This lamb just fell apart as it entered my mouth......
I made a Lamb Madras yesterday using Cory's recipe, what's new to that you all say.... but about 2 years ago I bought a Kenwood Curry cooker. Basically it's a slow cooker that you would normally use for anything really, I guess Kenwood just wasn't selling enough slow cookers and decided to call it a curry cooker, and threw in a recipe booklet containing every Patak's paste going.
I've tried cooking lamb before, but never with great results. Its always been a bit chewy and hard. So I decided to try the "Curry Cooker".
I put oil in a pan as normal and browned the lamb pieces then set aside, then added the garlic and ginger paste, then the spices and fresh chopped chillies and the tomato puree, then 100ml of curry base. I let it cook through for a minute or so.
I then transferred everything to the "Curry Cooker" added another 200ml of curry base and some lemon juice.
I cooked this dish for around 4-5 hours on the lowest setting possible, turning occasionally. The aroma was amazing.....
The whole dish took on a new dimension for me, and became really hot compared to the normal Madras I make using the pan and high heat method.
I've often gone for a paper on a Saturday morning in the parade of shops where the local BIR is, and around 11 o'clock the smell coming from that BIR is enough to hypnotise you. The smell coming from that cooker wasn't far from that at all.
I let it all cool and put it in the fridge and plated it up tonight for dinner. The lamb just fell apart in my mouth, the texture was a rich thick sauce and the taste was out of this world.
Now normally, a madras is slightly runny, orangy in colour. But that is what I have gotten used to over these past few years instead of the thick rich sauces of the curries I was introduced to back in the 70's.
My favourite dish has always been the Lamb Bhuna, but I have never ever been able to reproduce that thick rich sauce that a Bhuna has.
I now think that good BIR's don't just whisk curries up in a hurry to suit the numbers coming in through the door, but GOOD curry houses actually spend quite a bit of time in the background producing excellent rich sauces which they add fresh ingredients to for the final curry.
I know one thing, my next dish will be the Lamb Bhuna done this way and I'll let you all know how it came out..........
Here's a couple of pictures of that final Lamb Madras I had for dinner tonight


