Topic: Lamb & Spinach Madras (Medium hot)

[bighairybloke]

Hi all,

this is my first post of a recipe, but this is my tried and tested version of lamb and spinach madras, which I'd like some feedback on.  I discovered this website some time back and have been working my way through the base sauces posted on here and by far the best so far and the closest to my local curry houses base sauce is Darthphalls.  However i have modified it over the months as i felt it needed refining to be a truly flexible base sauce which is important to me as I'm looking to develop a wide reportoire of BIR style and authentic curries.  I have been on Indian cookery courses in India recently and have used these experiences to move my curry making skills forward.

I hope you enjoy this curry, its a rich, robust curry, not too hot- about what my local BIR would call 'Madras hot'.  Its most prominent spices are cummin, coriander and fenugreek.  Sweeter aromatic spices are minimal IE cardamom, Cinnamon and cloves, but there is a little fennel.

Serves 4 people very well, (or 2 people extremely well!)

Fry (in 2 ladles of oil)-
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp fennel seed
Pinch mustard seed
till popped then add (quickly and in this order)-
3 finely chopped cloves of garlic (oil should spit and splatter)
1 rounded tsp ginger pulp (stir)
4 finely chopped chillies (keep stirring)
2 onions finely chopped and fry until slightly brown, then slow until soft-about 15-20 mins.
Then add the spice mixture (all these mixed in a little water)
1 & a half tsp cumin powder
1 & a half tsp coriander powder
Pinch fenugreek powder
Pinch cardamom powder
half a tsp garam masala
1 large tbs dried fenugreek leaf
fry for a minute then add-
500g raw or precooked lamb
500ml curry base (I use Darthphalls base sauce made with no chilli powder, half the amount of curry powder and the onion is fried along with the garlic and ginger at the begining until golden and then on a very low heat until well softened)
1 X 400g tin of spinach
One handful coriander leaf and stem and cook for another 10 mins add a little more coriander leaf and serve.  Alternatively, to make the lamb more tender, keep cooking on a very low heat for an hour, then add the coriander leaf and serve.

Enjoy!

Steve

[Panpot]

Thanks for this Bighairybloke,I will give it a go soon. Your experience in India must have been cool and if you continue to share with us we will be so much better off. Cheers Panpot

[bighairybloke]

Cheers Panpot, i look forward to hearing your opinion mate.

steve

[chinois]

Hi bighairybloke 
This looks pretty similar to what i learned in a kitchen in udaipur, rajastan. I see you've added base sauce to make it more BIR, sounds like a good idea! The one i learned was definately milder than expected.
My problem with these more traditional indian recipes is the time they take for each one. Having said that i do spend quite a while preparing when cooking BIR style anyway!