← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 800 g mutton (goat or lamb) on the bone, in 5 cm pieces
• 80 ml Vegetable oil
• 1 Bay leaves
• 4 Cloves
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 6 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 3 cm piece Ginger, crushed
• 1 Green chilli, finely chopped
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1½ tsp Ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp Ground turmeric
• 1¼ tsp Salt
• 60 g crisp fried onions (birista), crushed
• 150 g whole-milk yogurt, whisked, at room temperature
• 15 blanched almonds, soaked and ground to a paste with 3 tbsp water
• 500 ml boiling water
• 2 blades of mace (optional)
• 1 pinch Nutmeg
• ½ tsp Garam masala
• 2 tbsp Double (heavy) cream (optional)
• 1 tsp rose water or kewra water (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a heavy pan over medium heat and fry the bay leaf, cloves and 3 cardamoms for 30 seconds.
2. Add the mutton and sear for 8–10 min, turning, until the pieces are browned all over. Add the garlic, ginger and green chilli and fry for 2 min.
3. Lower the heat and add the chilli powder, coriander, cumin, turmeric and salt with a splash of water. Stir for 2 min.
4. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the crushed fried onions and yogurt (adding it off the heat stops it splitting). Return to medium heat and stir for 5 min until the masala thickens and glistens with oil.
5. Pour in the boiling water, cover and simmer on low for 60–70 min, stirring now and then, until the meat is very tender.
6. Grind the rest of the cardamom seeds, the mace and nutmeg. Stir them in with the almond paste and garam masala and simmer for 5 min, until the gravy is creamy and thick enough to coat a spoon.
7. Finish with the cream and rose water, if using, and rest for 10 min before serving with naan, sheermal or plain pulao.

Tips

• Contains almonds (tree nuts); melon seeds (char magaz) are the classic nut-free swap.
• Make it a day ahead; korma is even more fragrant after a night in the fridge.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Tea for Turmeric RecipeTin Eats