Lamb karahi

By: Dan Toombs
From: The Curry Guy
Serves: 4 or more as part of a multi-course meal

I got to watch this curry being prepared at Imran’s in Birmingham by head chef, Talib Hussain. It was drop-dead gorgeous and I’ve made it many times since. At Imran’s, the meat is cut into small pieces still on the bone. Boneless lamb can be substituted, but personally I like it their way. It may be a bit messier to eat, but dipping your naan into this delicious sauce and trying to gnaw every last bit of meat off the bone is part of the experience.

Owner and executive chef Usman Butt said he would normally prepare such a dish in a karahi. On their menu, chef Talib calls it a haandi. Whichever you use, you are going to love this one.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
800g	lamb leg and shoulder, cut into pieces, ideally still with bone in

For the marinade

Quantity	Ingredient
1 tablespoon	rapeseed oil
100g	greek yoghurt
2 tablespoons	Garlic and ginger paste
1 teaspoon	salt
1 tablespoon	freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce

Quantity	Ingredient
4 tablespoons	rapeseed oil
2 tablespoons	Garlic and ginger paste
1 quantity	fried onions
1 tablespoon	pungent dried red chilli flakes
2	large tomatoes, diced
11/2 tablespoons	ground cumin
11/2 tablespoons	ground coriander
1 tablespoon	kashmiri chilli powder
3 tablespoons	julienned ginger
2	fresh green bullet chillies, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon	Garam masala
	fresh coriander, to serve

Method

Mix the meat pieces with the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or ideally overnight; the longer the better.
When ready to cook, heat the oil in a pan over a medium-high heat and add the garlic and ginger paste. Stir this around for about 30 seconds then add the meat and all the marinade. Using a large spoon, stir to coat the meat with the garlicky oil. Add the fried onions, chilli flakes and tomatoes and again stir it all up to combine.
Now sprinkle in the ground cumin, coriander and chilli powder. Pour in just enough water to cover and let it all simmer for a good 40 minutes to 1 hour. You may need to top up the water from time to time.
Check for seasoning and add more salt or spices to taste. This is a quite dry curry so that it can easily be soaked up with fresh naans. When the meat is really tender, add the julienned ginger, fresh chillies and garam masala and serve topped with fresh coriander.
That’s it! This may be simple, but believe me no one will know. Serve it to friends and they’ll think you’ve been secretly working as the head chef of Imran’s!

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