East Indian Lamb Curry

Soooo... If you are ever in the position where you have leftover lamb that you don't know what to do with, then this recipe is for you. Seriously, this recipe is for you. It is delicious, restaurant quality food. Wait, why do we say restaurant quality, when everyone know that home cooked meals are far superior than restaurants?  Hmm.
Anyway, I am going to try this recipe with chicken next to see if it will do well. Or maybe pork.  It was sort of complicated. My mom's recipes usually are. By the way, I DID NOT cook this. My mom did!  People think that I am always coming out with amazing food. Well... I am. But at least half of what I post is my mom's creations. I always try to give her credit though.

Notice there is no actual curry powder in this recipe. That is because curry is made of all these other spices. My mom ended up creating her own curry. If you love Indian food, you will probably love this. It was so rich in flavor.  And not linear flavor, but there was a depth to the flavorings.

East Indian Lamb Curry

Substituted chili for cayenne, did not chop up pepper. In addition, grated fresh ginger instead of paste, did not add tomato. Simmered meat with first group of seasoning for about 20-30 minutes, then add all other ingredients except yogurt (only had buttermilk) Once onions tender, add buttermilk (yogurt in future) and turned off the heat and stirred it in. Took cardamom seeds out of pod. Scooped out the cloves, seeds and bay leaves before adding onions and spices.

1 1/2 lbs. boneless lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 pieces
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
1 black cardamom pod
1 (2 inch) cinnamon sticks
10 peppercorns
4 whole cloves
1 1/2 large onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger paste
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 green chili pepper, chopped (optional)
salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1 cup diced tomato
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:
1 Heat oil in large pan; add bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and cloves.
2 When leaves begin to sizzle and fragrance starts to release, add onions and sauté until light golden, about 12-15 minutes, stirring frequently.
3 Stir in the ginger paste, garlic, chili pepper, and lamb.
4 Season the lamb with salt; continue cooking, stirring mix, for about 20 minutes more, adding a little water if necessary to keep food from sticking.
5 Add turmeric, coriander powder, cayenne, and garam masala; stir for 5 minutes, adding 2 tablespoons water.
6 Add diced tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
7 Then add 4 cups of water and simmer for 15 minutes, or until meat is getting tender.
8 Lower the heat
9 Whisk the yogurt with a fork; and add to the pot slowly.
10 Then cook until meat is done to your liking and sauce is thickened.
11 Garnish with cilantro leaves.
12 Serve with steamed basmati rice

 If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. - Tolkien

Don't Pass this Over

Passover and Easter are a great time of the year for me, food wise. Well, okay, there is more to those days than just food. LOL. This year, we celebrated both Passover and Easter. We went over to my sister's in-laws for Easter and had a fabulous luncheon! Fabulous!! So much food, I thought we were having Thanksgiving. My dad was out of town for both of those, but we had a quiet Passover celebration with my mom, sister and brother in law. We didn't do the full on ceremony, which could take hours.  Even still, it took us about 1 hour before we ate and then about 15 more minutes for the after eating part of the ceremony. I blasted our Jewish folk music from when I was a child. My sister is not a fan, but I love it.  My mom made lamb stuffed with garlic on the grill. After she bought the lamb, we discovered you  aren't supposed to eat lamb for Passover. There are probably a lot of things you are or are not supposed to do that we did wrong, but we enjoyed it. It was still a special night of remembrance.
The reason the poached egg looks brownish is because my mom grilled it on the grill! Weird. We peeled it a few days later and this is what it looked like. We, of course, did not eat it because it stood out for a while. This is what it looks like after it has been peeled. 

 

Speaking of eggs, I participated in the Poway Easter Egg Hunt. We blew through about 23,000 eggs this year. Fun event!

 

 

Anyway, I made Tabouleh for Passover. Love that stuff.

 

Here is my recipe.

1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat (or couscous or quinoa)

1 bunch green onions, chopped (or chives or scallions)

1 cucumber, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 bunch of parsley, de-stemmed and chopped

1 bunch fresh mint, chopped

juice of 2 lemons or to taste

4 tbsp. olive oil

Or if you are in a hurry, buy the Near East box mix of Tabouleh.  Add in the vegetables, oil and lemon. I personally love the parsley and mint taste, but my sister uses cilantro instead of mint or parsley and that tastes great too!