This recipe is adapted from Rick Stein’s “Food Heroes” book and was given to him by Mumrez Khan when he visited Bradford’s Karachi Restaurant when filming his TV series of the same name. If you’ve been disappointed with home-cooked curries in the past, then give this one a try - the results are superb. I love the way the green chillies are added - they’re blitzed at the end with a little water and added to the curry, giving a delicious, fresh flavour.
Ingredients
- 150g ghee
- 550g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 65g garlic, peeled (about 1 bulb/12-15 cloves)
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 200ml water
- 900g boneless lamb (leg or shoulder), cut into large cubes
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp each of the following: turmeric, red chilli powder, sweet paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 200g baby spinach
- 2-4 medium-sized green chillies, stalks removed
- 2 handfuls fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Method
- Heat the ghee in a large cast-iron casserole. Cook the onions gently for about 20 minutes until soft and light brown in colour. Take the casserole off the heat.
- Blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Return the mixture to the oil in the casserole and add the lamb and salt. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. The sauce will now be well-reduced.
- Stir through the ground spices and cook for a further 1½-2 hours. Add a little water every now and then if the sauce starts to stick.
- Check the lamb is cooked to your satisfaction. At this point, you can spoon off the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce (see below). Stir through the spinach puree and the rest of the spinach leaves. Add the green chilli puree and simmer and heat through for another 10 minutes.
- Just before the lamb is finished cooking, make the spinach puree. Put 150g of the spinach leaves in a large saucepan along with a splash of water. Place a lid on the saucepan and cook for about 2 minutes or until the spinach has wilted down. Transfer the spinach to a liquidizer along with another splash of water and blend until smooth. Add to the curry.
- Make the chilli pureé. Blend the green chillies with some water until smooth and add to the curry.
- Stir through the garam masala and fresh coriander. Taste for seasoning, adding plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Serve with rice and naan bread with some cooling yoghurt on the side, if you wish.
Notes
- The original recipe specifies heart-stopping quantities of ghee, an Indian clarified butter. I’ve experimented with this and have discovered you can easily cut down from 250g to 150g, with no loss of flavour. You also have the option of skimming off the ghee at the end of cooking. The best way to achieve this is to leave the pot to stand at a slight angle for 15 minutes. That way, the ghee will collect at one side of the pot where it will be easy to skim off.
- The addition of pureéd spinach may seem bonkers, but it tastes really good and also lightens the dish somewhat. You could add the spinach directly to the curry without pureéing but you lose out on the excellent colour it gives the dish.
- A note on cooking times: Rick’s recipe specifies 1½ hours total cooking time. I’ve found this does not give enough time to make the meat very tender, which is the way I like it. I cook this gently for 2-2½ hours which gives me the result I want. Next time I make this curry, I’m going to cook it in the oven - 160°C for 2½ hours should do it.
- Finally, important for all curries (indeed, all stews and braises), this will taste immeasurably better on the second day after being left to stand overnight. This softens the flavour of the garlic, onion and spices and allows the curry to mellow. Do give this a try if you can - leave to stand overnight then prepare the spinach puree when you’re reheating the curry.
Variations
- Add a 400g tin of cooked chickpeas to bulk this recipe out and give it some extra nutrition.
- Adding a tablespoon of dried fenugreek leaves gives this curry an extra dimension.
- Omit the spinach leaves and use this as a “base” sauce, adding extra ingredients to make your favourite restaurant-style curry: lemon juice will give you a “Madras”. Adding lots of dried chillies, a little red wine vinegar and some cubes of cooked potato will produce a “Vindaloo”. Add a portion of tarka dal, sugar, lemon juice and some cubed pineapple to give you a “Dhansak”. And so on…
Serves 6.
Dal is often consigned to the “side dishes” section on restaurant menus, but this hearty lentil curry deserves to take centre-stage. It makes a fantastic meal accompanied by some bread or rice. I think lemon rice makes a particularly nice accompaniment, though this is not very authentic. Tadka dal is more a north Indian specialty, lemon rice being from the south.
Ingredients
- 225g toor dal
- 750ml water
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 green chillis
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced/finely chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp onion (nigella) seeds
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 8 curry leaves
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon
- fresh coriander, a handful
Method
- Rinse the lentils and check for little stones. Rinse well using a sieve, then place in a large saucepan along with the water, turmeric and salt. Make an incision in the green chillies and add them too.
