Korma Recipe

I usually share fast and simple recipes on this Blog because of the harried pace most people enjoy (tolerate?) these days.
But, if you're like me, you find yourself with the odd, delicious day off and you have time to dig deep into a novel -- or the garden -- take a long, leisurely stroll somewhere, or cook a dish that has more than five ingredients and that takes a little prep time.
Indian food is one of the few things enjoyed by all five people who I prepare dinner for each day. So occasionally I'll make an Indian dish from scratch and not with a jar of sauce.
By far, this is our favourite dish and it smells smashing while it's cooking. We enjoy it with chicken, which all of us prefer to the more traditional lamb.
It's great on a bed of basmati with sides of sweet potatoes, chutney and naan.
It also doesn't take that long to prepare, it's just that I tend to not have the ingredients on hand and there are a lot of them.
Enjoy!
Vanessa

Lamb Korma

1/2 tsp. saffron
1/4—1/3 cup boiling water
1/2 cup unsalted cashews
3 green chillies
1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
1-inch stick cinnamon (or 1 tsp. Cinnamon)
1/2 tsp. cardamom seed
6 cloves
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 cup of water (n.b. if doubling recipe, only put in 1 3/4 cups of water)
1/4 cup ghee (clarified butter)
1 large onion, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups yogurt
1 lb. lamb, cut into chunks
1 tbsp. chopped fresh coriander
2 tsp. lemon juice

Place saffron in a bowl, pour water over it and let sit for 10 minutes. Put cashews, chillies, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, garlic, coriander, cumin and water into blender.

Blend until smooth — about two minutes.

Heat ghee and fry onion until golden. Stir in salt, blended spices and yogurt. Cook gently for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add meat and toss to coat all sides. Add saffron mixture and cook gently, covered, for 20 minutes. Add fresh coriander and cook 10 minutes more.

Add lemon juice and serve.