A lamb and potato stew, slow cooked with yogurt and aromatic indian spices.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
2 lb lamb,preferably bone in
4 small potatoes (try using a waxy potato variety, you could use baby potatoes as well)
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
6 green cardamom
1 black cardamom (skip you do not have)
4-5 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 blade of mace
3-4 whole dried red chillies (preferably kashmiri, or use any mild variety adjust to taste)
3 tbsp plain, unsweetened full fat yogurt (not greek)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
4-5 tbsp mustard oil (or use olive/canola), divided
1 cup onions, thinly sliced
1 large bay leaf
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped (yield about 1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
2 tsp coriander powder
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
Warm water as required
Chopped Cilantro to garnish
Method
Clean and pat dry the lamb pieces.Sprinkle them with a little salt (1/4 tsp or so) and set aside.
Meanwhile, peel and cut the potatoes into halves.
Using a mortar and pestle, very coarsely break the whole spices (cumin, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon & mace). Set aside.
Remove the stems from the dried green chillies and de seed them if you want.
Whisk together nutmeg and yogurt. Set aside.
Heat the 2 tbsp mustard oil in a heavy bottomed pot/dutch oven (I use my 3qt) to a smoking point on medium heat.
If using mustard oil, you need to heat it up till the point it starts slightly smoking to ensure the raw smell is gone.
Layer the lamb pieces in a single layer. Sear for 2-3 minutes on each side to get a light brown color.
Remove on a plate and let sit. Add remaining 2 tbsp oil to the pot and let heat up again to do away the raw smell.
Once the oil is heated,reduce the heat to low and wait to lower the temperature a bit.
Add the sliced onions and bay leaf. On medium low heat, fy the onions till they are golden brown.
Add the coarse ground whole spices to the oil next and cook for a minute or so till you smell a nice aroma.
Do not let the spices burn.
Next add the ginger & garlic and saute for another minute or so. Add the dry red chillies next. Stir around.
Next, add the lamb pieces back to the pot, bump up the heat to high and stir around so as to coat the meat.
Cook for 8-10 minutes with continuous stirring until you see that the lamb pieces are starting to turn dark brown on the edges.
At this point, reduce heat to very low, wait for 3-4 minutes and add the whisked yogurt to the pot.
Also add the coriander, red chili & turmeric powder.
Do not stir immediately else the yogurt will curdle.
Allow 1-2 minutes before combining everything together.
You will see a lot of water right now since the lamb also starts releasing its juices, but that's fine.
Cook on open flame for 6-8 minutes and then add the tomatoes. Stir around to combine and cover the pot.
Let cook on stove for 30-35 minutes on low heat periodically checking to make sure the liquid in the pot doesn’t dissipate and adding warm water when needed.
Meanwhile, warm your oven to 275F.
After 30-35 minutes of stove top cooking, check that there is enough liquid in the pot, I add about a cup of water
(do not add too much water at a time) and transfer the pot with lid to the oven.
Let slow cook for about 2.5-3 hours (this time will depend on how big or small your stewing lamb pieces are) inside the oven till the lamb is 95% cooked.
You can check once or twice in between to see that the stew is not drying out.
Open the lid, you will see a deep reddish colored gravy, stir and add potatoes, add more water depending on the consistency required and check the salt.
Cover the lid and again let cook for 30-45 minutes or till the potatoes are fork tender and the meat is very tender, just about to fall apart from the bones
and the flavor & color of the gravy is intense.
Let sit for 1-2 hours before serving.Garnish with chopped cilantro & serve with warm rotis (flatbreads) and salad.
Notes
Use a oven safe pot with lid to cook the stew. I use my 3 qt dutch oven.
If you do not have a oven, you can continue to cook the stew on the low stove with lid, the process remains the same,stir at intervals till the meat is tender
For 2 lb lamb it will approximately take 2-3 hours(this will depend on the size & cut of lamb too, so adjust).
