Gosht Korma- Easy, Elegant Lamb Korma

I have done chicken and fish and a vegetable so far, on my blog. Time I posted something on Lamb too! Lamb happens to be my all time favoutie meat and has the power to bring me to my knees anytime, anywhere, whichever way it is prepared. The recipe I am sharing here is easy, elegant and versatile. 'Korma' has many variations but I think this is the most standard technique employed across Northern India and Pakistan. I got it from my neighbour SI, who is from Karachi and is a fabulous cook. She is also generous about sharing her recipes for which I especialy admire her. Serve this with a simple Cumin flavoured Pulao and you will be good. I also usually serve a side of mixed Vegetable Jhalfarezi with this if I have guests because I dont make my Korma very spicy, and the Jhalfarezi serves as just the right tangy accompaniment to this otherwise simple lamb curry. It has a tangy-creamy yoghurt sauce base with very simple flavours. Without further ado, read on for the recipe now.

How to:

Lamb: 1 kg I prefer the shanks and some pieces of ribs, of a baby goat. Washed/drained.

Step 1:

2 large onions- finely sliced and deep fried. Browned/caramelised. Drained on a kitchen paper towel.
1 large cup of thick Yoghurt.
Once the onions have cooled off, blend the Yoghurt and onions together to a fine paste. Keep aside.Reserve about 2 tbsps to garnish later. This is the curry base of all kormas.

Now for the other ingredients:

5-6 Green cardamoms
1 Black, big cardamom
5-6 Cloves
1-2 sticks of medium sized cinammon.
A small pinch of nutmeg (optional)
4-5 blades of Mace (optional)
A few drops of Kewra essence (optional)
1 tbsp heaped Ginger Garlic paste

Step 2: To dry grind:

10-12 Almonds (optional but recommended)
2 tbsp heaped corriander seeds
1 tsp heaped cumin seeds
8-10 dry, whole red chillis.
Grind to a coarse powder and keep aside.

Oil for frying onions- about 1/2 cup
salt to taste.
Some extra 3-5 dry red chillis fried and kept aside for garnishing.

Here's how the Korma will be made:

Heat oil in a  wide 'kadai' - Indian wok. Use the same oil in which you fried the onions. Lends a nice flavour and you save on oil too. :) Once heated through, tip in the cardamoms, cloves, cinammon, nutmeg. Let them splutter for a few short seconds. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and saute on high heat, browning it nicely but taking  care not to burn it. Once the raw smell disappears, put in the meat pieces and continue to saute on high flame. Keep stirring it around and wait untill the moisture released by the lamb dries up. At this point the lamb pieces should have also acquired a nice brown tinge. Once the water dries up, sprinkle the ground spices you made of the Almonds, corriander, cumin and red, dry chillis. Mix well. Cover and cook on low flame for about 5 minutes. If the spices start sticking to the bottom of the pan, put in a quarter cup of hot/warm water. The whole dish should look brown and caramelised. After about 5 minutes, pour in another cup of water , cover and cook untill the meat is almost done.  PS- keep adding 4-5 tbsp of water  from time to time, if the meat is drying up.

Once the meat is almost done, pour in the Yoghurt-Onion paste over the meat. Mix vigrously so that the yoghurt does not curdle. Do this for about five minutes. Cover and cook now, untill the meat is completely cooked. In the final two minutes, add about 3-4 drops of Kewra essence.

Serve garnished with the fried onions you had reserved earlier and some fried whole red chillis. Like I said, I usually serve this with Zeera Pulao and Vegetable Jhalfarezi along with the usual Salad.

The final gravy should be thick and not runny.

Best served after a few hours, but I doubt you will be able to wait so long!!