Lamb Korma

Don't Make These Mistakes

Keep the heat low once the yoghurt is in.

Add a splash of water if the sauce thickens too much before the lamb is tender.

Toasted flaked almonds on top look good and add texture.

Making Lamb Korma

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1. Mix the lamb with the yoghurt and salt and leave for 30 minutes.

   Mark done Start 30 min timer

2. Heat the ghee in a heavy pan. Cook the onions for 10 minutes until soft and just starting to colour. Add the whole spices and the ginger and garlic paste and cook for 1 minute.

   Mark done Start 10 min timer

3. Add the lamb with its marinade and the ground coriander, cumin and chilli. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

4. Add the almonds and water. Cover and simmer very gently for 60 minutes until the lamb is tender.

   Mark done Start 60 min timer

5. Stir in the cream and garam masala and simmer for 2 minutes.

   Mark done Start 2 min timer

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Why the Method Works

Salt the lamb and leave it in the yoghurt for half an hour; that is the single most useful instruction in the recipe. The yoghurt tenderises the meat gently, and the lamb arrives at the pan already seasoned.

Korma is a mild, creamy dish, and the sauce depends on three things: onions cooked slowly without colouring, ground almonds for body, and yoghurt added gradually. Rush any of them and the sauce turns thin, coloured or curdled.

Brown the lamb lightly in batches before it joins the sauce. Crowding the pan makes it steam, and the sauce loses the savoury edge that browning gives.

Shoulder is the best cut. It has enough fat and connective tissue to turn soft and silky in 75 minutes, while leg dries out. Keep the pan at a very gentle simmer with the lid on. The dish is ready when a piece of lamb falls apart under a spoon and the sauce has thickened to coat the back of it.

After You've Cooked It

Keeps in the fridge for 3 days and freezes for up to 2 months. Reheat gently.

Changing the Recipe

• In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

What to Serve Alongside

• Pilau rice
• Naan
• Cucumber raita
• Mango chutney

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Chapati (Roti), Idiyappam, Kerala Appam.

Questions and Answers

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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