Monday, January 28, 2013

Lamb Shahi Korma

Mala Ray Chatterjee's Mutton Shahi Korma
Reproduced in my kitchen

Lamb Shahi Korma is a lamb curry fit for a king or Shah. Shahi Kormas are generally cream based dishes that include nuts and sometimes, raisins. I purchased a whole leg of baby lamb (9 lbs.) at the halal meat store and had the butcher remove most of the fat layer and cut it into pieces suitable for a stew. He packaged it into 4 bags which I froze until needed. I followed this recipe exactly, except that olive oil replaced most of the butter and ghee, fat-free half and half replaced the cream and since there were no almonds in the house, a paste of raw cashews had to suffice.  I ground about half a cup of golden raisins with the cashews. The reason my dish looks more red is because I used greek yogurt which has no moisture in it, instead of regular full-fat yogurt. To retain the white color of the gravy, I will use regular yogurt next time. The white pepper powder gives this lamb curry a real kick!

By Mala Ray Chatterjee

Ingredients:
1 kg. (2 lbs.) mutton/lamb (marinated overnight in curd and ginger-garlic paste) 
100 gms. (1/2 cup) roasted almonds/cashews, soaked and made into a paste
white butter-100 gms. (1 stick or 1/2 cup)
ghee-100 gms. (1/2 cup)
Amul cream-100 gms. (1/2 cup)
white pepper powder-2 Tbsp.
4 large onions, chopped
2 Tbsp. ginger paste
2 Tbsp. garlic paste
300 gms. (1 cup) curd/yogurt
whole garam masala - 4 sticks of cinnamon, 4 bayleaves, 8-10 cardamoms, 8-9 cloves
6-8 slit green chillies

Directions:
Pour butter and ghee in pressure cooker, put the whole garam masala, fry the onions till translucent..not brown, add the marinated mutton/lamb and pressure cook till done...on simmer...(no water). Open the lid , add almond paste , salt, cream, white pepper and green chillies...take off heat after 2-3 minutes....finger-licking good!