Lamb Korma is an Indian Mughlai dish, in which lamb stew meat is braised in a cream based sauce and toasted Indian spices. This lamb curry is simmered for hours to reach the perfect tenderness and rich flavor.
The word Korma or Kurma draws it’s origin from the Persian word Kormah, which literally means “braise”.
In this easy Indian food recipe for Lamb Korma, I braise the lamb meat with aromatics in a creamy coconut sauce. I season the sauce with toasted garam masala, and pressure cook it to a melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Note that this dish is sometimes called Mutton Korma.
Building the Flavors in this Lamb Curry
You develop the flavors of the korma curry by using the popular spice blend called Garam Masala
. Garam masala is an Indian spice mix that includes, Cardamom, Cumin, Coriander, Cloves, Bay leaves etc. The garam masala spice mix is used in many Indian food dishes.
You infuse these flavors in a yogurt, cream or coconut cream sauce. Traditionally, you simmer the meat in this sauce for hours over slow heat, till it becomes tender and gets infused with all the flavors.
Cooking Lamb Korma in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
In this lamb stew recipe, I am able to mimic the slow-cooking setup by cooking this easy lamb korma in my electrical pressure cooker, Instant Pot
.
Pressure cooking the lamb helps infuse the spices with the meat, and the flavor is to die for. Also, I am able to cut down the cooking time from hours to less than 30 minutes.
To learn more about the instant pot and many more easy instant pot recipes, check out my Instant Pot FAQ and Accessories blog.
Customize your Lamb Korma Recipe
You can make the korma curry using three different cream bases- heavy cream, yogurt or coconut milk.
My family loves the taste of a coconut milk based sauce, so that’s what I end up making most of the time. Using coconut milk also makes this dish is dairy-free, so people with dairy restrictions can also enjoy this amazing curry.
Pairing Suggestion for Lamb Korma
Lamb korma and butter naan are a terrific Indian food combination. This lamb recipe also goes really well with a homemade flatbread called, Parantha, naan, cumin rice or nutty brown rice. If you’re eating low-carb, you can have this with cauli-rice.
I serve this with a side of garden salad with a simple lemon vinaigrette. The salad adds a beautiful contrast to the creamy korma, and adds some greens to your meal too!
How to Make Chicken Korma with this Recipe
You can also make Chicken Korma with this recipe. To make chicken korma, use boneless skinless chicken and reduce the cooking time to 5-6 minutes of high-pressure cooking.
Stovetop Recipe for Indian Lamb Korma
I mostly cook this lamb recipe in my electrical pressure cooker, Instant Pot, but you can make this on the stove-top too.
For a stovetop recipe, simply follow the instructions to make the sauce and simmer on medium heat for about 40-45 minutes, or till the meat is tender.
Keep stirring every 10 minutes to prevent the sauce from sticking at the bottom.
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Lamb Korma in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker or Stovetop
Ingredients
- 1 lb. lamb leg steak cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon light olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 tablespoon ginger-garlic grated (1 inch ginger + 6 cloves garlic)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup coconut milk or plain yogurt
- 3/4 cup water added in two steps
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 3 teaspoons garam masala adjust to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 2 tablespoons cilantro fresh chopped for garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon lime juice before serving
Instructions
- Prep: Chop onions. Fine chop, grate or grind peeled ginger and garlic. You can do everything together in a mini food processor. Start by pulsing ginger and garlic 5-6 times and then add onions. Cube the lamb leg meat and keep aside.
- Turn on Instant Pot DUO in SAUTE mode. Wait 30 seconds. Add oil, chopped onions and ginger-garlic paste and saute for 1 minute. Smart Tip: You can add a pinch of salt at this stage to speed up the sweating of the onions. Add tomato paste with 1/4 cup of water. This deglazes the pot as well as helps blend the tomato paste. Add all spices and stir well.
- Add coconut milk, rest of water and lamb cubes. Stir. Close the Instant Pot. Set valve to Sealing mode. Set Manual or Pressure Cook for 15 minutes. This time is perfect for the texture that my family likes, you can set it anywhere between 12-15 minutes, depending on how you like it.
