Free Furikake Seasoning
Easy Keto Butter Chicken
... also, be sure to check out our International Keto Recipes for even more options!
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you post it to Bluesky, be sure to tag us - @CelebrationGen. We're also on Pinterest, so you can save all your favourite recipes to a board!
Also, be sure to subscribe to my free email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.
Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Low Carb Chicken Korma
Equipment
- mini food processor
- mortar and pestle
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 1 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs and or/breast meat
- 1 tablespoon Finely Chopped Ginger
- 3 Garlic cloves Peeled & pressed/minced
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Korma:
- 1 Whole Clove
- ½ teaspoon Black Peppercorns
- 1 Cardamom Pod
- ½ teaspoon Fennel Seeds
- ¼ cup Unsalted Cashews
- ⅓ cup Chicken Broth
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Sugar substitute
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- pinch Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Coriander
- ¾ teaspoon Crushed Dried Chilies
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- pinch Ground Cardamom
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- ½ Onion finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon Tomato Paste
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup Plain Yogurt
- ¼ cup Cashews
- 2 tablespoon Chopped Fresh Parsley
- 2 tablespoon Chopped Cilantro
Instructions
- Cut chicken into large cubes, place in a large bowl.
- Put ginger, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil into a blender or food processor – process till it’s a thick paste. Pour over chicken, toss to coat, and marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
- Grind cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods, and fennel seeds with a spice mill or mortar/pestle.
- In a small food processor, combine freshly ground spices with cashews, chicken broth, and olive oil, process until fairly smooth.
- Add sugar substitute, cinnamon, cumin, tumeric, coriander, pepper flakes, Garam masala, and ground cardamom, process till combined. Set aside.
- In a large pan, cook chopped onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil until tender and translucent.
- Add chicken and tomato paste, cook until tomato paste starts to brown and/or gets very aromatic.
- Add chicken broth/spice mixture, along with heavy cream and yogurt.
- Stir well, reduce heat to low, simmer for about 15 minutes.
- When sauce has thickened, cashews, parsley and cilantro.
- Stir well, continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
- Serve over cauliflower rice.
Leave a Reply