A familiar staple of Indian restaurants around the world, korma is more than a dish — it is a cooking style. Put simply, it consists of marinated meat or vegetables that are cooked with ghee or oil, then braised with water or stock, yoghurt or cream (or sometimes all of these).
Ingredients
1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) lamb leg meat
1, chopped, plus 1 sliced onion
2 teaspoons grated ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3, seeded, chopped long green chillies
2 tablespoons ghee or oil
2 ½ tablespoons tomato paste (concentrated puré e)
125 g (4 ½ oz/½ cup) plain yoghurt
125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) coconut cream
50 g (1 ¾ oz/½ cup) ground almonds
to serve toasted slivered almonds
Method
1. Trim any excess fat or sinew from the lamb, cut into 3 cm (1 ¼ in) cubes and put in a large bowl.
2. Put the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, cardamom seeds, cloves, cinnamon, chilli and ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor, or in a mortar with a pestle, and process or pound to a smooth paste. Add the spice paste to the lamb and mix well to coat. Leave to marinate for 1 hour.
3. Heat the ghee or oil in a large saucepan, add the sliced onion and cook, stirring, over low heat for 7 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Increase the heat to medium– high and add the lamb mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 8– 10 minutes, or until the lamb changes colour.
4. Stir in the tomato paste, yoghurt, coconut cream and ground almonds. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, or until the meat is very tender. Add a little water if the mixture becomes too dry. Season well with salt and pepper, and serve garnished with the slivered almonds.