Ingredients
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger , peeled and grated
8 cloves garlic , chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
4 tablespoons natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
1 kg quality lamb shoulder , cut into big cubes
4 medium red onions , halved
2 red peppers , halved and deseeded
4 fresh red chillies , deseeded
½ bunch fresh coriander , leaves picked
4 green cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
stick cinnamon
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
4 small dried red chillies
groundnut oil
2 teaspoons paprika
2 ripe tomatoes
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
sea salt
coconut shavings , to serve
½ bunch fresh mint , to serve
Method
Mix your ginger and garlic together. Put them in a bowl that’s big enough to fit all the cubed lamb in. Add the turmeric, yoghurt and black pepper to the bowl and mix together. Tip the lamb into the bowl and stir it around until it’s well coated with the yoghurt and spices. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge to marinate.
Preheat your oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3. Roughly chop the onions and peppers and whiz them in a food processor with 3 chillies and the coriander stalks until finely chopped. Finely slice the remaining chilli and set aside.
Bash the cardamom pods and remove the seeds, discarding the shells. Place the heavy-based pan you’re going to cook the curry in on a medium heat and add the cardamom seeds, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and coriander seeds. Toast until they go a shade darker in colour, then tip into a pestle and mortar and grind up with the dried red chillies (or use a spice grinder if you have one).
Keep the pan on the heat and add a splash of groundnut oil. Add the blitzed onion, pepper and chilli paste from the food processor with the ground up spices and paprika.
Cook over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes. By now, lots of delicious curry smells will be coming out of the pot. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the pan with the tinned tomatoes, 1 tin’s worth of hot water and the marinated lamb, then stir well. When the curry comes to the boil, add a good pinch of salt, cover tightly with a lid and place in your preheated oven. You can basically forget about it now, as all the hard work is done. Just wait 2 hours and carefully take the pot out of the oven.