Jardalu Boti - Lamb with Apricots

Friday, 18th May 2013

Indian Cookbook p 433. Brown onions then add ginger and garlic and cook for a few minutes, then cinnamon sticks and cardamon pods. Then chilli powder, cumin, a little water and chopped tomatoes. Then diced lamb, black pepper and garam masala. Cook gently for 2 hours and add a little hot water if necessary. Add chopped apricots, a little sugar and a sprinkling of vinegar. Heat through and serve.
This recipe calls for dried apricots soaked overnight, but I used fresh apricots which worked very well.
Served with green beans, boiled, then stir fried quickly with a asafetida, a few yellow lentils, mustard seeds, lemon juice and cayenne (Madhur Jaffrey's Ulitmate Curry Bible p. 157). The recipe also says two hot chillies, but I left them out and the beans were pleasantly spicy enough.
Very successful.

Lamb and Aubergine Makhani

Friday, 5th October 2012

Hamlyn, 200 Curries p52. Another curry triumph. Marinade cubed lamb in a blended mix of garlic, ginger, vinegar, tomato puree and yoghurt, for up to 24 hours. I only managed about 1 hour. Gently fry some cardamon pods, onion and cinnamon in ghee or butter, until the onion is softened add the lamb mix and cook for 10 minutes. Add diced aubergine and chilli powder and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes to thicken the sauce. Add a little cream and simmer for 5 more minutes. Garnish with a little more cream and chopped coriander.
Very nicely creamy with just the right edge or spice. It was a little too tomatoey for me, although my partner liked it that way. Went down very well with saffron rice and the turkish breads again.

Lamb Kidney Curry

Thursday, 13th September 2012

India Cookbook p490. One of the great things about curry is that you can make it with anything. I once made a fantastic curry with a tin of tuna.
In this case a few lamb's kidneys, onions and a good quantity of fresh coriander.
Heat ground fennel seeds, chili powder, asafoetida, cloves and yoghurt over a low heat, until the moisture has gone, add the kidneys and fry until browned. The recipe calls for adding lambs testes at this point but, strangely, my local butcher was all out of them, so I added some chopped onions with the kidneys instead! :)
Add some water and simmer for a bit, then add ground coriander, garam masala, ginger paste, and chopped coriander. Simmer until the sauce is thick and serve with more coriander.
The bread is actually Turkish, but makes a very good substitute for paratha.

Lamb curry, Bhindi, Paratha, Lime Pickle

Saturday, 26th February

Nahari (Morning Delight) - India Cookbook p433, Bhindi Pyaz (crispy okra with onions) p246, Paratha (flaky bread) p609, saffron rice and home-made lime pickle.  The Nahari is a lamb curry with onions and a nice rich sauce spiced with coriander, black cardamom, turmeric, chilli, cloves, cinnamon, garlic and ginger  .  [For any German readers, "curry" is a generic term for any Indian main course dish (or, indeed, the meal as a whole) and not just a name for a spicy brownish sauce you have with sausages.]

The Nahari recipe calls for rather a lot of a sort of roux, made from garam flour, to be added at the end.  It seemed like far too much, so I left a lot of this out, but the sauce was still very glossy and thick.  With all the roux mixed in, the sauce would have been like glue I think.  Making the Paratha was fun and it did come out lovely and crisp and flaky, but still a bit floury in taste.  The bhindi were much better than I expected.  I cooked them for ages to reduce the gooiness but they still had a surprisingly good bite.  The home made lime pickle is something I did last year and which is still fabulous.  Not quite as hot as I would expect in an Indian restaurant in England, but very flavourful.