- Open the lid after 15 minutes of natural pressure release (NPR). Add chopped cilantro. You can add a few drops of fresh lime juice before serving, but this is totally an optional step. Serve it with Naan, Flatbread, Cumin basmati rice, Brown rice, or even Cauli-rice
Stovetop Recipe
- For a stovetop recipe, simply follow the instructions to make the sauce and simmer on medium heat for about 40-45 minutes, or till the meat is tender.
- Keep stirring every 10 minutes to prevent the sauce from sticking at the bottom.
30 Comments
Cath Courtney
August 9, 2019 at 2:02 pmI made EVERYTHING EXACTLY as above and my color is no where near the photo or any regular korma color 🙁 It’s a deep red.
Aneesha
August 12, 2019 at 12:26 pmHi Courtney, the color could’ve been a result of two variables. Maybe the coconut milk you used had a lower cream/fat content as cream makes the curry lighter. The other possibility is that your paprika or red chili powder was more potent in color which made the curry darker. Either way, the flavor shouldn’t have been affected. I hope you enjoyed it.
JENNIFER FRONZAGLIA
June 20, 2019 at 6:46 amhi this recipe looks amazing!! Can this be done in a crockpot? how would the prep stages differ?
Aneesha
June 21, 2019 at 11:26 amHi Jennifer, thank you! I have never made this in a crockpot, but you can simply saute the aromatics in a fry-pan and follow the remaining recipe in your crockpot. I wouldn’t happen to know the cook time for crockpot, but I’m pretty sure you can find that online. Hope you love it!
jmeador
April 13, 2019 at 6:31 pmI can’t wait to make this. We have a local Indian restaurant that I always get lamb Korma from but I have been wanting to make it at home. I am curious if you could share your lemon vinaigrette recipe? Or if you have a lime one? This sounded like the perfect thing to serve with it to me as well! 🙂
Aneesha | Spice Cravings
April 15, 2019 at 12:22 amHi There! Thank you and I hope you enjoy this recipe 🙂 As for the lemon vinaigrette recipe, it is posted here: https://spicecravings.com/quinoa-tabbouleh-salad. Sorry it took sometime to reply to your post, I am traveling so internet is a bit choppy:) Happy Cooking!
Ultimate List of Fall Comfort Foods (over 175 recipes!) - Boots & Hooves Homestead
April 13, 2019 at 2:07 pm[…] Creamy Lamb Korma […]
Neelam Singh
March 9, 2019 at 11:42 pmThanks for the recipe. This was very authentic and my family loved it. The lamb was so tender my daughter could “cut” it with her spoon. I only added 1/2 cup water and cut the time to 12 mins on high pressure. I didn’t add extra cardomom as I thought my garam masala had enough, but was wondering later if I missed out on some flavor that was supposed to be part of the tase of the dish.
looking forward to trying your other dishes
aneeshasg
March 10, 2019 at 6:56 pmHi Neelam, I am so glad your family enjoyed this recipe, thanks a lot for sharing that. I would highly recommend adding the freshly ground cardamom next time, it really enhances this dish. I would love to hear from you when you try other dishes! Thanks!
Kenady
February 28, 2019 at 8:09 pmThis recipe was so incredible! I doubled it and added red bell pepper along with the onions. So good! I am really glad I found your website!
aneeshasg
February 28, 2019 at 9:18 pmHi Kenady, That is awesome! I am super glad that you customized this recipe and enjoyed it, it’s a favorite in my home 🙂 I really appreciate your sweet words! Thank you!
Natasha Soares
February 18, 2019 at 3:06 pmHi Aneeshasg,
I my daughter is a big fan of potatoes in curry, just wondering if I’d need to adjist anything ?
I’m thinking maybe if I use beef it’d be better as the beef takes a little longer to cook.
aneeshasg
February 18, 2019 at 3:37 pmHi Natasha, potatoes go really well in this curry. Just cube them and add them, no time adjustment needed. This cooking time is enough for potatoes to cook through and become creamy. If you wish to make this korma with beef, increase the pressure cooking time to 30 mins, NPR. Hope your daughter loves it!
Esther
January 11, 2019 at 11:42 amCan I make this with beef ? If yes, should the cooking time be adjusted ?
aneeshasg
January 11, 2019 at 12:34 pmHi Esther, Absolutely! If you’re making this with beef chunks, increase the cook time to 30 minutes, with a 10-15 minute natural pressure release. Hope you love it!
