Scaling Chicken Qorma for 12 People Without Ruining It

Three times the chicken does not mean three times the pot of anything

You have 12 coming for dinner and you want to make chicken qorma. The recipe serves four. So you multiply by three and tip everything into your biggest pot. An hour later, the onions are pale and watery, the yogurt has split, the chicken is boiled, and the whole thing is a lot of gravy that tastes of very little.

Scaling a qorma is mostly a heat and surface-area problem. This post walks through the numbers from our chicken qorma recipe and the changes that make a triple batch behave.

The base numbers, and the tripled ones

The recipe serves 4 with 15 minutes prep and 50 minutes cooking:

<!-- VERIFY: scaling spices at less than a straight multiple (chilli, whole spices, garam masala) is common cooking practice, not tested for this recipe; taste and adjust. -->

Straight multiples work for the meat, onion and yogurt. For spices, go slightly under triple at the start and taste at the end. Whole spices and chilli intensify in a bigger pot because there is less surface area for flavour to escape.

The pot: one wide pot, or two

This is the real decision. A tripled qorma has about 3 kg of food in it. In a deep stockpot, the onions at the bottom steam instead of brown, and the chicken stews. In two wide pots, each with the original quantity or a bit more, nothing changes: heat gets in, moisture gets out.

If you have one large wide pot (a deghchi or wide handi with a thick base, at least 30 cm or 12 inches across), you can use it. If not, cook the onions and the chicken in two pans and combine them for the long covered step.

Step 1: the onions are the whole game

The recipe fries sliced onion slowly in ghee over medium heat until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes for 3 onions. For 9 onions this becomes the slowest step. Expect closer to 25 to 30 minutes in a big pot, stirring every 2 minutes. The rule from our recipe tips holds: low and slow gives a sweeter, deeper colour without burning.

Two ways to save time without losing flavour:

• Fry the onions in two batches in separate pans, then combine.
• Fry them earlier in the day and refrigerate them in a bowl; carry on at dinner time.

If the onions release a lot of water and stop browning, the pan is overcrowded. Spread them out, or use a second pan.

Step 2: chicken, ginger-garlic, then the quiet minute

In the recipe, the chicken goes in with ginger-garlic paste for about 7 minutes of frying, then the turmeric, chilli, cardamom and cinnamon for a minute. At 2.4 kg, a single layer is hard to manage. Add the chicken in two lots, wait until the first lot changes colour on the outside, then add the second. Otherwise the pot fills with liquid and the chicken boils.

Step 3: tempering 750 g of yogurt

The recipe's yogurt method is the one thing you should not shortcut: take the pot off the heat for a minute, whisk the yogurt until smooth and add it one spoonful at a time, stirring constantly, then return to medium heat. With 3 cups of yogurt, the temptation is to pour it in. Do not.

Take the yogurt out of the fridge 30 minutes before, whisk it smooth, and add it in four or five stages, stirring over a low flame between additions. Some cooks whisk in 1/2 tsp of cornflour as extra insurance. Our guide on why curry curdles covers the reasons in more detail.

<!-- VERIFY: cornflour stabilising yogurt is a common cook's tip; not from our recipe data. -->

Then cook on medium-high, stirring, until the yogurt has dried into the masala and oil begins to separate at the edges. In the recipe that is about 5 minutes. For triple it will take 10 to 15.

Step 4: the covered simmer

The recipe uses half a cup of hot water and 20 to 25 minutes covered on low. At triple, use closer to 1 cup (240 ml), not 1.5, because larger pots lose less to evaporation. Cook 30 to 35 minutes covered, stir from the bottom every 10 minutes, then check that the chicken is tender and at least 74 C (165 F) in the thickest piece. Finish with garam masala for 3 minutes and top with almonds.

<!-- VERIFY: the 1 cup water and 30 to 35 minute covered time for a triple batch are our own estimates. -->

Timeline for a 12-person qorma

• T minus 2 h: Chop onions, whisk yogurt, measure everything.
• T minus 1 h 45 min: Fry onions in two pans.
• T minus 1 h 15 min: Add chicken and spices.
• T minus 1 h: Yogurt, in stages.
• T minus 50 min: Water, cover, low heat.
• T minus 15 min: Garam masala, rest, almonds.
• T: Serve.

Serving and keeping it hot

Qorma holds well. Keep it in a covered pot on the lowest heat or in a preheated oven at about 90 C (195 F), and loosen with a splash of hot water if it thickens. Pair it with plain rice or naan, and for a bigger table, see our Eid dawat menu for 10. To understand how qorma differs from creamier dishes, read qorma vs korma.

If you are planning for 12, Degchi can keep the shopping list in one place. The try-it page lets you check what you already have.