Indian/Pakistani Braised Lamb in Gravy: Lamb Korma

The word "korma" means "braise" in Indian/Pakistani cooking. "Korma" recipes in northern India and in Pakistan generally vary from those in southern India, where coconut milk, and often ground cashews or almonds, are used, but the specific recipes, regardless of region, have numerous variations and preparation methods. Regular readers might recall that I love sauces and gravies, and I chose to do a "korma" with "gravy," but not every "korma" has gravy. What the people of the Indian Subcontinent call "gravy," Americans would call a "sauce," so don't let the terminology fool you into thinking this dish has some deep dark lamb gravy. Indians, both northern and southern, and Pakistanis tend to use meat cut into pieces still on the bones and the meat is likely to be "mutton;" that is, meat from a sheep that is in excess of one year in age, not the younger lamb that is now overwhelmingly common in the U.S (lamb is meat from a sheep a year or less in age). I understand the idea of cooking the meat on the bones, but I'm not much into then having to pick the meat off the bones when eating; so, I use lamb chunks and some separate lamb bones that can be cooked with the meat, but then easily taken out and discarded. There is a good deal of onion in this dish, but it is supposed to be that way, and part of the onion is sliced and part is finely chopped (in India and Pakistan, some smash or blend the onion into a paste, often with some other ingredients included). 

 

As I often mention about recipes from the Indian Subcontinent, the list of ingredient for this dish may seem intimidating, but if you cook such recipes anywhere near regularly, you will have most of the spices and other ingredients on hand. If you want to learn to cook recipes from the Indian Subcontinent, then the reality is, you are going to need to have these various spices and herbs anyway. Likely two of the less common spices to Americans are green and black cardamom. In more recent times, the small green cardamom pods have become more familiar to some Americans, but the far larger black cardamom pods are likely unknown to the overwhelming percentage of Americans. Sometimes cardamom is ground, but often it is used by cracking, crushing or slitting the pods to allow the cardamom to easily flavor the dish.  

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

1 to 1 1/4 pound boneless lamb meat, cut into bite size pieces (or use mutton)

couple lamb bones

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 heaping tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne)

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tablespoons butter & 1 tablespoon oil (or 3 tablespoons clarified butter, aka ghee)

1 onion, halved and then sliced

2 inch piece cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

2 black cardamon, cracked 

5 green cardamon, cracked or crushed somewhat

6 peppercorns, cracked

1 or 2 dried red chilies, whole 

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated 

1 cup finely chopped onion (white or red)

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

1 cup heated water (a little more if needed)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (also known to some as fresh coriander)  

In a bowl or cup (I use my measuring cup), mix together the yogurt, salt, ground coriander, ground red pepper and turmeric. In a larger non reactive bowl, add the lamb pieces and then the yogurt mixture. Mix to coat the lamb pieces well, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours (or even overnight). In a skillet, add the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and saute until the onion starts to soften and shows some brown color (do not blacken the onions), then add the cinnamon stick, whole cloves, black cardamon, green cardamon, peppercorns and dried red chili. Saute for 90 seconds, then add the garlic, ginger and finely chopped onion, then add 1 cup heated water, stir well and bring to a simmer; adjust the heat so that the mixture just barely simmers; cover the skillet with a lid or foil. Let the meat slowly braise, stirring it occasionally. If you feel the dish needs a little more water, add a quarter cup of hot water, and mix it in well. When the meat is tender, you can add the cilantro and the mace and stir them into the lamb, or top the finished dish with the cilantro. I've generally found the lamb needs to cook for about 75 minutes, but I've also let it cook for 90 minutes on occasion. Serve with rice ...    

 

 

Lamb Korma with some turmeric and saffron rice ...

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Myrtle-This word "perhaps" is related to "myrrh," a word borrowed from Latin, which had it from Greek which had it from Semitic, where it meant "bitterness." The ultimate origins of "myrtle" are uncertain, although it "could" be from the same source as "myrrh."^ Transliterated Persian "murt/murd," meaning "myrtle," a type of evergreen tree or bush with fragrant flowers,"^^ and some other Indo European languages in that general greater Middle East area/Caucasus region have similar words, but where all of these words are from is uncertain, but naturally Semitic is a definite possibility, as it was/is right there by some Indo European languages/dialects. Whatever the origin, Ancient Greek had transliterated "myrtos" (myrtle, the tree/bush, but also seemingly for a twig or branch of the tree) and Latin borrowed the word as "myrtus" (myrtle, the tree), and this gave Latin-based Old French "myrte," and English seems to have borrowed the word as "myrt," but then was further influenced in pronunciation and, thus, spelling by French "myrtille," from Latin "myrtillus," the diminutive of Latin "myrtus" (see above), but which meant "blueberry" and "bilberry" (similar berries in appearance, but not taste), but this moved the borrowing in English to be "myrtle." (Exactly why the word for blueberry and bilberry had such an influence on a word for a tree or bush is a bit of a mystery to me, unless they were thought to be related?)  

