Questions on Lamb Shahi Korma

Brablo said:

Hello,

I recently made lamb shahi korma. It came out pretty good, and I
pretty much followed Madhur Jaffery's recipe perfectly.

Here are my questions to you:
1. Do you find it neccessary to brown the meat chunks prior to stewing
them? Why or why not? Also, if it's a good idea to brown them, should
I heat them in the oven or saute them?
2. Instead of using cream, could I use coconut cream/milk? I noticed
that coconut milk is very similar to cream, and it has a mildly sweet
taste to it. It may give the lamb a nice aromatic flavor. Plus, it
may compliment the almond paste. Is coconut milk a viable substitute
for cream?
3. What kind of cuts of lamb do you use? I used a $6.99/lb boneless
cut from a really good whole foods store.

I usually brown my lamb for recipes like this, I think it adds more flavor to
the meat and I cook the rest of the dish in the same pan so I can pick up that
flavor for the whole dish.

I've used coconut milk in place of cream in similar dishes for my vegan
friends (seitan instead of lamb, obviously) i think it works out just fine,
though the coconut flavor can sometimes overwhelm the more subtle spices

I'd use cheaper cuts for this, no sense in going all out when you are just
going to essentially stew the meat. The halal butcher I go to usually has lamb
for stewing, i think it's just leftover cuts or something.

--
..:Heather:.
www.velvet-c.com

Heather,

Suppose the recipe for *lamb* (and not some vegan dish) calls for
cream. Would you use coconut cream in that case? My ideas to use
coconut cream are because:
1. healthier
2. slightly lighter
3. exotic sweet flavor

Can coconut cream simmer for 1 hour without turning into something else
(i.e. bitter and not creamy)?

Do you view coconuts as not being a sub for cream? or a viable
substitute, but only for vegans?

Brablo said:

Heather,

Suppose the recipe for *lamb* (and not some vegan dish) calls for
cream. Would you use coconut cream in that case? My ideas to use
coconut cream are because:
1. healthier
2. slightly lighter
3. exotic sweet flavor

Can coconut cream simmer for 1 hour without turning into something else
(i.e. bitter and not creamy)?

Do you view coconuts as not being a sub for cream? or a viable
substitute, but only for vegans?

ou can cook it for a long time but it might thicken too much, you can always
add a bit of water. I would probably substitute coconut cream for regular
cream if I felt the other spices in the dish were strong enough to take on the
coconut flavor. For a shahi korma I might do it, but there is a lot of
subtlety in that dish that I would not want to lose.

--
..:Heather:.
www.velvet-c.com

Quoted message said:

I recently made lamb shahi korma. It came out pretty good, and I
pretty much followed Madhur Jaffery's recipe perfectly.
1. Do you find it neccessary to brown the meat chunks prior to stewing
them? Why or why not? Also, if it's a good idea to brown them, should
I heat them in the oven or saute them?

I find that browning deepens the overall flavor of the dish.

Quoted message said:

2. Instead of using cream, could I use coconut cream/milk? I noticed
that coconut milk is very similar to cream, and it has a mildly sweet
taste to it. It may give the lamb a nice aromatic flavor. Plus, it
may compliment the almond paste. Is coconut milk a viable substitute
for cream?

Some regions of India use coconut cream or milk in this recipe because
it's more widely available. But, most would probably use either yogurt
or cream. I prefer yogurt for the complex flavor, but I add almond
and/or cashew butter at the end.

Orlando

Quoted message said:

Suppose the recipe for *lamb* (and not some vegan dish) calls for
cream. Would you use coconut cream in that case?

Yes, but not too much, as it will, as others have said, overpower the
flavor of some delicate spices.

Quoted message said:

My ideas to use coconut cream are because:
1. healthier
2. slightly lighter
3. exotic sweet flavor

Coconut cream is actually quite fattening and not any healthier than
cream for those conscious of cholesterol.

Quoted message said:

Can coconut cream simmer for 1 hour without turning into something else
(i.e. bitter and not creamy)?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

Do you view coconuts as not being a sub for cream? or a viable
substitute, but only for vegans?

In Indian dishes, I think coconut cream tends to work well as a
substitute for cream. I wouldn't, however, consider substituting
coconut cream for heavy cream in French or northern Italian cooking.

Orlando

In article said:

[email hidden] wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My ideas to use coconut cream are because:
1. healthier
2. slightly lighter
3. exotic sweet flavor

Coconut cream is actually quite fattening and not any healthier than
cream for those conscious of cholesterol.

There is no cholesterol in "coconut vegetable oil" or "coconut
cream", but there may be some added in derived products.

Have a squiz at the items listed at this page from the USDA National
Nutrient Database and select you query of choice after you have
entered the keyword "Coconut" and selected "All food groups"

<http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/>

Check out "Vegetable oil, coconut" and "Nuts, coconut cream, canned"
for a couple of basic examples.

Alternatively, try this USDA-ARS page

<http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=9673>

where you can download data for individual nutrients (e.g.
Cholesterol) as sorted PDF files. (You'll have to look under "nuts"
in the list for coconut.)

Cheers, Phred.

--
[email hidden]

"Phred" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Coconut cream is actually quite fattening and not any healthier than
cream for those conscious of cholesterol.

There is no cholesterol in "coconut vegetable oil" or "coconut
cream", but there may be some added in derived products.

No, but they are saturated fat which is/was linked to causing
people to produce cholesterol.

nancy

Nancy Young said:

Phred <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Coconut cream is actually quite fattening and not any healthier than
cream for those conscious of cholesterol.

There is no cholesterol in "coconut vegetable oil" or "coconut
cream", but there may be some added in derived products.

No, but they are saturated fat which is/was linked to causing
people to produce cholesterol.

Yes, the saturated fat will raise your HDL, the good cholesterol, plus the
LDL. If the addition of saturated fat in your diet means less carbs, then
your triglycerides will go down.

Plus the addtion of saturated fat will lower your risk of one of the two
types of strokes.

Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Nancy Young said:

Phred <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Coconut cream is actually quite fattening and not any healthier than
cream for those conscious of cholesterol.

There is no cholesterol in "coconut vegetable oil" or "coconut
cream", but there may be some added in derived products.

No, but they are saturated fat which is/was linked to causing
people to produce cholesterol.

Yes, the saturated fat will raise your HDL, the good cholesterol, plus the
LDL. If the addition of saturated fat in your diet means less carbs, then
your triglycerides will go down.

Plus the addtion of saturated fat will lower your risk of one of the two
types of strokes.

Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

x-no-archive: yes

Nancy Young said:

No, but they are saturated fat which is/was linked to causing
people to produce cholesterol.

nancy

Actually, that's not so, and studies controlling for glycemic load find
that serum lipids improve on diets high even in sat fats.

Susan