Korma

Meat or vegetables braised gently in a sauce built from yoghurt, browned onions, ground nuts and whole spices, cooked low until the fat separates and the gravy turns thick and pale: korma is a technique from the Mughal kitchens of northern India, not a single recipe, and the word comes from the Urdu for braising. The dish that travels under the name in British curry houses, a sweet, cream-and-coconut sauce with almost no spice, is a 1970s adaptation that a cook in Lucknow or Hyderabad would not recognise. The originals are rich but not sweet: the Awadhi korma of Lucknow is made with yoghurt, cashew or poppy-seed paste and saffron, the Hyderabadi version is sharper with green chilli and coconut, and the shahi korma of Delhi leans on cream and almonds. Lamb, mutton and chicken are the usual meats; navratan korma is the vegetable version with nine ingredients.