Sunday, May 16, 2021

Lamb curry with yoghurt recipe

You can make this into a complete, one pot meal, by adding some chickpeas and some vegetables (in this recipe I've used cauliflower, but you could potentially use other vegetables, like eggplant or green beans).

Ingredients

All quantities are approximate. It shouldn't matter if you have a bit more or less of any.

  • ghee, 6 tbsp (this will give it a richer flavour than using oil)
  • onions, 2 large
  • garlic, 6 cloves
  • ginger, 1 inch piece
  • lamb chops containing bones, 1kg
  • curry powder, 5 tbsp
  • cardamon pods, 6 (not essential)
  • cinnamon, 1 stick (not essential)
  • greek yoghurt, 1 cup
  • chopped tomatoes, half a 400g can
  • fresh coriander, handful of
  • garam masala, 1 tbsp
  • lemon juice, 1 tbsp
  • to make it into a complete, one pot meal
    • chickpeas, 2 cans, drained
    • cauliflower, 1 small-med

Directions

I've made these directions fairly detailed, to show which bits you can prep while other bits are cooking, and to explain the rationale for the steps.
  • finely chop the onion (that will give you a smoother curry sauce) and fry it in the ghee at a medium temperature (you don't want the temperature to be too high, as you want to soften and evenly brown them, not make them crispy).
    • they'll take a fair while to brown, so you can do a lot of the other prep while they're browning.
    • you want to get them to a bit past golden, into browning. You'll probably want to lower the temp a bit once they start getting golden, so they don't burn. Browning the onions is pretty important for the flavour.
    • stir the onion mixture from time to time (every couple of minutes, I'd say) to stop it from burning.
  • meanwhile, prep the garlic and ginger by peeling them. I add them to the onion once the onion is golden. I don't add them earlier so as to not burn them. When the onion is approaching golden, finely grate (or finely chop and add) the onion and ginger into the pan.
  • prep the meat by cutting out the bone pieces (and saving them - we want to add them to the curry for flavour) and then chopping the meat into approx 1 inch lengths... doesn't matter how wide they are. Doesn't matter that much as to how the meat is cut up.
  • if the onions aren't yet past golden and a bit browned, you can do more of the prep described further below.
  • once the onions are past golden and a bit browned, add the meat (and bones). You probably want to lightly brown it. Turn up the heat a bit to help this along. Stir every minute or two to prevent any burning (you don't need to worry about this as much while there's meat juices in the pan).
  • prep the yoghurt by adding it to a bowl along with (roughly) 1 cup of water (the amount shouldn't matter much). Use a fork or spoon to mix it into a smooth liquid.
  • once the meat looks lightly browned, push the meat and onions etc to the side a bit and add the curry powder (and cardamon and cinnamon, if using) to the freed-up space in the pan. Mix the curry powder around in the ghee a bit, and fry it for a minute or two, then mix everything together. 
  • add (in any order) the optional (drained) chickpeas, the half a can of tomatoes, and the yoghurt mixture. You want all the ingredients to be just covered by the liquid, so add some extra water if necessary.
  • cover and simmer - so turn the heat down to a suitable level for simmering.
  • you want to do this first step of simmering for probably 45 mins to an hour. I'm not sure exactly how long is necessary.
  • while it's simmering, prep the cauliflower by washing and chopping it. I'd cut it into roughly 1 inch pieces, though I don't think the size matters that much.
  • you can also wash the coriander (I wouldn't chop it up till near when you're going to add it, to keep it fresh).
  • after simmering the meat for 45mins to an hour, add the optional cauliflower. I'd say simmer that for about 15 mins. You want it to be softened. You can test it after 15 mins to see if it's soft enough, and if it isn't, simmer it some more.
    • Note: if you were to use eggplant instead of cauliflower, you'd probably need to cook it for longer. Just keep cooking it and check it periodically to see if it's soft enough.
  • add salt to taste
  • roughly chop the coriander leaves.
  • add about 1 tbsp of garam masala, the coriander leaves, and optionally maybe 1 tbsp lemon juice.
  • simmer for a couple of minutes.