Korma

Korma a polymorphic cookery term of the Near East and W. Asia, which also appears as qawurma/awurma, qawarma, ghourma, qrma, qorma, etc., all of which forms are variations on the Turkish qawurmah (sometimes written kavurma, from the verb meaning to fry).

In Turkey, the term has two meanings: fried slices of meat; and meat conserved in fat and salt. In other parts of the Middle East the word has this second meaning (see qawarma). In Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon there are various dishes cooked from this conserved meat and called qawurma. In Iran, although this meaning is known, the derived word ghourma has come to mean primarily ghourma sabzi—meat and herbs braised in butter or ghee with dried limes and some kind of bean.