This curry is full of aromatic spices (img via Flickr)

The last few posts of mine have focused on curry recipes. I can’t get enough of curry. I’m not really a fan of heat,  but I like my mild spices layered and infused for a perfect blend.

My husband is the curry star in our house and this is one of his creations. Here he has borrowed various Indian styles to make a delicious and fairly traditional lamb stew. This recipe is a little more complicated than the previous recipes. Please do let me know if you like it as I have a couple more recipes similar to this that I’d love to share with you.

Ingredients for marinade

• 20-30 plain unroasted cashews
• 4tbsp thinly sliced dried coconut
• 1 inch piece ginger chopped
• 3-6 garlic cloves
• 4 green chillies
• 2 cups fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup of water (or cream if you like)

1. Blend these ingredients into a fine paste
2. Take 1.5lbs lamb from shoulder or leg cut into 1-inch square pieces, remove almost all of the fat, thoroughly coat the lamb in the paste and marinate overnight in fridge.
3. Allow lamb to come up to room temperature before adding to the dish.

Directions for stew:

1. put 3 tbsp of oil in the pan and heat till warm
2. take 3 green cardamom, 1inch piece of cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and break up roughly with a mortar and pestle
3. cook for (2min) on low heat then add 1 diced onion and cook until onion is soft (15min)

Further Ingredients and Directions for Stew

• 2 tomatoes cut in quarters or eights
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1tsp freshly ground cumin seeds
• 1tsp freshly ground coriander seeds
• cook together till tomatoes are soft and beginning to fall apart (5 min)
• add the lamb and its marinade making sure to thoroughly stir all the ingredients
• add 2 cups of water and thoroughly stir all ingredients till fully mixed
• turn heat on high and let stew come to a boil, cook at this temp (5-7min) constantly stirring so that it does not stick to the bottom and burn (if it burns it is ruined!)
• now turn the heat back down to simmer and let stew continue to cook for 45min – if mixture becomes too thick add more water
• serve over rice with naan on the side
• garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime

 If you prefer a not-too-spicy curry ,use less green chillies and omit the cayenne. Bon appetit!