Meals · Uttar Pradesh

Lucknowi Mutton Korma

Awadhi slow-cooked mutton in a pale, fragrant gravy of yogurt, browned onion and nut paste, scented with saffron, cardamom and kewra.

Prep 30 min · Cook 90 min · Total 120 min + 2 hr marinade · Serves 4

Ingredients

Marinade

• 750 g Mutton (goat), bone-in curry cut
• 1 cup Plain curd (yogurt)
• 2 tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 1 ½ tsp Salt

Korma

• 5 tbsp Ghee
• 3 Onions, thinly sliced
• 15 Cashews
• 10 Almonds, blanched
• 6 Green cardamom
• 4 Cloves
• 1 inch Cinnamon stick
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• ½ tsp White pepper
• 1 pinch Saffron
• 2 tbsp Milk
• ½ tsp Kewra water

Method

1. Marinate. Mix the mutton with the curd, ginger-garlic paste and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
2. Brown the onions. Heat the ghee in a heavy pot and fry the onions on medium, stirring often, until evenly deep golden. Lift out with a slotted spoon, leaving the ghee. Grind the onions with the cashews, almonds and a few tbsp water to a smooth paste.
3. Sear the mutton. Add the whole spices to the hot ghee, then the mutton without its marinade. Fry on high until the pieces lose their pink and start to colour.
4. Add the masala. Lower the heat, add the coriander powder, chilli powder and white pepper, then the leftover marinade and the onion-nut paste. Stir well so the yogurt doesn't split.
5. Slow-cook. Add 1 1/2 cups hot water, cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat, stirring now and then, until the mutton is falling off the bone. Add splashes of water if it catches.
6. Finish on dum. Stir in the saffron milk and kewra, cover with a tight lid and leave on the lowest heat for 10 minutes. Serve with sheermal, roomali roti or plain pulao.

Tips

Korma should be rich but not red; brown the onions evenly and pull them before they darken, or the gravy turns bitter and muddy.