curry

I really love Indian food, and basically all curries.  My husband doesn't really feel the same way (something I don't quite believe- who doesn't like curry?  Seriously?) but since we are having people over for dinner tonight, I won out with my favorite meal.  It's really hard to recreate 'restaurant' curry (particularly since I worked in a Bangladeshi restaurant at university) but this recipe gets pretty close.  It's delicious and actually really easy, even if it might look complicated at first.  I promise it isn't at all.  And even my husband secretly likes it.

Chicken (or lamb) Korma Curry

2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup ground almonds
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons ghee or 2 tablespoons coconut oil (really you can use whatever oil you have, don't stress out if you can't find ghee or coconut oil)
1 1/2 lbs lamb or 1 1/2 lbs chicken, diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
100 g creamed coconut
1 1/4 cups water
4 cardamom pods, split
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch ground cloves
2 teaspoons fine sugar
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon garam masala

Directions:

1 - Mash the garlic with the ginger and almonds, then mix with 4 tbsp of the water to form a paste.  Then chop up your onions so you can easily add them to the pan when it's done. 

2 - Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the meat and fry until browned all over. Transfer the meat to the crock pot with a draining spoon.
3 - Add the onion to the pan and fry, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until turning golden. Add to crock pot.
4 - Add creamed coconut and water to the pan. Stir the creamed coconut until almost melted, then add the spices and the almond paste and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into the crock pot, stir, cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours until the meat is really tender. 
5 - Cook your rice so that you have something to eat the curry with!
6 - Stir in the garam masala, taste and re-season if necessary. Serve over rice (or naan bread, which is actually pretty easy to make) and enjoy.