Lamb & spinach Curry

Foreword

I'm so excited about the coming weeks. I've decided to completely change the look of my blog and, well, lets just say, it's going to be fun. Watch this space.....

I love Indian, and with so many wonderfully exotic ingredients now readily available through supermarkets and ethnic food stores, we really don't need to resort to only opting for take away Indian meals. When looking through any curry recipe it always looks like there are so many ingredients, but once your cupboard is well stocked with spices it's easy to whip up something wonderful from scratch. There are lots of good quality 'lazy' garlic and ginger pastes available which work fine in an emergency. Plus, in my experience, if you happen to be missing a spice, it's not the end of the world and it won't affect the dish. The most common spices I use are cumin and corriander (ground) so I tend to by big bags of these, for everything else the small little jars last for a considerable length of time. 

This dish is the best Indian curry I've made in a long time. Please don't be disheartened with the list of ingredients. The method, is a doddle, and the results are better than any Indian curry house! 

I'd recommend you download some Indian pop music when cooking and eating this. A bollywood dance and a bottle of beer makes the cooking process even more fun. I love a dance when I'm cooking.

Lamb & Spinach Curry (or is it Sagg?)

1 1/2 lbs diced lamb shoulder

1/2 tsp whole cloves

1/2 tsp Cardamom pods

1/2 tsp Corriander Seeds

1/2 tsp pepper corns

3 star anaise

1 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp  ground corriander

3 chopped large red chilis 

2" piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 onion, diced

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

4 tblsp of natural yogurt

1/2 pint chicken stock

2 teaspoons of salt

1 large bag of fresh spinach, finely chopped.

Butter & groundnut oil

Method

1. In a large casserole, heat 3 tablespoons of oil. Add all the spices and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. I love this part, the smells are overwhelmingly fragrant.

2. Add the meat and fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomatoes, stock, salt, yogurt and spinach. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 60 minutes, or until the lamb is tender

3. I added about 1 oz butter at the end to enrich the sauce. This isn't necessary, especially if you want to save calories

4. Serve with basmati or pilau rice.