Lamb and Veg Curry

When it starts to get cold outside, a great way to warm up is with a spicy curry, loaded up with plenty of meat and veg. We haven’t found a really good Indian curry house in Paris yet so as the old mantra goes, if you want something done properly, do it yourself!




I love frying up the spices and blending them up to make my own curry paste. It’s easy to make if you have a blender. You can buy ready-made jar sauces, but it’s just not as fun. Most of the ingredients are readily available in large UK supermarkets. In France we tend to have to buy these from smaller ethnic shops. There are a few missing ingredients such as curry leaves and turmeric but if you can get most of the other stuff you’ll be ok.

I like to use lamb shoulder as it’s marbled with fat which gives it a good taste and also stops it from being too dry. Some people don’t like the taste of lamb but I think the pungent nature of it is what makes it so great. For this recipe I bought a whole lamb joint which was almost 1 kilo but only used half of it. I put the other half around the joint into the freezer to save for another day (roast lamb coming soon)! You can use any mix of vegetables you like, sometimes I use some mushrooms or okra (ladyfinger) but on this particular day, I couldn’t really be bothered to walk down to the Vietnamese store a few blocks away which is the only place I’ve been able to find fresh ones locally.

Remember to open up the windows though, our apartment still smells of curry a week after!

Spices for curry paste:

• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons garam masala powder
• 2 doz cardomon pods
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch cube of ginger
  
  
  

Marinade for meat:

• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• Juice of 1 lime

Ingredients:

• 400g lamb shoulder
• 2 red onions sliced
• 3 green birds eye chillies, chopped
• 3 tins of chopped tomatoes
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
• 2 courgettes, sliced
• 4 large handfuls of spinach
• 3 peppers copped into large cubes
• 10cl crème fraiche

Method:
Marinade the meat for at least half an hour before cooking. The lime juice should help tenderize the meat.
Fry all the spices for the paste on low heat in a non-stick pan for about 10 minutes.
Blend this mixture down with vegetable oil until it is a paste.

In a large cooking pot, heat vegetable oil and add the curry paste.
Fry this for a few minutes then add the red onion and green chillis.
Add the meat to the pot and season well with salt, sugar and pepper. All the meat to seal completely.
Add the 3 tins of tomatoes, plus one tin of water or vegetable stock if you have any.
Bring this to the boil and allow to simmer for about an hour.

Add the potatoes and carrots, bring to the boil again and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes. The rest of the vegetables can be added about 10 minutes before serving so they don’t get too soft.
Just before serving stir in the crème fraiche.