Lamb Korma

This is a less authentic version of Korma. It is based off of a Jaime Oliver recipe which uses chicken breast, but I have made it my own. It is really quite excellent and the lamb ends up being melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Ingredients:

For the Korma Paste:

• 2-3 cloves of garlic – minced
• thumb sized piece of ginger – skinned and minced
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp garam masala (I recommend the kashmiri one from Market Spice http://www.marketspice.com/store/products /kashmiri-masala )
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbs peanut oil
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 2 fresh green chiles – de-seeded and chopped small (I used the tiny hot ones from the Asian Market)
• 3 Tbs unsweetened shredded coconut (you can get this from Indian Markets)
• 2 Tbs almond flour or almond meal
• 10 sprigs of fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp cumin seeds – whole
• 1 tsp coriander seeds – whole

For the Stew:

• 1 3/4 to 2 lbs lamb shanks (not pre-trimmed) or any other cut of lamb
• 2 medium onions – finely chopped
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger – skinned and finely minced
• 1x 14 oz can of reduced fat coconut milk (you can get this at Trader Joes)
• a small hand full of sliced almonds
• 3-4 Tbs almond meal or almond flour
• 3 heaped Tbs unsweetened shredded coconut
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste
• 1 cup or more of water
• 3-4 yellow potatoes
• hand full of chopped broccoli
• hand full of chopped cauliflower
• 1 carrot – chopped
• 1 can of garbanzo beans (optional)

Directions:

For the Paste:

• In a dry skillet or pan toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant. Put them in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder until ground to a fine powder. Into a food processor add the minced garlic, ginger and fresh chiles and pulse until very very finely chopped. Add the peanut oil, tomato paste, and cilantro and pulse until everything comes together. Add the ground toasted spices, salt, garam masala, almond flour, and coconut and blend until a thick paste is formed. You may need to scrape everything in a bowl and finish mixing with a spoon.

For the Stew:

• Preaheat your oven to 275 degrees. Trim the meat off the bone and trim and chop into bite sized pieces. Don’t worry about getting rid of the tendons, they will cook and melt along with everything else. You can leave some bits on the bone as we will cook the bones for more flavor.
• Into a dutch oven or other heavy duty oven safe pot with a lid over medium high heat add about 1.5 Tbs olive oil. Swirl to coat the pot and then add the onion and ginger. Cook until it begins to take on a golden color. Add the Korma paste, chopped lamb and bones,  coconut milk, sliced almonds, and shredded coconut. Add one cup of water and turn the heat down to medium. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly so as to not scorch any of the ingredients.
• Once everything has been fully incorporated and the liquid is at a boil cover the pot and place it in the oven. We will slowly cook this for around 2 to 2.5 hours. Check every 30-45 minutes to stir. If things get too thick add a little more water. At around hour 1.5 or so, if you have used a fatty cut of meat or meat and bones you may notice a lot of oil and fat floating over the korma upon opening the pot. Skim most of this off (leave a little in there as it has great flavor). Once the meat is beginning to fall off the bones chop the potatoes and add them to the stew along with the garbanzo beans (if using). Add salt and pepper to taste.
• About 5 minutes before serving, steam the carrots, broccoli and cauliflower in a vegetable steamer. Cook until just tender but not mushy.
• Put down a bed of rice, followed by a hand-full of steamed veg and then cover in the korma. Use cilantro to garnish and some pain yogurt if desired.
• Greedily keep the bones for yourself… the cook. They are the best part and the marrow is to die for.

Thogg approves