As mentioned before, I love cooking Indian food. And I love lamb. So no surprise that fairly often I cook a lamb curry of some sort or another. I am a disciple of the great Madhur Jaffrey and it is through her books that I have developed my basic curry making methods. The idea of using pumpkin with lamb came from an unscheduled trip to the Humaira Indian Restaurant near Kings Cross – we popped in there to eat something before meeting up with people for drinks and were pleasantly surprised. The star of the show was a lamb and pumpkin dish…I can’t remember the name but thought I’d have a go at something like it at home. So here goes….
Lamb and Pumpkin Curry
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2” piece of garlic, finely grated
I tsp. fennel seeds
2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds
5 black cardamom pods
750g lamb shoulder cut into chunks
3 medium tomatoes chopped
Small handfulof chopped fresh mint
300g pumpkin, peeled and cut into same size chunks as lamb
1. In a wide based sauté pan or wok heat a tablespoon of vegetable and gently cook the onions garlic and ginger until softened and golden brown – it usually takes ten minutes to get it really melting.
2. Toast the seeds in a dry frying pan for a few minutes and they start releasing their aromas then grind in a pestle and mortar or coffee grinder. Add to the onion mixture and cook for five minutes. Add the black cardamom pods.
3. Turn the heat up and add the lamb, stirring in the spice mixture for five minutes until browned. Add the tomatoes,mint and half a pint of water and simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Add the pumpkin and cook for a further 30 minutes, uncovering towards the end of the cooking time to reduce the sauce.
This sounds really delicious. Thanks for putting this up...
ReplyDeleteSimon