Wesley's Yummy Lamb Curry

So, I'm a big curry fan. My gran did a lot of living in Durban, and while there she learnt how to make a decent curry. It was always pretty plain, a standard lamb off the bone kind of curry, and not too hot (to protect us young uns), but it was always oh-so-good. Her secret was to burn some of the curry powder - though I'm not too sure of the benefits.

After some growing up and conditioning my tongue to hotter spices and tastes, I decided I wanted to learn to cook my own curry. While eating dinner at a restaurant on Long Street (Maharaja, overpriced but excellent food) with some work colleagues, Wesley mentioned that he was learning to cook different curries and Indian meals from different parts of India. Naturally, I asked him for a standard lamb off the bone recipe. He obliged, and even threw in some spices for me (what a nice guy!), and so the recipe follows:

Ingredients:

1. Half a large onion, finely chopped
2. 2 t/s curry powder
3. 2-4 green chillies, chopped
4. 2 t/s garlic / ginger paste
5. 1.5 t/s dhanis jeera spice
6. 3 medium tomatoes, pureed
7. 0.5kg lamb cubes
8. Salt to taste
9. Olive oil

Instructions:

• Add the chopped onions to a suitable sized pot that has been preheated with olive oil.
• Leave the onions to braise for a few minutes, then add the chillis.
• Let the onions and chillis fry for a couple of minutes until the chillis are golden in colour, then add all the spices in one go (dhanis jeera and curry powder).
• Stir thoroughly, expect drool inducing aroma.
• Let the spices braise for about 4 minutes, then add the meat and garlic / ginger paste. Add salt (I use about half a t/s) and stir.
• Cover the pot and allow to cook for 10-15 mins, stirring and making sure the curry is not burning.
• Add the pureed tomatoes, and cover again and allow to cook for 15-20 mins.
• The curry should now have a thick gravy, add water to thin if required.
• Salt to taste, and serve!

Hints:

• Use heat setting 3 on a 6 level plate.
• For more flavour, add dhanis (coriander) leaves to the pot about 10 mins prior to serving.
• Better with basmati rice.
• Garlic / ginger paste is available from most supermarkets.

Here are some photos from when I cooked it:

The first time I cooked it, I couldn't find lamb, and so I used beef. There were no bones, and I followed the recipe pretty much exactly as it was laid out: I obviously used beef instead, though, and I had dried chillis instead of fresh ones. It was warm, and nice, if a little watery.

I then made it again, and made some of my own additions: I used a bit more of the spices than in the ingredients list, added some potatoes, and because I couldn't find lamb cubes, I used lamb chops cut into cubes, and threw the bones in as well.

The result was a nice and spicey curry, quite thick (thanks to the potatoes, methinks) and a little too hot for the girls, but delicious nontheless. If you're in need of a beginner's curry recipe and are not sure where to begin, then I definitely recommend Wesley's Yummy Lamb Curry.

Holiday!

So, I haven't blogged in ages. So much for my promise of 3 posts a week - I guess if you want to read what I have to say that badly, then send me an email and I'll do a post just for you. Anyways, I've been planning a holiday for some time, and I've finally organized, booked and paid for it. It feels great! Here's what I'm doing, and how I've planned it all:

The trip is a European Discovery through Contiki (see the itinery on the site) which is basically 12 days in Europe, by bus, in the middle of winter. It shall be awesome. While in Europe, I also want to spend some time in England, mainly to go watch a Liverpool game. I've also thrown in a trip to Stonehenge, just for good measure. My itinery is as follows:

• Arrive in London on 26 December
• Contiki tour starts next day
• New Year's Eve in Venice!
  
• Arrive back from Contiki tour on 7 January
• Next day, off to see Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath
• Off to Liverpool to watch the Spurs game, spend the night
• Back to London the next day
• Leave London the 11th of January

It should be awesome! I may at some point go to Stratford, but that depends on time, money, and personal tour guide Hannah's availability!

I've booked the trip from STA Travel in South Africa (where I got a discount for paying in full), and the flights through Flight Centre also in SA. I'm going direct via Virgin. The Accomodation and Stonehenge tour is also via STA, so all that is left to do is sort out VISAs, transport between London and Liverpool, and book the Liverpool game! Oh, and save for spending money....

I'll put up some further info, with more details on how I did it all. Hopefully it will be of some help to some readers who want a similar holiday.