- Bring to the boil and skim off any scum that rises to the top of the cooking water. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes. Stir regularly as the lentils will stick to the bottom of the pan as the liquid evaporates.
- While the lentils are cooking, make the tadka in a separate pan. Heat the butter and oil, then add the whole spices and curry leaves. Stir-fry until the mustard seeds start to pop. Reduce the heat then add the onion and garlic. Cook gently for about 15 minutes or until the onions are soft and browned. Add the chopped tomatoes and fenugreek then cook for another 5 minutes.
- The lentils should now be fully cooked. Squash the lentils using a potato masher (or use a stick blender) to achieve a creamy consistency. You can add a little extra water if you want a thinner consistency.
- Add the tadka to the lentils and simmer very gently for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir through the fresh coriander and a good squeeze of lemon juice, then serve.
Cheat’s Sambar - This recipe can be easily converted into a cheaty version of sambar, a thin lentil soup commonly eaten in South India. When the dal is cooked, add 750ml - 1 litre of good-quality vegetable stock, 2 tsp of tamarind extract and some chopped vegetables. I use canned chickpeas, frozen peas and frozen broad beans. Simmer gently until the vegetables are cooked. This is also a good way of using leftover dal; just use a smaller amount of stock and vegetables until you achieve the desired consistency.
Another Indian snack/starter, which I’m a little obsessed with of late. Chunks of chicken are marinated in yoghurt and spices, then roasted quickly in a hot oven. Not as good as those produced by the tandoor, but they taste great. Just like the Seekh Kebab, you could add some red food colouring for that authentic Indian restaurant vibe but it’s not necessary.
Ingredients
- 2 large free-range chicken fillets
- 8 tbsp natural yoghurt
- ½ tsp sea salt
- juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tsp of the following: ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, paprika
- 2 tsp garam masala
- ½ chilli powder
- 2 red onions
Method
- Cut the chicken into large pieces, about the size of a walnut, and place in a mixing bowl.
- Add the yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and ground spices and mix well. Cut the red onions into quarters and add to the chicken. Mix again and leave to marinate for an hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Thread the chicken and onion pieces onto skewers. If you’re using wooden skewers, remember to soak them in water for an hour first.
- Place the skewers on a grill pan and roast for about 15 mins. You can also use a grill rack on a baking sheet.
- I like to serve these on naan bread with mango chutney and yoghurt.
Serves 2.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the majority of Indians did not know how to make a cup of tea and were reluctant to drink one. Now that India is both the world’s major producer and consumer of tea, this seems incredible. It confounds the myth that the British acquired their love of tea from their Indian subjects. In fact, it was the British who introduced tea to the Indians. Although they barely changed the way Indians eat, the British radically altered what they eat and drink. While the introduction of a wide variety of European and American vegetables to India was an inadvertent by-product of British rule, the conversion of the population to tea-drinking was the result of what must have been the first major marketing campaign in India. The British-owned Indian Tea Association set itself the task of first creating a new habit among the Indian population, and then spreading it across the entire subcontinent.
Extract from “Curry - A Biography” by Lizzie Collingham.
If like me, you tend to “over-indulge” when you eat Indian food, chai is a great option for dessert when you’re too full, but you still want to satisfy that sweet tooth. The fragrant spices are infused in boiling water and milk before the tea is steeped. Chai is also believed to be great for tummy upsets and generally aiding digestion.
Even if you’re not accustomed to taking sugar in your tea, don’t skip on the sweetening. You need it to bring out the warmth and flavour of the spices.
Ingredients
- 350ml water
- 100 ml milk
- 5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 5 black peppercorns
- 3 cloves
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- piece of cinnamon stick (about 5cm)
- slice of ginger root (about 2cm thick)
- 1 tsp tea leaves (black tea)
- 1-2 tsp sugar
Method
- Heat the water, milk, ginger and spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and leave simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Take off the heat and add the tea leaves. Leave to stand for 3 minutes before straining into a mug and sweetening to taste with a little sugar. A teaspoon or two should do it.
Serves 1.
