Lamb Curry

This recipe is adapted for a slow cooker but can be cooked quicker (2 hours) - check the original site recipe.

Ingredients#

Makes 6 portions. Gather the ingredients first for ease!

For marinating#

• 1kg diced lamb
• 70g yoghurt (lime juice/vinegar as alternative)
• 0.5 tablespoons kasuri methi (dried fenugreeks leaves, optional)
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste (or equivalent minced, or finely chopped) - half for marinade
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste (or equivalent minced, or finely chopped) - half for marinade
• Ground spices as below

Ground spices - use half for marinade#

• 2.5 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder (alternative - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons paprika)
• 0.5 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2.5 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons salt

For cooking#

Whole spices - fry together#

• 1 bay leaf
• 6 green cardamom pods
• A piece of cinnamon
• 2 black cardamom pods (optional)
• 1 to 2 star anise (optional)

Misc#

• 6 tablespoons oil
• 2 or 3 onions finely chopped
• 300g chopped tomatoes (fresh or tinned)
• 1 to 2 green chilli, slit and deseeded (optional)
• 4 tablespoons mint leaves (pudina, fine chopped)
• Spinach (optional, frozen or fresh)
• Coriander leaves (finely chopped, optional)

Method#

Prep/marinate#

• Mix all the ground spices in a small bowl.
• Marinate the lamb with
  • half of this spice mix
  • yoghurt (or lemon juice)
  • half of the ginger paste (0.5tbsp)
  • half of the garlic paste (0.5tbsp)
  • salt
  • kasuri methi
• Cover and set aside for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.

Cook whole spices and start lamb#

• Heat a 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil in the slow cooker on 'fry' setting (or a pan if the lamb was marinating in the slow cooker) and add the whole spices:
  • star anise, bay leaf, black cardamom, green cardamom & cinnamon.
• Once the spices begin to sizzle, add the mint leaves and immediately stir in the marinated lamb and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• Pour enough hot water to nearly cover the lamb and mix well. Cover and start cooking on high while you prep the tomato/onion curry sauce below.
  • This can cook like this for about an hour if you want to delay the next step at all, or proceed straight away.

Make the curry sauce#

• In another pan, heat the rest of the oil. Add the onions and green chilies. Saute until deep golden but not burnt.
• Add the rest of the ginger and garlic (0.5tbsp) of each & saute for another minute.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the rest of the ground spices and the chopped tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes (min 5, max 20).

Combine#

• Transfer this to the lamb in the slow cooker. Cook covered on 'low' for 6 - 8 hours. Check the liquid level is about right - if it needs more water add some now. It won't reduce much in the slow cooker.
• If wanted, add chopped spinach at some point.
• Serve with rice or naan and chopped coriander.