A warming winter curry

Last weekend it was our friend Gavin's birthday and we contributed a lamb and eggplant curry to the festivities. You can read about how it all turned out on Gav's blog: the Greening of  Gavin. But I thought I'd share the recipe because it's one of our favourites.

This recipe is actually a Better Homes and Garden's recipe from sometime last year (very possibly the same time last year) and it's the perfect winter meal when you've got some time to let the seeds and spices and meat and vegetables just simmer away for an hour or more. It's served with a tomato salsa and yoghurt and rice and it's warming and fragrant and delicious.

Curry Ingredients

Besan (chickpea flour)

300mls natural yoghurt

600mls water

Olive oil

4 small eggplants, cut lengthways and cubed, salted and rinsed

900g lean diced lamb

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp fenugreek seeds

2 tblsp black mustard seeds

2 brown onions, sliced

5 garlic cloves, chopped

3 long, red chillies (or to taste)

2 tsp tumeric powder

1.5 tsp cumin powder

1.5 tsp chilli powder

3 tsp salt

8 cm piece ginger, grated

1 can chopped tomatoes

2 sprigs curry leaves

Method:

It might look like a long list of ingredients, but it's really not too complicated. You just need to get everything chopped and measured out before you start cooking.

Combine the water and chickpea flour and whisk lightly

Add yoghurt and whisk until smooth

Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan

Fry off the eggplant until brown

Place on absorbant paper and set aside

Add a bit more oil to the same saucepan

Fry up the seeds for about 1 and a half minutes

Add a bit more oil

Add the onions, garlic and chilli and cook for about 2minutes

Add the spices and salt and stir through for a minute

Add the ginger and stir through

I can smell the spices now...yum

Add the lamb, brown and cook covered for about 10 minutes. (You might need to turn the heat down a fraction)

Add the can tomatoes, yoghurt mixture, eggplant and curry leaves and then simmer for at least an hour.

Just needs to simmer for a while

Salsa Ingredients

1 tbsp brown sugar

juice of 2 limes

1 spanish onion, diced

4 fresh tomatoes, diced

1 tsp nigella seeds

1/2 tsp celery seeds

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

4 cm piece of ginger, grated or chopped

Easy  - mix all that stuff together and there's your salsa.

Serve the curry with some basmati rice, some extra yoghurt and the salsa.