Lamb Korma Creamy Curry With Nine Nuts
Gosht Korma Navratan
Mamta Gupta
It is said that this dish was first created by the cook of Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. Akbar was born 400 years and 4 days before my husband, or so my husband tells me!! 'Navratan' is a combination of two words; 'nav' meaning nine and 'ratan' meaning jewel, the nine jewels in it being the nine different types of nuts. This lamb korma is a lightly spiced, fragrant and creamy curry. It's delicate flavour is better without garlic. Often, it has a selection of vegetables added to it. It can also made as a purely vegetarian dish, without any meat at all!
This dish is suitable for cooking in a Slow cooker, as shown here in pictures.
Also see Navratan Chicken.
Serves 6
Edited May 2023
Ingredients
1 kg. lamb pieces
For the marinade:
1 cup or 1 small carton thick, natural yoghurt** or dahi
2 tsp. salt or to taste
A large pinch of nutmeg (Jaiphal).
1 1/2 cup mixed nuts - blanched almonds (skin removed), cashew nuts, walnuts, blanched green pistachio, melon seeds, watermelon seeds, a handful of raisins (optional), pine kernels, sunflower seeds
2-3 medium onions peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 inch piece ginger
A couple of green chillies, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 tsp. chilli powder
2 tsp. coriander powder
For cooking:
2-3 tbsp. ghee or oil
1 tsp. Shahi jeera or black cumin seeds
3-4 green cardamoms*
2 bay leaves*
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick*
3-4 whole cloves*
4-5 black peppercorns*
For garnish:
1/2 tsp.Garam Masala
A handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
*These five spices make the main ingredients of garam masala. If you don't have them, use a full teaspoon of extra garam masala.
Instructions
Preparation:
Blanching almonds and pistachios: Soak all almonds and pistachios in warm water for 1/2 to 1 hour. Alternatively, place in a bowl with enough water to cover and microwave on full power for 3 minutes. Allow to cool. Remove the skins; they just slide off when pressed. Keep aside.
Wash and drain meat.
Place onions, ginger, all the nuts, raisins, yoghurt, salt and nutmeg in a blender/food processor and make a paste. Don't make it too watery. Yoghurt has enough water, but if you need to, add only as much water as is necessary for pur?eing it.
Add to meat, along with chilli and coriander powder. Leave to marinate for 3- hours or even overnight.
Cooking:
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan or wok and add all the whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, peppercorns and bay leaves and cumin. Stir fry for a few seconds. You can add these things on top too, but their flavour is best released in hot oil.
When the cumin seeds crackle, add the meat. Stir fry on high for a few minutes, then bring to boil.
Turn heat down and simmer until meat is done. Cooked slowly on low heat, with a tight fitting lid, will make the meat tastier and tender.
For cooking in a slow cooker, put the marinated meat, all the whole spices and cook on high for an hour or so. Leave to simmer on low for 5-7 hours, until meat is tender.
Add and stir in garam masala.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot withChapatties and Boiled Rice or with Tandoori Roti or Naan.
Notes
You can add a few whole nuts for garnish.
**A few tips for cooking with yoghurt :
Always use full fat yoghurt, if possible. Skimmed milk yoghurt sometimes curdles during cooking. If you wish to use low fat yoghurt, add 1 heaped teaspoon of plain or corn flour per cup of yoghurt.
Make sure that the yoghurt is at room temperature. If chilled yoghurt straight from the fridge is added to a hot dish, it may curdle.
Or, take out a few tablespoons of the hot food in a bowl, mix yoghurt, warming it a bit and then stir it back into the hot dish.
Substitute sour cream for yoghurt, using only half the amount.
