Aloo-Gosht ka Qorma
The mere mention of Aloo Gosht ka Qorma conjures up my mind with fragrant memories of the daawats/gatherings at my Nani’s house during my childhood, when my aunts would all very lovingly dish out delectable meals for us all. The dastarkhan at her house during daawats usually consisted of this delicious Qorma served along with Naan, followed by Kachchey gosht ki Biryani served along with Mirchi ka Salan and Dahi ki Chutney, and a pleasant dessert to finish off our feast. I always looked forward to visiting my Nani to enjoy all the delicious meals she prepared.
Aloo Gosht ka Qorma
Qorma is an Urdu word, meaning a yogurt based creamy gravy flavored with spices such as coconut, groundnut, coriander etc. The spices along with meat are first braised/bhuno until oil floats on top, and only then is water added in the end to the braised masala for a good gravy consistency. This technique is crucial and imparts flavors to the gravy and the basis for a good Qorma.
Today I am sharing with you all my mother’s version of Hyderabadi style Aloo Gosht ka Qorma, which I have always enjoyed tremendously. Serve this Qorma along with Naan or a similar thick flat bread to mop up the flavorful gravy, and impress your guests and loved ones.
Aloo Gosht ka Qorma – Lamb Qorma (Lamb in a fragrant spiced gravy along with potatoes)
Ingredients:
Lamb meat, with bone, preferably leg – 1/2 kg
Red Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/ tsp
Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Canola oil – 60 ml/1/4 cup/4 tbsp
Finely sliced yellow onion – 300 gms
White Potatoes – 4, medium sized, peeled and quartered
Canned Coconut milk – 5 tbsp/75 ml (or) Roasted desiccated coconut paste – 1 1/2 tbsp
Roasted Groundnut paste – 2 tsp
Almonds, Chironji nuts, Cashew nuts – 1 tbsp each, soaked in 3/4 cup warm milk for 30 mins (optional)
Cardamom – 4
Cloves – 2
Roasted Coriander powder – 1/4 tsp
Yogurt – 1 cup/250 ml
Mint leaves – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Cilantro – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Green chillies – 2 or 3, each slit into two
Lemon juice – 2 tsp
clockwise from top: onion, lamb meat-cubed, yogurt, desiccated coconut, groundnuts, white potatoes
1. In a pressure cooker, add the meat, ginger-garlic paste, 1 tsp red chilli powder, turmeric powder and 1tsp salt and pour in 1 cup water. Pressure cook until the meat is about 3/4th done.
2. Meanwhile, in a large non-stick heavy bottomed saucepan, pour in oil and as soon as it warms up add the slice onions. Sprinkle just a pinch of salt and stir fry them keeping a close eye until they are all evenly golden brown in color. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a platter. Spread them out so that they cool down and crisp up.
3. In the same oil, add the quarted potatoes and fry them stirring them often until they are just golden brown on edges. Using a slotted spoon transfer them to a platter.
4. In a blender container, add all but 1/4 cup of the fried onions, coconut milk, soaking almonds, chironji nuts and cashew nuts with milk, and groundnut paste. Blend until smooth. Keep aside.
5. In the same oil, add the cardamom and cloves. Stir fry for a minute. Add the contents of the pressure cooker and mix in the above blended paste. Simmer and add rest of the red chilli powder and salt, coriander powder. Partially cover with a lid and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently until oil floats on top. Add the yogurt and mix well. Again partially cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes until oil floats on top. Add mint leaves, cilantro, and green chillies and mix well. Pour in 3-4 cups of water and stir well. Cover with a lid let it come to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to medium and cook partially covered until oil floats on top. Add the shallow fried quartered potatoes and mix well. Partially cover the lid and let cook until the potatoes are tender. Pour lemon juice before you serve. Serve warm along with Tandoori Naan, or Parathas or Kulcha.
For those of you who prefer chicken over Lamb, try out Murgh Qorma.
This ambrosial Qorma is my contribution to the “The Hyderabadi Bakr-Eid Food Festival-’09” that I am hosting on my blog. The event is on and you can all send me your Bakr-Eid special recipes until December 31, 2009. Click on the link for more details.
