Topic: Methi Gosht recipe

[Pakora King]

This was a real favourite in the Glasgow curry houses of old. I tried to recreate it last week using diced lamb from the supermarket and fresh fenugreek (methi) leaves, done for 5 hours in the slow cooker. Two issues - the lamb was not tender, also the leaves didn't seem to break down and impart the same colour or flavour to the dish.

Does anyone have an authentic recipe, also what type of lamb is best, should you use halal? Would dried leaves be better than fresh?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Sorry that no-one (including myself) has replied to this, PK.  I've searched this forum, and there does not seem to be a recipe for BIR-style methi gosht (which is something of a surprise), so all I can suggest is that you search the web. perhaps focussing on recipes offered by chefs from the sub-continent.  To answer your specific questions :

• what type of lamb is best
• should you use halal
• would dried leaves be better than fresh?

In the Glasgow curry houses of old I would have expected that the "lamb" would be mutton or goat.  I would not myself choose to use halal lamb, and I don't believe that halal meat has a significantly different flavour (tho' it may).  I would not have expected those same curry houses to have had access to fresh methi leaves in the old days.

** Phil.

[Pakora King]

Thanks Phil, that is very interesting re mutton/goat instead of lamb. I'd be more than willing to try it but can't say I've ever seen either for sale anywhere, would you have any pointers on where to get some?

I did trawl the web and came up with the slow cooker recipe I ended up trying, but with the 2 above issues, apart from that it did taste pretty good.

[Naga]

@PakoraKing, I tried a Methi Chicken recipe many years ago (can't remember which one!) with fresh methi leaves bought from my usual Asian store. I can't remember what I thought of it, or even if I posted the result on here, but however it turned out, I didn't repeat the experiment.

I've got written recipes from 3 sources buried deep in my hard drive. Here's the web links:

1. https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11980.msg95738.html#msg95738

The author of the post, Bengali Bob, didn't often give away much info about his recipes, but I've got this one written down as being based on ChewyTikka's Madras. It's worth checking out MethiGoshtFreak's comments on this thread.

METHI CHICKEN BY BENGALI BOB (based on ChewyTikka

[Peripatetic Phil]

Thanks Phil, that is very interesting re mutton/goat instead of lamb. I'd be more than willing to try it but can't say I've ever seen either for sale anywhere, would you have any pointers on where to get some?  I did trawl the web and came up with the slow cooker recipe I ended up trying, but with the 2 above issues, apart from that it did taste pretty good.

You'd need to let me know your approximate geographical location, PK.  I can tell you where to find goat in Plymouth, Ashford (Kent) and a few other places, but if you know of any reasonably nearby butcher from the sub-continent, just go in and ask.  And a good English "family butcher" should be able to source mutton for you, tho' you may need to buy more than a pound (in weight) at a time.

** Phil.

[Pakora King]

I'm in Dublin, plenty of Indian shops here so I can ask for goat or mutton.

Phil - thanks for that info, is there a start-to-finish recipe for the methi gosht?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Ah, Dublin, what a lovely city.  Stayed there for a few days on the way to Athens a couple of years ago

[Pakora King]

You must have got lucky in Dublin, most of the curry houses here aren't a patch on the UK; some really good Asian and Japanese places but not so much Indian in my experience.

Watched both the youtube recipes - the first one the sauce looked very watery, the second one the fresh leaves looked very evident in the finished dish.

What I remember is just tender cubes of lamb (goat/mutton?) in a dark green, almost black thick sauce tasting like the methi (not sure if fresh or dried) has completely melted into it; neither of those looks like the one.

[Peripatetic Phil]

You must have got lucky in Dublin, most of the curry houses here aren't a patch on the UK; some really good Asian and Japanese places but not so much Indian in my experience.

Well, we ate there because they seemed to have a lot of customers from the sub-continent, which is always a good  sign ...

Watched both the youtube recipes - the first one the sauce looked very watery, the second one the fresh leaves looked very evident in the finished dish.

What I remember is just tender cubes of lamb (goat/mutton?) in a dark green, almost black thick sauce tasting like the methi (not sure if fresh or dried) has completely melted into it; neither of those looks like the one.

Fair enough, but it is never easy to find a recipe that will yield results similar to those in someone else's mind.  I can only suggest that you try what I did