Ingredients
Two pounds of cubed leg of lamb, trimmed of fat
Six teaspoons ground coriander, lightly toasted
Half teaspoon ground cumin
Half teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
Half teaspoon ground black pepper
Quarter teaspoon ground turmeric
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
Half teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely ground with a mortar and pestle
One and half tablespoons white vinegar
Salt to taste
Two medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
Half cup thinly sliced onion
Five tablespoons vegetable oil
Two teaspoons minced garlic
Two teaspoons minced ginger
Half cup water
Half teaspoons mustard seeds
10 curry or two bay leaves
Quarter cup minced onion
Method
Marinate the lamb in the mixture of ground spices, fennel seeds, and vinegar for at least one hour.
In a saucepan of salted water, parboil cubed potatoes for 12 minutes, set aside.
In a large frying pan over medium- high heat, fry half cup sliced onion in oil until the edges are nicely browned. Add garlic and ginger and stir for two minutes, or until the onion turns medium brown.
Add marinated lamb and stir until the meat is no longer pink. Add salt and half cup water to keep the meat simmering. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the meat is tender and sauce is reduced to a very small amount.
Meanwhile, in a nonstick frying pan, over medium high-heat, fry the potatoes in 2 tablespoons oil until light brown, crusty and cooked through, for about 20 minutes. Add potatoes to lamb. Raise heat to medium-high and stir to coat thoroughly with sauce. Turn heat down to low.
In a small covered frying pan, heat mustard seeds and curry leaves in one tablespoon of oil over medium heat until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Add a quarter cup of minced onion and fry until they turn light brown. Pour contents of frying pan over lamb and potatoes, stir well, and remove from heat. Taste for salt.
The whole effort takes about 80 minutes, apart from the marinating time. Serves six.
Source: Source: Curried Favors, Maya Kaimal
This is a wonderfull curry. Friends and family agree! This is now the third time we’ve had this curry. We like it over rice with a side of naan bread. The first time I made it the potato turned into mush and acted like a thickener which changes the texture quite a bit. It’s still a nice curry that way, but not as it was intended according to the recipe. I recomend (in my humble opinion) to parboil the potato for 5 minutes rather than 12 this allows you to brown chunks of potato instead of making potato pancakes 🙂
-J
Good presentation.
I thought of typing in Malayalam, my mother tongue but the show keyboard key doesn’t seem to work. Well, lamb/mutton piralan being a traditional kerala delicacy is a favorite. I had made it even few days back. I would suggest using 2-3 crushed shallots with this recipe and to use curry leaves, if available. That gives the best taste. 🙂
Prathibha
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“In a small covered frying pan, heat mustard seeds and curry leaves in one tablespoon of oil over medium heat until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Add a quarter cup of minced onion and fry until they turn light brown. Pour contents of frying pan over lamb and potatoes, stir well, and remove from heat.”
This last part is called Varathidal in malayalam and Tadka in hindi which gives great flavor to the curry but it is rarely done for the meat preparation. Once you pour the tadka in to the curry, make sure you close it with a lid to preserve the aroma and the flavor. You can lift the lid and mix it up after 5-7 minutes. And here again, shallots give better flavor and aroma for tadka! 🙂
If it is for veg curries, like dal(lentils) you can use dry red pepper for tadka along wit mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Well, if you to save time, you could rather use pressure cooker to cook it upto 90% and then do stove-top cooking. The taste is not compromised in it. 🙂
I am so happy to see so many kerala recipes in your site. Great work. 🙂