This tender, melt in your mouth boneless shank curry is also known as Afghani Korma.  Any kind of meat curry with sauce is called Korma in Afghani.  Korma is always accompanied by Afghani rice or bread.

You can make this curry with lamb, veil or beef.

Boneless shank is very tender meat once it is cooked.  While raw, usually it is one of the toughest cut due to the connective tissues and muscle fibers.  You need a very sharp knife or a good scissors to cut this meat.  I usually use my scissors.

Shank is usually best if cooked slow. The longer its cooked on low medium heat the more juicer and tender it gets. While this meat is cooking, all the connective tissues, and collagen between the muscle fibers breaks down and makes the meat tender, give it that “melt in your mouth” feeling.

If you have an instant pot, it works perfect for this recipe, it cuts the cooking time by ¼.

I pick the stew option for 25 minutes.  If still not tender enough I repeat the process for another 15-20 minutes.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• Shank meat (your choice beef, lamb, or veil)
• 1 med size onion (finely chopped)
• 3-4 pieces of garlic (crushed)
• 2 ripe tomatoes (finely sliced)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon of afghani style masala mix (check at the bottom for how to make it)
• 2-3 tablespoon of cooking oil
• salt and pepper to taste

How to make the shank curry aka korma:

In a pot add oil and onion, sauté onion till golden brown. Add tomatoes and sauté further till tomatoes are cooked, add garlic and stir for one minute. Add all the spices and sliced meat stir on low medium heat for 10 – 15 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid the bottom from sticking. Add 3-4 cups of water and let it come to a simmer.

If you have an instant pot transfer the meat and the sauce in to instant pot and use stew option for 25 minutes.  If meat is not tender repeat the process for another 15-20 minutes. If the sauce has thicken up and you think it might burn if you repeat the process then add one cup of extra water.

If you don’t have instant pot, cover the pot and let the meat simmer on low heat till the meat is soft and tender.  It might take up to two hours depending on the type of the meat you are using. Lamb and veil might take lesser time then beef.  Just monitor the water content.  If needed add a little extra water to obtain the desirable constancy for the sauce.

Once the meat is tender turn off the heat.  If the sauce is too watery, you can increase the heat and let the sauce condense. Make sure to stay close to avoid the sauce from burning.

How to make the most commonly used Afghani masala.

This masala mix is mild and very versatile.  We use this mix with most meat sauces and even with rice when we bake it.  Sprinkle a pinch of this masala mix on top of the rice while making it in the rice cooker.  Once the rice is cooked it smells phenomenal.

1/4 cup of cumin seeds, 4-6 big (large) cardamom, 3-4 pieces of cinnamon barks, one tiny little piece of cinnamon stick.  Grind everything into fine powder and store it in a glass jar for future use.