Yes, I succumbed to mutton curry again. I know it isn’t as exciting as trying out caper sauce (and I promise I will do that as soon as I buy a mutton leg) but last night I was in the mood for something rich and comforting with lots of flavour. A cream and nut based curry was ideal and gentle spices appealed so I decided to make a korma.

The recipe for this curry is subtley different to the Mughlai-korma I made with king prawns a few weeks ago. The spice level is a bit higher to balance the stronger flavour of the meat. Also this curry takes about 3 times longer to make as the mutton needs to stew in the sauce for at least two and a half hours. The good news is the meat is on a very gentle simmer and requires minimal attention, so you can go and amuse yourself in whichever way you please until it is done.

Being the sad and solitary person I am, I decided to was my hair. :/

The mutton came from the leftovers of the rolled neck I used to make my biryani, which had been taking up space in the freezer for a while. It appears that mutton freezes well. The meat cooked just as well as it had when it was fresh. I began by blending some finely chopped onion with cardamom seeds, garlic and ginger to make a paste. Then I gently fried some sliced onion in the paste with ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon and garam masala until the onion was soft. Then I added the paste and the mutton and browned the meat, topped it up with lamb stock and left it to simmer.

After 3 hours had passed and the liquid had reduced a lot I skimmed off the fat, added ground almonds and cream and adjusted the spice balance. Then it was pretty much ready to serve so I quickly made some pilau rice.

Typically, I ate far too much curry and spent a large portion of the rest of the evening unable to move from  the sofa. I think it was worth it though. Nothing beats a good curry!*

*Well, maybe a decent sized slice of ostrich fillet does, but you know what I mean.