Luv,
Mona
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December 4th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Fantastic! This exactly looks like how ammi used to make.Mine never turns out so perfect
December 4th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Mmmmm, This looks so tempting and mouthwatering… I will have to give it a try!
December 4th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
salaam Mona,
i was trying to make it Qorma today…but did not find coconut in my kitchen,so could not able to make.by Allah’s grace that i got this nice perfect recipe of yours.Inshallah will make tomorrow with your recipe.
thanks.
December 4th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
assk mona.
i made ghost,kadu ka dalcha , bagara khana today and u made the other half of dalcha, qurma, which i gave a miss today. so good coincidence.
alhdlh dalcha tastes so good with qurbani ghost and i was planning to send recipe for b festival .
tc
alhfz
rizruby
December 4th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Mona,
Wonderful Qorma! you are absolutely right, once I saw the pic. it reminded of all the dawats I attended in Hyd.
Many thanks for all your effort. you are getting so many duas from newly married hyd. ladies, mashallah.
A suggestion: could you add a link to the recipe and post the pix in a step by step format. You can just post the pic u took at diff. stages of making a recipe/ cooking. sometimes pic. are more than enough to get the idea.
I know I am asking for too much, but this is for people who are starting to cook and need little more help. I started at cooking level = 0 , with the help of blogs like yours, Nabeela’s and ARAD. now I am at level 5.5 on the scale of 10.
Thanks,
Aisha
Aisha, Jazakallahu Khair for the appreciation. Inshallah I will try. ~Mona
December 4th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Mona the Qorma looks fabulous….and the pictures are so beautiful and delectable..
December 5th, 2009 at 11:53 am
AA Mona,
Alhamdulillah! Last night my husband’s farmiash was to make Aloo Ghosht ka Qorma and to my pleasant surprise there was the recepi from you in my inbox.
Jazak Allah Khairan
December 5th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
wow this is gorgeous! must try it
December 6th, 2009 at 4:58 am
Way to go gal!!
Surely you are getting our duas as well..
Love.
December 6th, 2009 at 10:31 am
salaam
mona i really like u r recipes.its same like i cook.totally hyderabadi.when i read u r recipes nothing look new to me.its totally homely.mostly all hyderabadi cooking is same.mashallah u r efforts r good.i want to know chakna recipe,maragh recipe,dum kay koftay,and gilay firdouse.plz send me.it should be totally hyderabadi only,no more new addition.be happy in your life.allah and prophet blessings on you.if u reply me bunch of thanks .
WaAlaiKumAsSalaam Roshni, Jazakallahu Khair for the appreciation. Inshallah I will post the recipes of the dishes you have asked me in the future. ~Mona
December 6th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Aslk Mona,
As always my Thanks to your efforts, I wanted to clear any misunderstands that I caused with my last blog about “helping us with the menu” honestly what I meant was, if u could tell us what to make for breakfast ,lunch & dinner on “Bakrid day” as my inlaws were visiting during Eid, I was a little nervous and wanted a little help from u
…..
WaAlaiKumAsSalaam Uzma, there is no need to apologize at all! Usually on Bakri-Eid our breakfast used to be Gurda, Kaleji and Phepsa curry along with Parathas. For Lunch we used to a have Kachchey gosht ki Biryani. For dinner my Ammi used to prepare Boti ka salan and Tala huwa gosht with parathas. ~Mona
December 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Great recipe..and such a delicious looking pic….am hungry…very very hungry now!
December 7th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I bookmarked this recipe
as always mona looks so delicious … can’t wait to try it
Thank you for sharing you mom’s version
December 8th, 2009 at 9:16 am
hi mona,
im a foodie and i keep surfing several receipe sites, however, please believe me, that your blog has been my most favourite. When i read any of your receipe, im become so curious that i long to try it myself. Your receipes have made me a better cook. Please keep up the wonderful work.
thanks
lakshmi
March 12th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Tried this recipe today. Did not have almonds, but since you said it was optional, I made it without the almonds. I had everything else, and it turned out GREAT!!. Very yummy. Good job with the recipe. The step by step was excellent.
March 31st, 2011 at 9:14 am
Salam mona,
I made this yesterday using the recipe it was pretty good but had a more nutty flavor…what can I do to cut it? Add more yogurt/lemon/and water is what I was thinking….what do you think?