Qorma is on almost every desi menu in the UAE and almost nobody orders it, because most people outside South Asia have met the wrong version of it.
Ours is AED 8 small for chicken, every day of the week. Here is what it actually is.
The korma problem
If you have eaten "korma" in a British or Western curry house, you have eaten a pale, sweet dish built on coconut and cream, marketed as the mild option for people who do not want spice.
That is an adaptation, not the dish. A real qorma is:
- Braised, which is what the word means
- Built on onion fried slowly to a deep brown, then broken down into the sauce
- Finished with yoghurt
- Cooked until the oil separates out from the masala, which is the signal it is done
- Deep brown, not cream coloured
- Properly spiced, not sweet
It is Mughlai, it is one of the oldest dishes in the tradition, and it was court food before it was home food.
The onion is the whole dish
This is the part worth knowing, because it is what separates a good qorma from a flat one.
The onions are fried slowly until deep brown — not golden, not softened, browned — and then broken down so they dissolve into the sauce. That is where the colour, the body and most of the sweetness come from. There is no sugar in a qorma. The sweetness is onion.
Rush that step and you get a thin, pale, sharp sauce. It cannot be hurried and it cannot be faked, which is why qorma is a reliable test of whether a kitchen is actually cooking.
The second signal is the oil. A finished qorma shows oil separating at the edges of the masala. That is not a fault and it is not greasiness — it is the traditional indicator that the braise has gone far enough.
What it costs, and when
Qorma lives on our weekly menu, which is home style food cooked fresh each morning in one batch.
| Small | Large | When | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken qorma | AED 8 | AED 12 | Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu and Sun |
| Mutton qorma | AED 10 | AED 15 | Wednesdays |
Chicken qorma is the most frequent thing on the weekly menu, running five days out of seven. Friday and Saturday are the two days it does not.
Mutton qorma on a Wednesday is the one to plan around. It is the most expensive thing on the weekly list and the best thing on it, and because it is a single batch it can finish before the evening. Come earlier rather than later, and if a day's pot is done the counter will tell you so — which is the thing you actually want to hear.
Qorma vs karahi vs handi
These three confuse people constantly because all are brown, meaty and served in a bowl.
| Base | Method | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qorma | Fried onion and yoghurt | Braised slowly | Deep brown, proper standing sauce |
| Karahi | Tomato, ginger, green chilli | Seared hard in a wok | Dry and concentrated, almost no sauce |
| Handi | Cream, yoghurt, saffron, cashew | Simmered in a deep pot | Creamy, pale, coats the bread |
Qorma is the home dish of the three. Karahi and handi are what you order when you are eating out; qorma is what gets cooked on a weeknight. That is exactly why it is on the weekly menu rather than the main card, and why it is AED 8 rather than AED 24.
How to order it
Qorma wants rice more than bread, which is unusual on this menu. The sauce is generous enough to be worth soaking up properly.
A small chicken qorma at AED 8 with two tandoori roti at AED 2 is a AED 10 lunch and one of the cheapest full meals here.
For two: a large mutton qorma on a Wednesday at AED 15, four roti at AED 4 and a daal at AED 5 — AED 24 and both of you leave full.
Add the daily vegetable at AED 5 if you want the table balanced. A qorma is rich and something plain next to it helps.
More on ghar ka khana and the weekly salans, on lunch in Ajman, and on the monthly mess from AED 200.
Finding us
Shop 8/1, ground floor, Amman Street, Ajman Industrial Area 2, beside Nesto Hypermarket. Free street parking directly outside, step free from the pavement, indoor and outdoor seating, families welcome at every table.
Open 7:30 am to midnight, every day. Call or message 050 720 8707 to ask what is in the pot today. We answer in English, Urdu, Hindi and Arabic.
We do not deliver. You can eat here or collect at the counter. The full menu with every price is on this site.
Common questions
- Where can I get chicken qorma in Ajman?
- At Zafran Kitchen on Amman Street in Ajman Industrial Area 2. Chicken qorma runs on the weekly menu five days a week, Monday to Thursday and Sunday, at AED 8 small and AED 12 large. Mutton qorma runs on Wednesdays at AED 10 small and AED 15 large.
- What is qorma?
- Meat braised in a base of fried onion and yoghurt, cooked down until the oil separates from the masala. It is a Mughlai dish and one of the oldest in the tradition. The defining step is the onion: fried slowly to a deep brown and then broken down into the sauce, which is where the colour and most of the sweetness come from.
- Is qorma the same as korma?
- Yes, the same dish and the same word, spelled differently. You will see korma, qorma and kurma on menus across the UAE. It comes from a word meaning to braise, which is an accurate description of the method.
- Is qorma mild?
- In Pakistan it is a full flavoured braise rather than a mild one, and that surprises people who know the pale, sweet, coconut and cream korma served in British curry houses. That dish is a Western adaptation. A proper qorma is built on fried onion and yoghurt, carries real spice, and is nothing like it.
- When is mutton qorma available?
- Wednesdays, on the weekly menu, at AED 10 small and AED 15 large. It is cooked fresh that morning in a single batch, so coming earlier in the day is safer than coming late. Chicken qorma runs Monday to Thursday and Sunday at AED 8 small and AED 12 large.
- What is the difference between qorma and karahi?
- Method and base. Qorma is braised slowly in fried onion and yoghurt, so it has a proper standing sauce and a deep brown colour. A karahi is seared hard in a wok with tomato and chilli until almost all the liquid has gone. Qorma is a home dish, karahi is a restaurant dish, and they taste nothing alike.
- qorma ajman
- chicken qorma near me
- mutton qorma ajman
- korma price
- ghar ka khana ajman
Hungry now
Order it instead of reading about it
The kitchen is open every day from half past seven in the morning until midnight.