Andrea
January 10, 2019 at 7:34 amI also like a thicker korma. How do I keep my coconut cream from curdling/seperating in the instapot? Is it the same as with tempering the yogurt?… Or could i use an immersion blender to re-emulsify?
I make Thai coconut milk soups often. Never in my instapot but, on the stove top so that i can control the heat to not let it boil. Texture is important to me.
aneeshasg
January 10, 2019 at 12:19 pmHi Andrea! For a thicker Korma, I would suggest simmering the curry on saute mode for a few minutes after pressure cooking. That’s what I do too. Regarding coconut milk curdling, it happens to me too sometimes. Tempering will help, also make sure it comes to a simmer before you close the lid for pressure cooking. If it still curdles, turn on saute and whisk it a few times and it becomes creamy again. As for Thai coconut soup, try this Instant Pot recipe- it never fails me: https://spicecravings.com/thai-red-curry-soup
Michelle
May 10, 2018 at 1:01 amThanks Aneesha, this is a fantastic recipe. This one will be on high rotation in our house from now on!
aneeshasg
May 10, 2018 at 10:24 amYeah! It’s on repeat in my home too. My kids LOVE lamb Korma. I’m so glad you liked this recipe. Have you tried the lamb chops recipe? It’s not for pressure cooker, but a real quick stove-top or oven recipe: https://spicecravings.com/grilled-lamb-chops
M
April 11, 2018 at 3:59 pmHI! If I choose to use the yogurt instead of coconut milk, do I still add it at the same point in the recipe? Often, yogurt seems to curdle if added during pressure cooking in instapot so I see many recipes suggest adding it after the pressure cooking is done. Please let me know what you suggest with this recipe.
I’m excited to try and make this. I make a lot of your yummy recipes. Thanks!!
aneeshasg
April 11, 2018 at 4:07 pmHi M! So glad to hear that you’re enjoying my recipes, thanks for sharing that, it always makes my day! You can add yogurt instead of coconut milk, and add it at the same point. I beat/whisk yogurt to a smooth consistency and add it a tbsp at a time and stir. This tempers the yogurt and helps it blend with the onion and spices and prevents curdling. Check out the video in this recipe for clarity: https://spicecravings.com/no-cream-skinny-instant-pot-chicken-tikka-masala. Hope you love this Korma!
ben
March 21, 2018 at 8:28 pmThanks for this recipe- just made it and it tastes amazing. Super easy to follow. Definitely making this again. I might try to figure out how to make the sauce a touch thicker/creamier next time, but this is just a personal taste thing and definitely not a complaint. Nice one!
aneeshasg
March 21, 2018 at 8:52 pmYeah! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. You can skip the water next time. The lamb also releases some juices, so there should be enough liquid for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure.
Gery
March 13, 2018 at 3:32 pmHello, what is ginger-garlic?
Thanks. ..
aneeshasg
March 13, 2018 at 3:49 pmHi Gery, by that I meant ginger ‘and’ garlic. I have made some changes to the text, and hopefully it’s clearer now. For this recipe, I use about 2 tablespoons of fine-chopped, grated or ground, ginger & garlic, which is about an inch of peeled ginger, and about 6 cloves of peeled garlic. Hope that helps.
Ben
April 14, 2019 at 1:12 pmDoes this mean 2 tbsp of ginger and 2 tbsp of garlic? Or 2 tbsp total?
Aneesha | Spice Cravings
April 15, 2019 at 12:15 amHi Ben, it is 1 tbsp each. Roughly 1 inch ginger + 6 cloves of garlic should be good. Hope you enjoy it!
TimT
March 9, 2018 at 9:58 amBrown rice is not low carb. It has nearly the same carb content and glycemic index numbers as white rice.
aneeshasg
March 9, 2018 at 10:10 amHi Tim, I buy both kinds, white Jasmine and Brown Jasmine from Trader Joe’s. Here is what the label says: White Jasmine Rice: Total Carbs: 42g, Fiber: 0g; Net Carbs= 42g. Brown Jasmine Rice: Total Carbs: 37g, Fiber: 3g, Net Carbs=34g. So per every serving, there is a saving of 8g of carbs in Brown rice as compared to White Rice. I agree with you that every kind of rice has carbs, perhaps I should say “lower” carb instead of “low” carb. Thanks for pointing that out.
aneeshasg
March 9, 2018 at 10:12 amAnd I do suggest cauli-rice as a low-carb option in this post.