 

^ While "myrtle" and "myrrh" are similar words, "myrtle" is a tree/bush/shrub, and "myrrh" is a resin from some plants, but not from myrtle, although people a couple of thousand years ago may not have seen that difference in the same way (just my opinion). 

 

^^ Persian is an Indo European language from the Indo-Iranian branch; thus, it is related to English, which is from the Germanic branch.     

Bengali/Bangladeshi Chicken Liver Curry

Bengal is a region of the Indian Subcontinent that transcends northeastern India and western Bangladesh. The nation of Bangladesh was long a part of India, as was Pakistan, but upon independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan was created from what were predominantly Muslim areas of northwestern and northeastern India, accompanied by a massive movement by some Muslims to these regions from what was to remain India, and by many Hindus from these areas to India. While these areas became the nation of Pakistan, they were separated by many hundreds of miles. The eastern part, called "East Pakistan," or sometimes, "Pakistani Bengal," gained independence from Pakistan as the nation of "Bangladesh" in 1971. West Bengal has remained a part of India. 

 

This is an easy dish to make. Many foods of the Indian Subcontinent are spicy hot to varying degrees, and this recipe is no exception (your taste buds will awaken), but you can tone it down considerably by using a mild chili pepper and then adding some ground red pepper AND sweet paprika. If you like "hot and spicy" foods and you live in the vicinity of an Indian/Pakistani grocery, or a supermarket with lots of ethnic food products, I hope you'll try "Indian" chili powder, which is hot and typically has a bright red color. I've made this dish several times, and the photos below are from two different times. You will need to add a little water to the dish, but you don't want this dish to be runny or with lots of sauce; so, add water by the tablespoon until you reach the desired consistency (I've suggested 3 to 5 tablespoons of water).   

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken livers, cut into bize size pieces
2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 inch piece ginger, minced/grated
1 to 3 green chilies (serranos or jalapeños are fine), chopped
1 heaping teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons ground red pepper (or 1 teaspoon red pepper and 1 teaspoon sweet paprika)

2 inch cinnamon stick

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 to 5 tablespoons water 

1 tablespoon butter 

2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

 

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Saute for 1 minute, then add the chopped onion and continue cooking until the onion begins to soften, stirring often to make sure all the onion cooks. Add the ginger, garlic and chilies and cook a further minute. Now add the ground coriander, ground cumin, ground turmeric, ground red pepper, black pepper and water; stir to mix, then add the chicken livers and stir again to mix everything together. Reduce the heat to low, cover, but lift the lid or foil to stir occasionally as the livers cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Add the butter and let it melt, then stir it in. Serve with rice. 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Fourth (Farthing)-"Farthing" was a measurement of "one fourth of a penny;" thus also, "the coin representing one fourth of a penny," which was used in England (later in the UK/Britain) until several decades ago. "Farthing" is closely related to "four" and all of its derived forms, like "forty," all of which are from the Germanic roots of English, but it is also distantly related to both "quart" and to "quarter," Latin derived words borrowed by English via French. "Farthing" traces back to Indo European "kwetwor/kwetwer," which meant "four." This gave the Old Germanic offshoot, "fetwor/petwor" (a sound shift took place, thus the uncertainty of the spelling) and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "feower," meaning "four." The form in Old Germanic for the ordinal number; that is, "fourth," is hard to determine, but it seems likely to have been like "feurtha" or "feurtho," with the pronunciation similar to "fe-ore-tha," and the other simply ending in "tho." This gave Old English "feorþa," meaning "fourth," and it later became "ferthe," with the ending 'e' pronounced 'eh/ah,' but don't be surprised if you look at some writings from like the 1300s and 1400s and see spellings other than "ferthe," some perhaps with a beginning 'v,' a use that gained more traction for the spelling, but not the pronunciation, of some words in German and Dutch, both continental relatives of English. Regardless of those spellings, English settled on "fourth." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German "vierte," Low German has "foerde" and "veerte" (Low German is not a standardized language, but rather a collection of dialects; thus, there are likely other spellings), West Frisian "fjirde," Dutch "vierde," Danish "fjerde," Icelandic "fjórða" ('ð' is called an 'eth' and it is equivalent to English 'th'), Norwegian "fjerde," Swedish "fjärde." All of these forms mean "fourth." The derived English word "farthing" is simply a form of "fourth" with the common suffix "-ing," a form that has been in English for well over 1000 years. It is a common suffix in the Germanic languages (as "ing" and sometimes "ung"), and it goes back to Old Germanic "inga/unga."  

