Lamb Curry

Lamb with whole spice and yoghurt stirred in off the heat, and no coconut at all.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 900 g lamb shoulder, in 4 cm chunks
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 4 dried red chillies
• 2 onions, finely sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 700 ml hot water
• 200 g thick yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a handful of coriander, chopped

Method

1. Fry the WHOLE cumin and fennel seeds and the dried chillies in the oil over a medium heat for 45 seconds, until the seeds darken and start to pop. Whole, not ground: ground spice burns here and the point is that you keep finding seeds.
2. Add the onions and cook them 12 minutes until genuinely browned, not merely softened. This is where the colour of the finished sauce comes from.
3. Add the garlic, ginger and turmeric for a minute.
4. Add the lamb and turn it in the spices over a high heat for 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the hot water, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 90 minutes until the lamb gives way to a spoon.
6. TAKE THE PAN OFF THE HEAT AND LET IT STOP BUBBLING before stirring the yoghurt in a spoonful at a time. Yoghurt added to a simmering pan splits and goes grainy, and it cannot be brought back.
7. Salt it, stir the coriander through, and do not return it to the heat.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes