Dopiaza

The onions go in twice, boiled into the gravy and fried over the top.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 kg lamb shoulder, on the bone
• 4 onions, quartered, for boiling
• 3 onions, sliced, for frying
• 300 g yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 6 cardamom pods
• 6 cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons cayenne
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 5 tablespoons ghee
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 400 ml water

Method

1. THE ONIONS GO IN TWICE, BOILED INTO THE GRAVY AND FRIED OVER THE TOP. That is what the name counts -- do piyaza, two onions -- and its article's Indian passage gives the first half explicitly: a shoulder of lamb with BOILED ONIONS, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coriander, cumin and yoghurt, made hot with cayenne and finished with garam masala and FRIED ONIONS. Boiled and fried are two different ingredients from the same vegetable: boiled onions dissolve and sweeten the gravy, fried ones stay as dark sweet strands on top. A dish that browns its onions once at the start has made neither.
2. THE BOILED ONIONS GO IN QUARTERED AND ARE CRUSHED LATER. Four of them, into the braise whole-ish, pressed against the pan once soft so they melt into the sauce.
3. THE FRIED ONIONS ARE DONE SEPARATELY AND KEPT CRISP. Three, sliced thin, fried slowly to a deep brown in ghee and drained. They go on at the table, not into the pot.
4. THERE IS A DIFFERENT DOPIAZA UNDER THE SAME NAME. The Iranian one has potatoes in it and no dairy at all; this one is built on yoghurt and has no potato. Two dishes, one word, and this page is the Indian one.
5. THE YOGHURT GOES IN OFF THE HEAT AND IS WARMED SLOWLY. As with every yoghurt braise here.
6. THE CAYENNE IS WHAT MAKES IT HOT AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS SO. Two teaspoons. Unusual in a Mughlai braise, and it is why this is not a korma.
7. THE WHOLE SPICES GO INTO THE GHEE FIRST AND STAY IN. Cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
8. IT BRAISES AN HOUR AND A HALF ON THE BONE. Shoulder, in large pieces.
9. THE GARAM MASALA AND THE FRIED ONIONS ARE BOTH LAST. Which its article's own order gives: finished with garam masala and fried onions.

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 India · All recipes