MY LAMB CURRY

‘A vindaloo and a breadstick?’ was a common meal suggestion when my good mate Dan and I were in the UK — a land where everyone is spoiled with access to a huge range of amazing Indian curries. This is my version of an Indian lamb curry and if you like, you can serve it with a breadstick too. Of course, this dish is also good with a couple of beers.

PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES

COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR 25 MINUTES

SERVES: 4–6

WHAT’S IN IT?

2 tablespoons ghee (see note)

2 x 440 g (15½ oz) tins crushed tomatoes

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) beef stock

1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) trimmed and diced lamb shoulder

390 g (13¾ oz/1½ cups) plain yoghurt

1 Lebanese (short) cucumber, halved, seeded and sliced

¼ cup shredded mint leaves, plus extra, to serve

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

steamed basmati rice, to serve

breadstick, to serve (optional)

Spice mix

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

3 cardamom pods

1 whole clove

1 teaspoon chilli powder (see note)

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon salt

Spice paste

6 garlic cloves, crushed

4 cm (1½ inch) piece ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped

5 large red Asian shallots, coarsely chopped

1 bird’s eye chilli, coarsely chopped

2 long red chillies, coarsely chopped

1 cup coriander (cilantro), roots included, plus extra sprigs, to serve

60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) grapeseed oil

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

1.   To make the spice mix, place the cumin, fennel, coriander and mustard seeds, black peppercorns, cardamom pods and clove in a large heavy-based frying pan over very low heat. You don’t need any oil. Shake the pan for 2–3 minutes or until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the spices and tarnish their flavour. Remove from the heat and allow the spices to cool completely. Once cool, place the toasted spices and the chilli powder, turmeric and salt in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.

2.   Place all the ingredients for the spice paste in a food processor, add the prepared dry spice mix and purée until smooth. This forms your curry paste.

3.   Heat the ghee in a large heavy-based flameproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add the curry paste and stir for 5 minutes or until fragrant and the paste gains some colour. Add the tomatoes and stock, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to as low as possible and cook, stirring frequently, for 30 minutes or until the liquid has reduced a little. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then, using a stick blender, purée until smooth.

4.   After the sauce has developed in flavour, add the lamb, cover, and cook for 40–45 minutes or until the meat is tender.

5.   Combine the yoghurt, cucumber and mint in a bowl and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

6.   Scatter the lamb curry with mint and coriander and serve with steamed basmati rice, a breadstick and the mint cucumber yoghurt.

NOTES

* Ghee is a clarified butter used frequently in Indian cooking. The butter is clarified to prevent it from burning. It also adds a richness of flavour to the curry. Ghee can be found at Indian food emporiums and some larger chain supermarkets. You can substitute ghee with butter or vegetable oil but be careful not to burn the butter.

* This quantity of chilli gives you a medium–hot curry but feel free to add or subtract both the chilli powder and the fresh chilli to suit your taste.