Authentic Lamb Korma / Mutton Korma recipe. Succulent and tender lamb pieces simmered in aromatic gravy.
Lamb Korma is a popular curry in Subcontinent. Korma or Qorma means braised meat. Meat pieces are slow cooked in onions, yogurt and aromatic spices. Sometimes almonds and cream are also added to make it more rich.
This is Pakistani or North Indian version of Authentic Lamb Korma. Its mildly spicy with smooth sauce and is very aromatic. This korma recipe regularly makes round to my dinner table along with other recipes like Chicken Curry, Boneless Chicken Karahi and Authentic Chicken Korma
Ingredients for Lamb Korma
Lamb – Use lamb curry pieces with or without bone. The fat should be trimmed. You can also use goat meat.
Yoghurt – Plain/Greek yoghurt is the used in korma, it makes the gravy thick. Tomatoes are not used in korma so it relies on yoghurt to form the gravy. The gravy is made from fried onions and yoghurt.
Spices – lets break the spices into 2 groups . There are regular spices like red chilli powder, paprika, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder.
Then there are aromatic spices, this includes green cardamom, black cardamom, black pepper corns, cloves, bay leaves, nutmeg powder and lastly mace.
How To Make Lamb Korma
The method of making Lamb Korma is fairly simple. I use pressure cooker to make lamb cook faster and tender. You can also cook it in a pot. Allow atleast 45 mins for meat to get tender. Firstly fry the onions in the oil and take them out once golden brown. In the same oil add all the aromatic spices , along with ginger garlic and meat . Add the remaining spices followed by yoghurt and fried onions. The gravy then simmers until its thick and it it absorbs all the flavours from spices.
Watch How To Make Authentic Lamb Korma
Tips For Perfect Lamb Korma
- Don’t skimp on oil. It seems that this recipe is using a lot of oil but its is very essential. Korma has this distinct layer of oil on top of it and its the characteristic of a good korma.
- When frying onions make sure they don’t get too dark. The darker the onions, the darker will be the gravy colour. Just aim for light golden brown.
- Use Yoghurt at room temperature. When adding yoghurt, its important to remove the pot from heat or turn the stove off. It prevents yoghurt from getting curdled which doesn’t make good appearance in gravy and it makes it grainy. Mix the yoghurt in and then return it to the medium heat.
Serving Lamb Korma
Its best to eat Korma with naan/flatbread. Some people eat steam rice with it, but Naan is by far the best option. The scrumptious sauce definitely deserves a naan to be dipped into it.
Other Curries to Try:
Authentic Chicken Korma
Boneless Chicken Karahi
Achar Gosht
Aloo Gosht (Meat Gravy with Potatoes)
Chicken Korma
Ingredients
- 700 g Lamb (Cut into small pieces) See Notes
- 1 Large Onion
- 1 Cup Plain Yoghurt
- 1 tbsp Garlic Ginger paste
- 1½ tsp Salt
- 1½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder Alt Paprika
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 1½ tsp Cumin
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 6-8 Black Peppercorns
- Pinch Nutmeg Powder
- 5-6 Cloves
- 3-4 Green Cardamoms
- 2 Pieces Mace See notes
- 1 Black Cardamoms
- 1/2 Cup Oil
- Coriander/Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a pot heat oil and fry onions untill golden brown.
- Takes them out on paper towel and set aside.
- In the same oil add bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, cumin, mace, green and black cardamom. Temper for a minute and add garlic ginger paste.
- Add meat and fry until it changes to whitish colour.
- Add salt, red chilli, paprika, turmeric and coriander powder. Fry the meat for around 5 minutes.
- If you are using pressure cooker add 1 cup of water and cook for around 15 minutes. If you are not using pressure cooker add little bit of more water. Cover and cook on low heat for 40 minutes or until meat is tender.
- Blend yoghurt and fried onions together using stick blender. Alternatively crush fried onions with hands and mix them in the yoghurt.
- Remove the pot from heat and add yoghurt to the meat. Stir in until well combined.
- Return it back to heat and cook on medium flame until water from yoghurt evaporates and oil starts to separate.
- You can add little water to adjust the consistency of gravy and cook on low flame for 10 minutes.
- Garnish it with some cilantro/coriander.
Notes
- You can use Lamb with bone or boneless. Trim the fat of the meat pieces.
This is an amazing Korma recipe. I used goat instead of lamb, turned out perfect, balanced spices and beautifully aromatic. The recipe is literally so easy to follow and simple.