Traditionally cooked for hours over a low flame, korma is the perfect dish to prepare using the slow cooker technique.

Commonly made with chicken, beef or lamb, we’ve put together a slow cooker mutton korma recipe that is excellent for making overnight or when you’re out at work.

Mutton is often considered a tough meat, so the process of slow-cooking it over several hours will result in succulent and tender morsels of meat that pairs perfectly with hot rice or flat bread.

Rich and heady, korma has deep roots originating from the Mughlai cuisine in India. Consisting of meat and vegetables, traditional korma is braised in yogurt and spices, then slow cooked to form a thick sauce.

The korma Malaysians are familiar with is not a significant departure from the traditional Indian variation, although it has certainly been adapted to suit our taste buds by incorporating local flavours and ingredients.

Ingredients

• 5kg mutton on the bone, chopped into large chunks of about 6cm to 8cm square
• 210g cooking oil
• 9g (3) pandan leaves, knotted
• 40g (3) lemongrass, white parts only and bashed
• 260g tomatoes, diced small
• 2 tsp salt
• 200ml coconut milk
• 280g fresh yoghurt

Base ingredients

• 50g garlic, peeled
• 60g ginger, peeled and cut small
• 45g green chilies, tops removed
• 170g red onions, peeled and quartered

Spices

• 6g (4) cinnamon sticks
• 2g (2) star anise
• ½ tsp (16) cloves
• 1 tsp (10) cardamom pods

Kurma paste

• 7g (1 tbsp) turmeric powder
• 100g korma powder for chicken & meat
• 200ml water

Final fresh ingredients

• 500g potatoes, peeled & cut into large cubes
• 190g (1) large red onion, cut into 8 segments
• 80g (4) large red chilies, tops removed and sliced in half from the bottom tip till about 1cm away from the top
• 270g tomatoes, halved
• 22g mint, roots chopped off and cut into shorter stalks
• 20g coriander, roots chopped off and cut into shorter stalks

Sautéing slow-cooker mutton korma ingredients

• Blend all base ingredients with a little water until fine.

• Add cooking oil into the slow cooker and set it to sauté/sear on high temperature until the oil heats up. You’ll know it’s ready when a layer of bubbles starts to form on the bottom of the pot.
• Add blended base ingredients and stir occasionally to mix and cook for about 13 to 15 minutes until mixture is emulsified. As the heat of the slow cooker is not very hot, there is no need to stir too often.
• Add spices next and stir it into the mixture for about 1 minute.

• Then, add bashed lemongrass, knotted pandan leaves and diced tomatoes, stirring to combine. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture and spices smell really fragrant.

• While waiting, mix all korma paste ingredients and stir until it becomes a thick paste. More or less water may be needed depending on the powder used.

• Once the spices are fragrant, add kurma paste into the pot and stir it through with the rest of the ingredients thoroughly. It’s important to cook your korma paste well so your dish lasts longer. This will take about 10 minutes.

The slow cook

• Add the chunks of mutton into the pot with about 200ml water or just enough to cover the mutton. Add salt. Give everything a good stir.

• Set your slow cooker on low temperature on the meat and poultry setting for eight hours.
• After eight hours, add potatoes, red onions, tomatoes and chilies from the final fresh ingredients list into the pot. Stir it through and let it slow cook on low temperature for another two hours.

• Set the slow cooker to the sauté/sear low temperature setting and add in coconut milk and yogurt. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Followed by yogurt.

• Finally, add in mint and coriander, giving the dish one final stir to mix the ingredients.

• Let everything come to a first boil and turn off the heat on your slow cooker (or set it to warm for later eating).

• Remove pandan leaves, lemongrass and cinnamon before serving hot with rice or flat bread.

This article first appeared in butterkicap.com

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