Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours & 30 minutes
Total time: 3 hours
Servings: 5 people
Imagine a warm and cozy lamb korma, crafted from tender lamb shoulder and bursting with a medley of classic Indian spices, all wrapped up in a creamy, aromatic coconut curry. This rich and delicious lamb curry is not only a treat for the taste buds but also surprisingly simple to whip up, making it a fantastic dish for the entire family to savor!
Ingredients:
Onion paste:
- 2 large onions , cut into 1cm/1/2″ squares (brown or yellow)
- 8 large garlic cloves , peeled, halved
- 4cm/ 1.5" piece ginger , peeled, sliced 3mm/0.2″ thick
- Cashew puree:
- 50 g cashews , roasted, unsalted (~20 cashews)
- 80 ml water
Lamb korma:
- 70 g ghee, or unsalted butter
- 1 kg lamb shoulder, trimmed off excess fat, cut into 4-5 cm / 2" cubes
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2.5 tsp ground ginger
- 5.5 tsp garam marsala
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder (or smoked paprika & cayenne)
- 500 ml chicken stock/broth , low-sodium
- 10 cardamom pods (green), lightly crushed, wrapped and tied in muslin or cheesecloth
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 tsp white sugar
- 1.5 tsp cooking salt
- 125 ml coconut cream , full-fat
- 125 ml cream , full-fat (any type: thickened, heavy, pure etc)
Serving:
- Basmati rice or other plain white rice of choice
- Naan , for dunking! (optional)
- Cashews finely chopped (optional sprinkle)
- Coriander, cilantro leaves , roughly chopped (optional garnish)
Directions:
- Onion puree: Place the onion, garlic and ginger into a tall container that fits the head of a stick blender. Blitz until smooth: about 5 to 10 seconds. Scrape into a bowl, set aside.
- Cashew puree: In the same jar, while covering the mouth of the jar with your hand (to prevent flying cashew comets), blitz the cashews and water with the stick blender until smooth, about 10 seconds. , Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced).
- Reduce onion puree: Melt and heat ghee in a 24 cm/ 10" oven-proof pot over high-heat. Cook the onion puree, stirring regularly, for 8 minutes until it has reduced by half. Don’t let it caramelise.
- Add lamb, reduce to medium-high heat then stir until the meat changes from red to light brown. Don’t try to brown the meat (it won't happen).
- Sauce: Add turmeric, ground ginger, garam marsala and kashmiri chilli, then stir through. Pour in the stock (the liquid should just barely cover the meat). Add cardamom pod sachet and cinnamon sticks, then stir. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid then transfer to the oven.
- Slow cook: Cook for 1 1/2 hours. Stir in Cashew Puree, put the lid back on then return to the oven for another 30 minutes. The sauce should have thickened to a creamy consistency and lamb should be tender end to pull apart with forks with no effort.
- Creamy sauce: Place the pot on a low heat. Add the sugar, salt, coconut cream and cream, then stir. Simmer for 2 minutes, then you’re done!
- Serve over basmati rice with a sprinkle of cashew nuts and coriander, if desired. Naan for dunking highly recommended!
Tips & Notes:
- Ghee: A type of clarified butter used in Indian cooking, tastes like butter on steroids! Fairly readily available these days in the Indian section of large grocery stores, Indian and Asian shops. Substitute with unsalted butter, or coconut oil (unrefined/virgin which has lovely coconut flavour).
- Lamb shoulder is the best because it becomes meltingly tender with hours of slow cooking to break down the tough fibres. No other cut of lamb will produce the same results (see Ingredients section for commentary). Cut large cubes else they will cook too quickly, before the sauce has had sufficient time to develop flavour. PS I know 800g/1.6 lb lamb sounds like a lot for 4 servings, but it shrinks a lot!
- Other meat: Beef chuck or boneless ribs, or pork shoulder, follow recipe as written, though note that korma is most commonly made with lamb.
- Garam masala is a spice mix used in Indian cooking that is easily found these days in the spice aisle of large grocery stores. Think of it as the better curry powder! If you can’t find it, substitute with an Indian curry powder.
- Kashmir is a spicy, smoky Indian chilli powder sold at Indian grocery stores and some speciality stores. Substitute with 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika plus 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
- Cardamom: Bundle up and tie to hold the cardamom pods in a bag. Otherwise, just put the loose pods in the curry and pick them out when eating (this really doesn’t bother me, but I know someone people don’t like it!).
- Avoid low fat! If you go down the low-fat path, you will find that the sauce lacks the creamy mouthfeel and Korma coconut flavor. I really recommend sticking to full fat!
- Sauce thickness – If the sauce is not thick enough, just reduce on the stove before adding the cream and coconut cream. If the lamb is not tender enough, cover and return to the oven in 10 minute increments.
- Slow cooker, pressure cooker, instant pot method, need to alter recipe else the sauce lacks flavor because the meat is not browned off and you don’t get surface Caramelization like you do in the oven. Here’s how to do it:
- Reduce chicken stock/broth by 1 cup
- Increase coconut cream and cream to 2/3 cup each, and increase salt by 1/4 tsp.
- Puree cashews with 1/3 cup chicken stock instead of water
- Start on stove or sauté function of instant pot/slow cooker.
- Melt all the ghee or 1 tbsp plain oil on high heat then brown the surface of the lamb in batches (but still raw inside). Remove. (If you used oil, add butter now).
- Cook down the onion puree per recipe then follow recipe as written (returning browned lamb into pot).
- Add cashew puree and coconut cream (but not regular cream), bring to simmer. Transfer everything into slow cooker/IP (scrape out pot well!).
- Cook times: Slow cooker: low 8 hrs, high 3 hrs, pressure cooker: high 40 min.
- Stir in regular cream. Simmer with lid off if needed to thicken sauce (shouldn’t need, but sometimes lamb drops more juices than expected). Serve!
- Storage: Leftovers will keep for 3 days, though I always feel the spice flavor start fading!
Nutrition:
Serve:1serve. Calories:604cal (30%)Carbohydrates:23g (8%)Protein:33g (66%)Fat:44g (68%)Saturated Fat:26g (163%)Polyunsaturated Fat:2gMonounsaturated Fat:11gCholesterol:143mg (48%)Sodium:1012mg (44%)Potassium:820mg (23%)Fiber:5g (21%)Sugar:8g (9%)Vitamin A:444IU (9%)Vitamin C:6mg (7%)Calcium:99mg (10%)Iron:5mg (28%)
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