Lamb Curry

Preparation

• Lamb, cut into one cm cubes and washed- 500 gm 
• Raw spices: 
• onions- 2 medium sized, finely chopped 
• Garlic paste- 1/2 tb spoon 
• Ginger paste- 1/2 tb spoon 
• Passata 2 table spoons or vine ripe tomatoes 2 medium sized chopped to small sizes 
• Dry spice powders: 
• Turmeric powder- 1/2 tb spoon 
• Coriander powder-1/2 t spoon 
• Cumin powder- 1/2 t spoon 
• Cayenne pepper or paprika powder-1 t spoon or acc. to taste 
• Freshly grated nutmeg ½ teaspoon 
• Black pepper, freshly milled -1/2 t spoon or according to taste 
• Whole spices: 
• Black cardamom -3 
• Green cardamom pod-5 
• Clove-5 
• Star anise-1 
• Bay leaf- 3 
• Cinnamon stick-1 
• Sea Salt - 1 tb spoon or according to taste 
• Freshly boiled water - 1 cup 
• Vegetable oil 
• Melted butter (optional)- 1 cube 
• Green chillies de-seeded- 3-5 (optional)

Utensils

• chopping board 
• kitchen knife 
• non-stick saucepan with glass lid 
• frying pan 
• pastel and mortar or coffee grinder 
• wooden spatula

Cooking steps

Step one: 
i. Heat oil until medium hot 
ii. Add onion garlic and ginger paste 
iii. Add lamb cubes when onion softens and stir well 
iv. Add black cardamom 
v. Cook in medium heat until meat softens and water begins to separate; stir time to time to prevent meat from sticking at the bottom. Add some boiling water if it becomes too dry but add as little as you can as addition of water may impact on the taste.

Step Two:i. Add all the powders (turmeric, coriander, cumin cayenne paper) to the meat and stir for 5 minutes 
ii. Add passata or tomato and continue to stir for another 5 minutes

Step three:i. Heat a frying pan to very hot 
ii. Toast whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon, clove, bay leaf, anise) for 15-30 seconds  
iii. Press them in a mortar and stir in to the meat 
iv. Add black pepper and green chillies and cook for couple of minutes 
v. Add boiling water 
vi. Cover and cook for 10- 15 minutes in medium  to low heat 
vii. Check the curry; gravy should start to thicken and meat should be soft and well done 
viii. Add optional nutmeg powder and melted butter and stir again 
ix. Cook covered for few more minutes in medium to low heat and it’s ready to be served.

 Tips

You can replace whole spices with garam masala powder and omit first three steps of step three.Instead of chopping onions and getting eyes wet you can use can of Delia's cheat onion cans or fried onion packs. For even quicker option mix all ingredients together and cook with the lamb, stirring occasionally.