Lamb Korma

Aloha Buddies!!
It's always a pleasure to cook for friends so herez the Korma I just made. Now while cooking anything Indian/Mughlai we dont have to stick with authenticity all the way, seriously, dogma sucks!!! The only things we need to keep in mind 1)Main ingredients of this particular cuisine and 2)The ingredient that separates this dish from its other family members. So here the first rule is basic Indian spices and secondly, do not use turmeric, Korma is usually white/slightly brownish and contains good amount of cashew paste. so here we go..

Ingredients
1 kg Lamb
1 cup brown onion paste (slice 4-5 medium onions, fry upto light brown n grind)
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
100-150 cashews (depends, you can put more or less)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt (as needed)
10-12 dry prunes
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder


whole spices
2 bay leaves
2 inch cinnamon stick
3 green cardamoms
2 cloves
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp thyme seeds
5-6 dry curry leaves
pinch of mace

Shredded almonds/nuts for garnish

1. Heat oil, add all the whole spices and wait till they start crackling.
2. Add lamb pieces, salt and cover the vessel. Cook on medium heat until the pieces are almost tender.
3. Add ginger-garlic and brown onion paste, prunes and nutmeg. simmer for about 10-15 mins.
4. Add cashew paste, red chilli powder, pepper, cumin powder and coriander powder. Simmer for next 10 mins.
5. Garnish with some almonds, pistachios or saffron strands or any nuts u like.

Few things to remember:
Use least oil as possible, lamb already has quite lot of fat in it. we only need enough to cook the whole spices.
Try to use whole spices, readymade curry powder or 'garam masala' powder wouldnt give that nice rich aroma.
Still if u dont have whole spices, skip the 'whole spices' step and add 1-2 tbsp garam masala while adding cashew paste.