- First wash your rice a couple of times and then leave to soak in a bowl of water for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the onions until they are medium to darkish brown, about 15 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, chillies, cloves, cardamoms and cinnamon and fry for 2-3 minutes. Then add the lamb and fry over a medium heat, stirring continuously for at least 15 minutes, the longer you do it, the better the taste.
- Add the coriander powder and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the other spice powders and mix well. Then add 65ml of water and stir. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Whisk up your yoghurt with a fork and add to the pan. Add the tomatoes and salt, stir and cover and leave to cook until the lamb is 90% done, checking every 10 minutes to make sure that the sauce has not gone too dry. This takes about 20 minutes. If it does look too dry, add 100ml of water more. When the lamb is done it should have a thick spice coating rather than a runny sauce.
- Drain the rice and wash it well. Put it in a bowl with an equal quantity of water (measure using a cup). In a saucepan, put the same volume of water again and bring to the boil with the bay leaves. When boiling add the oil, salt and turmeric. Then add the rice and water from the other bowl. Leave uncovered and when the water is absorbed, the rice will be 3/4 cooked.
- Soak the saffron strands in 2 tbsp of rose water and set aside. Heat the oven to 160C/Gas 3.
- Take a large oven proof dish and brush the bottom with oil. Put half the rice in and spread it evenly. Then put the lamb on top and spread it evenly and finally put the rest of the rice on top. Cover with a lid or some tin foil and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. The rice will finish cooking and absorb some of the moisture from the korma. Sprinkle the top of the dish with the saffron rose water.
You can cook the korma and rice ahead of time and assemble. Then just bake in the oven for 20 minutes when you are ready for it.
Recipe from 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi