Above: The ingredients of a great curry even look beautiful.
Indian curries are a favorite of mine. While the Indians eat them to keep cool in their hot climate, I eat them to keep warm in ours—especially with this winter’s record-breaking low temperatures. This particular curry was the brainchild of one of my favorite Indian cooks, Vij Vikram whose recipe for Short Ribs in Red wine and Cinnamon has already appeared here. This time, Vij turns up the heat quite a bit but you can control it easily by reducing the cayenne pepper count if you must. I find that Basmati rice goes a long way to putting out any fires.
I paired this with a recipe for Asparagus that was invented by an Indian vegetarian cook named Manjula Jain. Manjula came to this country in the late 60s. And like Vij, she has adapted a North American ingredient to an Indian palate. Asparagus is not unknown in India but it is rare and usually confined to the south of India. Manjula is from the north. I admire both of these cooks so much for taking something locally grown and making it taste so exotic. You can visit www.manjulaskitchen.com and see the extent of her vegetarian recipes. I can’t vouch for them all, but the one for asparagus is a definite keeper.
The Lamb and Tomato curry is cooked slowly and over a 2 hour period of time it becomes very tender. Like all curries, it benefits from standing or resting. You can then just re-heat it and dress it with fresh coriander at the last minute if you like. The rice will take about 10 minutes start to finish and you can cook the asparagus at the same time.
Recipe for Lamb and Tomato Curry
1/4 cup Canola oil
2 lbs boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 inches fresh ginger, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne
10 whole cloves
3 inches cinnamon stick
1 cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek style.
1 ½ cups canned tomatoes with their juice. The pre-diced ones are excellent for this use.
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 lbs boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 inches fresh ginger, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne
10 whole cloves
3 inches cinnamon stick
1 cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek style.
1 ½ cups canned tomatoes with their juice. The pre-diced ones are excellent for this use.
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
- Heat 2 tbsp canola oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Cook lamb, in batches, for 3 to 5 minutes, until browned on all sides. With a slotted spoon, remove lamb to a plate as each batch browns, and add more oil to the saucepan as necessary.
- Wipe out the saucepan with paper towels and Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the same saucepan over low heat.
- Add cumin seeds and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until seeds start to sizzle (omit this step if substituting ground cumin)
- Add garlic and ginger, then cook, stirring for 1 minute, until garlic is softened. Add onions, increase heat to medium-low, then cook, stirring for 7 to 10 minutes until onions are golden brown.Add remaining butter, then stir in ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, cayenne, cloves and cinnamon.Increase the heat to medium, then cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, until butter starts to separate from the spice mixture. If spices start to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add more butter or lower the heat slightly.
- Stir in yogurt, then cook, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes, until butter starts to separate again.
- Stir in tomatoes, water and salt, adding a little more water if the fresh tomatoes are not very juicy (at this stage the
curry should be the consistency of thick soup). - Return lamb to the saucepan, then bring curry to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, then simmer, covered, for about 1 hour.Remove lid and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 45 minutes, until juices have thickened slightly and lamb is tender.
- Just before serving, adjust seasoning to taste and stir in fresh coriander.
Recipe for Indian Asparagus
1 bunch of asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Break off the
ends of asparagus, holding the stalk at both ends, bend the stalk until it snaps.
- Cut them into about 2 inch pieces at a slight diagonal.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to hold the spears over medium heat.
- Add cumin seed after seeds crack add ginger, lemon juice, salt black pepper. Stir-fry for a minute and add the asparagus.
- Stir-fry for about 4 to 5 minutes until asparagus are tender but still crunch.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
Serving suggestion:
Sprinkle the shredded Parmesan cheese, or sprinkle cheddar cheese and melt it for few minutes in microwave oven.
Sprinkle the shredded Parmesan cheese, or sprinkle cheddar cheese and melt it for few minutes in microwave oven.