Awadhi mutton korma

Ingredients

• 750 g mutton on the bone
• 1 cup curd, whisked
• 3 onions, sliced and fried brown, then ground to a paste
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tbsp almond or cashew paste
• 5 tbsp ghee
• Whole spices: 4 green cardamoms, 4 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp red chilli powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp mace-cardamom powder, a few saffron strands, 1 tsp kewra water, salt

Method

1. Marinate the mutton in curd, ginger-garlic, chilli, coriander and salt for 1 hour.
2. Heat ghee and splutter the whole spices. Add the mutton with its marinade and cook on high heat for 10 minutes.
3. Lower the heat, add the brown onion paste and stir until the ghee rises.
4. Add 2 cups hot water, cover and cook slowly until tender, about 50 minutes.
5. Stir in the nut paste, mace-cardamom powder, saffron and kewra and simmer 5 minutes on dum with the lid sealed.
6. Serve with sheermal, naan or rice.