Coconut lamb curry

This is another of the delicious Indian dishes that we had on Saturday night.  Both Connie and I were craving lamb curry, so we picked up a boneless lamb shoulder at the big TNT shop, then searched for a recipe when we got back, which we almost followed.

We used one whole shoulder and it fed 9 with a spoonful for dinner on Monday night.

1 small boneless shoulder of lamb chopped in to small chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves
4 whole black peppercorns
1 small stick of cinnamon
1 star anise
2 medium onions chopped
2 large garlic cloves crated or finely chopped
1 teaspoon of ginger finely chopped
1 tablespoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of garam masala
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of cashew nuts whizzed in a spice grinder
1 can of coconut milk
2 green chillies very finely chopped.
Garnish with fresh coriander

Place the oil and the first 4 whole spices in a large pot, cook them for a couple of minutes until they are fragrant.

I wish you could smell this

Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes until they are golden brown, then stir in the garlic and ginger.

Cook for a further couple of minutes. Then add the remainder of the spices, the green chili's  and the ground nuts.  If you did not have cashews, almonds would be fine. Now stir in the chopped up lamb.

Then pour on the coconut milk and a cup of water.

Cook on a low heat until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.  I would think this would be a contender for the slow cooker, just think what you kitchen would smell like when you came home from work.

If the sauce is a little thin then just simmer for a few minutes with the top off until it has concentrated down to the right Constancy.

This was another dish in a veritable cornucopia of delicious Indian food.  Connie made some Raita which is good plain yogurt mixed with grated cucumber and toasted cumin seeds this is a great addition to any Indian meal especially if any of the dishes turned out a little hot it really helps cool the pallet.  Any way vision from Friday night fulfilled.

After a comment from my blogesphere friend caramelwings I checked for recipe for haleem, and indeed this was very similar to the recipe that I had found.  The original recipe that I based  my dish on also had mint in it, but as I did not have any I did not include it.  So in fact this appears to based on a dish from Persia and Pakistan rather than India, but never mind it was delicious.  Thank you for the suggestion.