Succulent pieces of mutton in a rich gravy made with lots of fried onions, ginger, garlic, yoghurt and whole spices. This mutton korma is as authentic as it gets!
Mutton Korma makes for a great weekend night meal when you are relaxed and have the time for something a little more elaborate than usual. There is a fair bit of slicing and dicing involved (not to mention grinding) but the result is so worth it!
You will find many ‘korma’ recipes online but a good test of their authenticity is to take a peek into the ingredients. If there is turmeric or tomatoes or potatoes in the list, it’s not really a korma.
The original korma is made of fried onions, ginger, garlic, spices and yoghurt … that’s about it. Five ingredients in the right proportions make for a truly irresistible dish that’s magic for the tastebuds. I have added cashews too, but these are optional. They impart a creaminess to the dish, but if you want to stick to the bare bones korma recipe, feel free to leave out the cashews. The mutton korma will still taste awesome.
If you want to have the real stuff, try this recipe!
mutton korma
Succulent pieces of mutton in a rich gravy made with lots of fried onions, ginger, garlic, yoghurt and whole spices. This mutton korma is as authentic as it gets!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 1.3 lbs or 600 grams lamb on bone, cut into small sized chunks
- ½ cup cooking oil
- 2 medium red onions, sliced finely
- 1/2 cup yoghurt
- 8-10 cashews, optional
- 5 peppercorns
- 3 cloves
- 3 green cardamom
- 1 black cardamom
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 one-inch cinnamon sticks
- 3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add onions. Fry them until they are reddish brown. Remove from the oil immediately with the help of a slotted spoon. When cool, grind them with the cashews and yoghurt to make a puree.
- In the same oil in which the onions were fried, add the whole spices and after a minute, add the mutton. Braise in oil for 2 minutes.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste, coriander powder and Kashmiri chilli powder. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Tip in the puree obtained in step 1 and roast the masala for 10 minutes on medium heat.
- Add salt and half a glass of water, close the lid of the pressure cooker and turn the heat on high. After one whistle, turn down the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Turn off the gas.
- Allow the steam to escape on its own before opening the pressure cooker. Remove the lid and serve warm with hot rotis or naan.
Notes
- You can make this recipe in a regular dutch oven instead of a pressure cooker, but it’s going to take ages for the mutton to cook. I always cook mutton in a stovetop pressure cooker to save time and electricity. If you do prefer to cook in an open vessel, keep an eye on it! Add water at regular intervals to prevent the mutton from drying out.
- It’s really essential to brown the onions properly. They should not be under-browned or else the korma is going to be a pale brown colour. But if they are over-browned, you’ll have an unappetizing looking, dark curry and it might taste bitter too. To get perfectly browned onions, slice them as fine as you can and fry them on low to medium heat in oil until they turn a warm, reddish colour. Turn off the heat immediately and remove from the oil with a slotted spoon. If you leave them in the hot oil, they will become too dark.
- To make ginger-garlic paste, put peeled garlic and ginger (equal amounts) in a blender along with some water and whizz till you get a fine paste. You only need 3 tablespoons for this recipe, so if you have any left over, you can store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will keep for a week or two.
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