Authentic Mutton Korma (Indian Style)
Mutton Korma is a north indian meat dish featuring slow cooked mutton, goat meat or lamb with fried onions, yogurt and delicate, sweet smelling spices.
Servings: 3 - 4 servings
Ingredients
- 250 g onion sliced
- 1.5 cup oil needed for deep frying onions, we will not use entire quantity of oil for cooking korma
- 600 g goat meat or mutton or lamb meat
- ½ cup thick plain yogurt whole greek yogurt is fine
- ½ tablespoon garlic paste
- 3 teaspoon coriander powder
- 2 teaspoon red chilli powder I use degi mirch which is medium hot, adjust to taste
- ⅔ cup hot water or as desired
- 1.25 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
Whole Spices for Marination
- 2 twig mace javitri
- 5 cloves
- 4 green cardamom hari elaichi
- 1 black cardamom moti elaichi
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
To Garnish + Finishing Spices
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ½ teaspoon kewra water
- 1 tablespoon ginger julinnes
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg powder fresh grated
- ⅛ teaspoon mace powder
- ⅛ teaspoon green cardamom powder
Instructions
DEEP FRY THE ONIONS (SKIP IF USING STORE BOUGHT FRIED ONIONS)
- Peel onion skins. Cut onion lengthwise into half. Sliced each half of the onion. Onion slices should not be too thick or thin.
- Warm up a generous quantity of oil (1-1.5 cup) in a wide cooking pot (wok shaped is great) on high heat.Tip #1 - We are not going to cook the korma in that much oil. To make sure that onions fry properly and not get sweaty and turn into a paste, we need a lot of oil for deep frying.
- Add the sliced onions to the hot oil. Reduce to medium flame. Now, let onions fry for next 10-14 minutes.
- Initially, after 3-4 minutes you will see onions will soften and release their moisture. Don't stir too much at this point else onions will start breaking. We don't want that. We want onions slices to retain their shape.
- In about 8-10 minutes, you will see many onions getting brown. Stir 1-2 times at this point for even browning.
- Once the onions acquire a golden brown color(image 6), immediately using a slotted spoon, pick and place on a paper towel.
- Let fried onions sit and cool down completely. Remove the paper towel and reserve a few fried onions for garnish later. Using your hands, crush the rest as finely as you can.
MARINATE THE GOAT MEAT
- Optional Step - Dry roast the whole spices in a small pan for enhanced potency before marination.
- Place goat pieces in the cooking pot (or enamaled dutch oven) that you are going to cook it in. Add yogurt, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garlic paste and whole spices - cloves, mace, green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Tip #2 - Marinating the meat in the cooking pot itself saves you an extra dish!
- Add the crushed fried onions and salt. Add about 5 -6 tablespoons of oil in which we fried the onion.Tip #3- Save the rest of the oil in which we deep fried the onions and use it for cooking any savory curry
- Mix everything very well using your hands to coat the meat nicely. Cover and marinate for at least 4 hours or 8-10 hours. (overnight is ideal)
SLOW COOK THE KORMA
- Pull the marinated meat out of the refrigerator 1 to 1.5 hours prior to cooking.Tip # 4 - The closer the marinated meat is to room temperature when you start cooking, the tender it cooks out. Straight out of the refrigerator mutton become chewy because the cold meat shrinks immediately as soon as you put it on stove.
- Place the dutch oven on a medium flame stove. Start the bhunai (browning) of the meat. Don't go too low on heat, else meat will immediately get watery.
- Bhuno(fry) the meat for good 10-15 minutes. You will see it acquiring a deep brown color and the moisture from yogurt and meat juices releasing.
- Add 1 cup water at this stage and cover the pot. Cook the meat on low heat for next 1 to 1.5 hour or until its soft and tender. Check a few times in between, and add little water if you feel that meat is getting dryish. Don't add a lot of water, korma sauce has a thickish (not runny) consistency.Tip # 5 - We don't prefer falling off the bone meat, so the cooking times are mentioned accordingly. Please adjust as needed depending on the desired tenderness and size of meat pieces.
- As the meat cooks on low flame, the oil separates and it becomes tender. Once fully soft and tender, to finish, add the ginger juliennes, green cardamom powder, mace powder and using a grater, grate some nutmeg on top. Add 1-2 drops of kewra water and ghee. Simmer for 7-8 more minutes.
- Let mutton korma rest for 10-20 minutes before serving. It will thicken further as it rests.
Notes
- Cooking Pot - Use a non reactive cooking pot for cooking this korma. You could use a heavy bottomed indian utensils like handi (deg or lagan) or enamaled cast iron dutch oven (I do the same).
- Meat - Bone in gosht (meat) works best. Choose fresh, good quality meat with an assortment of lean and fatty cuts. You could use boneless lamb in this recipe to make lamb korma curry.
- Heat Levels- Korma dishes are much milder than regular meat curries, red chilli powder is mostly added for color. You may use some slit green chillies if you desire a kick.
- Fried Onions - Deep fried onions form the soul of korma. Take your time to fry the onions to golden brown and don't skimp on oil while deep frying. You could fry them a few days ahead. Take care that the onions don't turn black- makes them bitter and the taste of korma will be spoiled. If using store bought, make sure that they are not smelly- sometimes the oil goes bad while on shelf.
- Don't skip marination - Yogurt in the marinade really tenderizes the meat and infuses it with flavor, marinate meat for atleast 4 hours.
- Yogurt - Since yogurt is one of the most important ingredients in this korma recipe, make sure that the yogurt is not too sour. Use whole yogurt for best taste.
- Creamy Korma- If you desire a creamy korma, add 1-2 tablespoon of ground almonds or cashew nut paste to this recipe.
- Plan Leftovers - Korma dishes taste much better next day. You may double this recipe if you wish.
- Spices - Use good quality spices that arent lying around for long in your pantry. We use a lot of sweet smelling spices in korma recipe and the delicate aroma and potency of spices, particularly the sweet spices withers away quickly as they sit in our cabinets.
- Indian Flatbreads - Are the best vessel to scoop the luxurious korma sauce. You may serve doughy naan or flaky plain paratha on the side.
- Rice - Pair with jeera rice or steamed basmati rice.
- Royal feast - For a royal feast at home, serve goat korma with shami kebab or seekh kebab, jeera rice, naan, kachumber salad for a delighful indian night!