Indian Lamb Kebabs (Shami)

While many people likely think of "kebabs" (also spelled "kabobs" and "kababs") as being on skewers, they don't really have to be. These are delicate lamb patties with great flavor. Recipes vary somewhat, with the "bean" component sometimes being chickpeas, some type of lentil, or mung beans, with the latter being my choice for this dish. I've seen a recipe or two without any bean component. Beef is also used, but remember, practicing Hindus do not eat beef, but the substantial Muslim population of the Indian subcontinent does eat beef, and from what I understand, these kebabs are often made with beef in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, where they are very popular. Since the ingredients will be put into a food processor, it is not really necessary to finely chop everything. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
1 or 2 tablespoon oil or clarified butter (ghee)
1/2 cup yellow lentils or split mung/gram beans
water for cooking (about 1 1/2 cups, but whatever is needed)
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1  2 inch piece of ginger, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2/3 teaspoon turmeric
3 green chilies, chopped (jalapeño or serrano chilies are fine)
1/4 cup mint leaves, roughly torn or chopped
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also called fresh coriander or green coriander)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (according to your preference for heat)
2 teaspoons garam masala
lime wedges, onion cut into rings, mint chutney

Soak the beans for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse. In a pan, add 1 or 2 tablespoons oil or clarified butter and heat over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger, stir well, then add the ground cumin, turmeric, green chilies and mint, saute about 1 minute. Add the beans or lentils, and add water to just cover. Turn down heat to medium low and cook at a gentle simmer until the beans/lentils are tender and the water is essentially gone. Let mixture cool a bit, then put it into a food processor. Add lamb, 1/4 cup cilantro, salt, cayenne pepper and garam masala. Process until all is well mixed and fine. Mix in the 2 tablespoons cilantro, but do not use the processor, so that it remains in larger pieces. Heat oven to 350 (F). Form the mixture into patties. Place patties on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake patties for 45 to 55 minutes. If you want the patties a little crisp, pour off any grease and then place them under the broiler for about 45 seconds to a minute on each side. Often served with lime wedges, raw onion rings and/or mint chutney,* but accompaniments vary, often regionally. 

* You can find mint chutney in many supermarkets, but definitely in Indian/Pakistani grocery stores, or you can make your own. Here is the link to my recipe for mint chutney, which is very easy:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/07/indian-mint-chutney.html

WORD HISTORY: 
-stan-This is the word forming element for geographical entities, like "Pakistan." It goes back to Indo European "sta/steh," which had the notion of "stand, set in place." It is related to a large number of both original English words from Germanic like, "stand" and "stead," as well as borrowed words like, "stay." It is related to German "Stadt," originally meaning, "place," and then "city." The Indo European root produced Indo Iranian "sthanha," which meant, "place where one stands;" thus also, "where one dwells." This passed to Persian as, "stana," and to Sanskrit as "sthana," and eventually was used in Urdu and Hindi in India well before Pakistan and India separated. The meaning came to extend more directly to "place of," "home of" or "homeland of." Exactly when the term started to be added as a suffix to form geographic descriptions is unclear to me, but such are numerous: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Baluchistan (also spelled Balochistan), Uzbekistan, Hindustan and others.

Yogurt Drinks of the Indian Subcontinent, Part 1 of 4

A "lassi" * is a yogurt based drink of the Indian Subcontinent, seemingly developed in the Punjab region, a region of northern India and eastern Pakistan, but the drink spread to other parts of the subcontinent. The hot climate is ideal for these refreshing drinks, which often have ice cubes added to chill them well. There are several varieties, with the most basic being "Salted Lassi." The lassi goes well back in history, as long ago as 500 to 1000 BC, or perhaps even longer. Today, blenders or stick blenders are often used to give a lassi some froth. I'm going to do this as a multi-part article, with a couple of different recipes in each part. Besides being good, and being good for you, lassis are easy to make. There is also the use of yogurt based buttermilk on the Indian subcontinent, with "neer mor" being a spiced buttermilk drink of southern India, with "Chaas" being the term used more in the north, including in Pakistan and as "ghol" in the Bengali region of India and Bangladesh.

Salt(ed) Lassi-3/4 cup plain thick yogurt (Indian or Greek), 1/4 cup cold water, 1/3 teaspoon salt, a good pinch of ground cumin. Ice cubes for serving. Put the yogurt, the water, the salt and the cumin into a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds. There should be a nice foam topping. Pour over ice cubes in a glass.

* Usually pronounced in English like the name of the famous dog, "Lassie," but in Hindi and Urdu, it has a short "a," as in "father," and emphasis is on the second part of the word, as if, "lah-SEE." Hindi and Urdu are Indo European languages from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. They are related to English, but further down the family tree. 

Saffron Lassi: This is a much richer drink: 3/4 cup plain thick yogurt (Indian or Greek style), 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, a good pinch of saffron strands soaked in two tablespoons of warm milk, a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 or 2 tablespoons heavy cream, tablespoon crushed pistachios, 3 or 4 raisins, couple of ice cubes. Add the yogurt, milk, cardamom, saffron milk, honey and salt to a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds. Pour over a couple of ice cubes in a glass. Add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream on top, then sprinkle on the pistachios and raisins. 

WORD HISTORY: 
Pistachio-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it goes back to transliterated Persian "pisteh," which was the name for the nut and for the tree. This was borrowed by Greek as transliterated "pistakion" ("pistake" for the tree), which was borrowed by Latin as "pistacium" ("pistachio nut"), which was passed onto Italian as "pistacchio," which was borrowed by French from Italian as "pistace," in the 1300s. English borrowed the word from French circa 1500, but then about one hundred years later English borrowed the Italian form, with the minor spelling adjustment to "pistachio," and this form prevailed.