isithalal.food · Recipes

Malay lamb korma

Atul Kochhar's Malay lamb korma with Halal lamb: leg simmered with a home-ground Malaysian curry powder, saffron, cashew paste and cinnamon, finished with yogurt and tomatoes and served over basmati rice.

Malaysian · Main · Moderate · 4 bowls · 150 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The korma is 500 g of lamb leg, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, finished with 250 ml of plain yogurt.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Lamb leg: Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and lamb without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the lamb from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
• Plain yogurt: Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Choose a yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt.

Ingredients

Malaysian curry powder

• 10 cloves
• 10 black peppercorns
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 dried red chillies
• 4 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp ground turmeric

Korma

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
• 500 g Halal lamb leg, in 5 cm cubes
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cm piece root ginger, grated
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1½ tbsp Malaysian curry powder (above)
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• to taste salt
• ½ tsp saffron strands, soaked in 50 ml warm water
• 110 g cashew nuts, blended to a paste with 2 tbsp water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 250 ml plain yogurt, gelatin-free
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• 300 g basmati rice, cooked, to serve

Method

1. Toast the spices. Toast all the curry powder spices except the turmeric in a dry frying pan for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant. Leave to cool slightly.
2. Grind the curry powder. Grind the toasted spices and the turmeric to a powder with a pestle and mortar. You will have more than you need; keep the rest in an airtight container and use it within 2 months.
3. Brown the lamb. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok with a lid, add the lamb, in batches if necessary, and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until browned all over. Lift it out and set aside.
4. Fry the aromatics. Heat the rest of the oil in the wok and fry the onion, ginger, garlic, 1½ tbsp of the curry powder and the chilli powder for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant, without letting it burn.
5. Simmer. Return the lamb to the wok, season with salt and stir well. Stir in the saffron and its soaking water, the cashew paste and the cinnamon stick, then add enough water to cover the lamb by 2.5 cm. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 1¼ to 1½ hours, stirring now and then and adding more water if it starts to dry out.
6. Finish. Stir in the yogurt and tomatoes and bring back to a simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Serve. Spoon the rice into four bowls, top with the lamb curry and scatter with the coriander.

Allergens

tree nuts (cashews), milk (yogurt)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Food's 'Malay lamb korma' by Atul Kochhar (serves 4; prepare less than 30 minutes, cook 1 to 2 hours. Malaysian curry powder: 10 cloves, 10 black peppercorns, 4 cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick, 4 dried red chillies, 4 tbsp coriander seeds, 2 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp fennel seeds and a star anise toasted 30 seconds to 1 minute in a dry pan, cooled slightly and ground with 1 tsp turmeric; the recipe tip says it makes more than needed and keeps 2 months in an airtight container. Korma: 500 g lamb leg in 5 cm cubes stir-fried 2 to 3 minutes in 1 tbsp of the 2 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee, in batches, and set aside; 2 thinly sliced onions, 1 cm grated ginger, a crushed garlic clove, 1½ tbsp of the curry powder and 1 tsp chilli powder fried 1 to 2 minutes in the rest of the oil; the lamb returned and salted; ½ tsp saffron soaked in 50 ml warm water, 110 g cashews blended to a paste with 2 tbsp water and a cinnamon stick stirred in, with water to cover the lamb by 2.5 cm; boiled, then simmered covered 1¼ to 1½ hours, with more water if it dries out; 250 ml plain yogurt and 2 quartered tomatoes simmered 1 to 2 minutes; served over 300 g cooked basmati rice with 2 tbsp chopped coriander). We specified Halal lamb and a gelatin-free yogurt; the published steps are followed in order. BBC Food gives no skill level; we rate it moderate for the home-ground spice mix. Nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph of chicken korma by Bev Sykes (CC BY 2.0), not the finished dish from this recipe.