Pork Korma with Potatoes and Spinach

There is something I need to say first about this recipe. Its not Korma as you know it. I generally avoid any of the heavy, cream laden Indian recipes, and so Korma’s as a result have never really appealed to me. In fact my stomach recoils in horror to be honest at the thought of actually eating one! However, this recipe is a real exception as I completely love it! Out goes the cream, in comes yoghurt, ground almonds and pork mince!

A few months back I was given for my birthday a voucher for WH Smith’s and spent a good hour happily perusing their cookery section, and finally settled on a copy of Readers Digest Healthy One Dish Cooking much to the relief of my poor family members waiting patiently... 

Now the one thing I must mention about the book is that the title for me was a little misleading, I used at least four dishes whilst making this recipe, however it does all end up in one dish so technically is correct…!

Quite often after getting a new cookery book, and lots of reading through, despite the original appeal it ends up being neglected but I made this curry within days of buying the book, and I've cooked it again several times since! Infact I am getting impatient to make it again, will have to squeeze it into my meal planner somewhere! 

I love the mildness of the dish, the gentle aromatic flavour from the mild spicing, and more importantly how you can have seconds without feeling too guilty! It also reheats very well the next day, as it allows the flavours to mingle nicely together. The third time around I added a little ground turmeric for colour and I think its definitely worth adding some!

The yoghurt/ cornflour/ almond stage of the recipe felt a bit wrong when making and I was rather worried the first time around but please bear with it, as it will honestly be so good!

The book actually contains lots of very tasty looking recipes, all low in fat etc but still remaining highly appealing! Definitely worth a flick through and I am planning to cook a lot more from it.

Serves 4, generously

2 large onions. sliced

450g lean Pork mince

300ml low fat natural yoghurt

75g Ground almonds

600ml hot Chicken stock

25g toasted flaked almonds

750g small new potatoes, havled

250g young leaf Spinach (I thawed frozen spinach, more economical!)

2 crushed garlic cloves

2 tsp cornflour

1 tbsp Cumin seeds

8 green Cardamoms, crushed and pods discarded (I.e. keep the seeds!) 

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp ground turmeric - optional

1) Heat the oil in a large saute pan or casserole and cook the onions over a medium heat for around 10 minutes or until softened and lightly browned, transfer to a bowl for later

2) Using the same pan, add the pork, garlic, cardamom and cumin seeds, cook for 5 minutes, stirring often to break up the mince. 

3) Return half of the reserved onions to the pan, the turmeric if using, the stock and cover, bring to the boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes

4) Add the potatoes and bring back to a simmering point, then re-cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, around 20 minutes.

5) Blend the cornflour to a paste with 6 tbsp of the yoghurt and the ground almonds. Stir into the curry and bring gently to the boil, stirring, simmer for a further minute to thicken slightly. Season to taste

6) Add the spinach leaves, reserving a few smaller ones for garnishing. *if using frozen, add at the end of stage five and cook for around 3 minutes to heat through*

7) Mix the remaining onions with the toasted almonds, serve the curry garnished with this and the reserved spinach leaves.

Serve immediately, you probably won't want to eat much more with it as its pretty filling but I have served up naan's and also I've made chickpea flatbreads, which were good for dunking!

*According to the book its 552 cals and includes 2 of your 5 a day :)