Lamb curry and rice

I can’t remember where I got this way of doing curries from, but I have been making them this way for years.

You make a purée or paste in a blender from an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, one or two fresh chillies, ginger and a splash of water.

Set this aside while you fry a sliced onion in some oil with a bay leaf or two.

Then add in dry spices; I use toasted and finely ground cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, turmeric and Kashmiri chilli powder and fry these in with the onions.

Then add the paste to the pan and cook until everything is mixed in and add a few tablespoonfuls of yoghurt, one at a time, stirring well so that each spoonful is amalgamated before adding in the next.

Then add cubed meat, I used lamb tonight and cook the meat in the paste for a while before seasoning with salt and pepper and adding some chopped tomatoes and water and covering and simmering the curry until the meat is soft.

Add in a spoonful of garam masala, stir and then serve it with rice, chopped fresh coriander and whatever side dishes you like. I like a cucumber and mint raita and some chutneys but a dhal or something with spinach works well too.

You can also add a drained tin of chickpeas towards the end or some lentils early during the cooking to add some bulk to the dish.

It is one of those basic recipes that is pretty much as flexible as you want it to be. If you add some frozen spinach during the cooking you get something close to a saag gosht type of thing.