Lamb and Lentil Curry

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

When I was in Sainsburys looking for some stewing lamb I found a boneless lamb shoulder, which worked out cheaper than those packets of diced lamb. As it was boneless it was easy to cut up into pieces and I managed to make 2 meals from the joint. One was a Thai Massaman Curry and the other was this curry.

 

I adapted a recipe from an old Fresh magazine and I cooked it in my Tefal 4-in-1. The meat was meltingly tender and had incredible flavour as the lamb shoulder had a good bit of fat on it.

 

I served it with brown rice and home-made naan bread.

 

• Serves: 2 (the amount of sauce could serve 4 people if you double the meat)

 

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 500g lamb shoulder (or leg) cut into 4cm chunks
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, cut into chunks
• 2 Tablespoons of Rogan Josh Curry Paste (I used Pataks)
• 1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin of water
• 1 Tablespoon of concentrated liquid stock (I used Knorr Touch of Taste Beef)
• 2 handfuls of split red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 whole green chilli, poked a few times with a knife

 

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the lamb in batches until lightly browned all over. Remove the lamb from the pan (set aside in the Tefal cooking bowl) leaving the oil in the pan.
2. Add the onions and pepper to the pan and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until soft and golden.
3. Return the lamb to the pan, stir in the curry paste and fry for a couple of minutes to release the spices.
4. Add the tomatoes, tin of water, the Tablespoon of concentrated liquid stock, the red lentils and the green chilli.
5. Bring to the boil, then transfer to the Tefal cooking bowl. Cook for 4-5 hours. You can transfer the curry back into the pan and simmer uncovered to thicken the sauce whilst you cook the rice in the Tefal.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• You can cook this on the hob by covering the pan and simmering gently for 1 hour 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Or you can cook it in the oven at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C for 2-2½ hours.

Keema Pie with rosti topping

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

I’ve had a keema pie recipe from a really old issue of Delicious magazine sitting in my recipe folder for quite a while, but never got around to making it. It’s basically an Indian version of shepherds/cottage pie. What prompted me to try it was seeing another recipe in the April issue of Delicious which had a rosti topping instead of mash. Steve isn’t a huge fan of potatoes, so I consulted him on what his preference was and he decided that the rosti topping would be the lesser of two evils!

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

The new recipe uses lamb mince, but the old recipe uses beef mince, so it seems that they’re interchangeable. I used beef mince as that’s what I had available, but I only had 500g instead of the 750g the recipe said to use. I also substituted the 5 large skinned vine tomatoes for a tin of plum tomatoes as it was more convenient.

 

I only used about 1½ green chilies as they were really hot when I tasted a sample, so I also omitted the ½ teaspoon of hot chili powder as I have a tendency to make food too hot! But the finished dish wasn’t all that hot and I think using all the chili and the powder would have been OK.

 

MY SKIN IS ON FIRE!

I suffered really badly from the chili burning the skin on my hands, so I did a search on Google and I found the solution of rubbing salt onto my hands. I used coarse sea salt and I rubbed it on dry, which worked quite well and removed the really stinging burning sensation. But I discovered there was still some chili on my skin when I went to take my contact lenses out and my eyeballs started burning! So I used the salt again using wet hands and it seemed to have worked as it didn’t hurt when I put my contacts in this morning. So next time I will chop the garlic, ginger and chilies in my mini chopper to avoid so much contact with my skin!

 

TASTE TEST:

We both really liked the flavour of the mince as the spices were really nice, but it was a bit too watery. Next time I will leave the lid off the pan when simmering. I would also leave out the spinach, as even though I squeezed out the water I’m sure it released more water when baking. The old keema pie recipe uses peas instead, which is a much better idea and actually more traditional.

 

We were both disappointed with the rosti topping as it didn’t go very crispy, even though I’d also shoved the pie under the grill. Steve thinks the sweet potato was to blame. Making this topping was sooooo much extra work and totally not worth the effort! So next time I would just use a mash potato topping, or even just serve the mince with some rice.

 

The recipe below is how I made it and not the actual recipe from the magazine.

• Serves: 4
• Takes: 1 hour 45 minutes to make
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C

 

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Knob of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 long green chilies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon hot chili powder
• 500g beef mince
• 300ml beef stock (I used Knorr Touch of Taste)
• 400g tin peeled plum tomatoes, discard the juice
• 200g spinach
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 medium potato, coarsely grated
• 1 medium sweet potato, coarsely grated
• 1 medium onion, finely sliced

 

Directions:

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons of the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion, season well and fry until softened. Add the finely garlic, ginger and green chilies and fry for a couple of minutes.
2. In a separate pan, dry-fry the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant, then crush in a pestle and mortar with the turmeric and chili powder until finely ground. Add to the onion mixture and fry for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the mince, increase the heat and fry for about 10 minutes until the meat is brown, Drain off the excess fat, then add the stock and tomatoes, breaking them up as you mix them in. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the meat is cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly (remove the lid if it’s too watery).
4. Put the spinach in a colander over a large saucepan and pour over a kettle of boiling water, then refresh in cold water. Squeeze out the excess water. Stir through the curry with the lemon juice and garam masala and season to taste.
5. Put the pan of hot water that you used to wilt the spinach on the heat and bring back to the boil, then place the potato, sweet potato and onion into it and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain, then tip into a clean tea towel and squeeze out all the excess liquid. Place in a bowl and toss with the remaining oil and season.
6. Tip the keema into a large ovenproof dish and top with the blanched rosti topping.
7. Bake for 30 minutes at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C until the rosti is golden on top – place under a hot grill for 5 minutes if it’s still not brown enough!

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• This dish can be frozen at stage 6. Bake for 40 minutes from frozen at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.

Chicken Tikka Shashlik

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

I first came across Shashlik when Steve had a Chicken Tikka Shashlik Masala Curry in a curry house a few years ago. It’s not a dish that I’ve seen on any other Indian restaurant menu. This is basically the same thing without the masala sauce.

Shashlik is essentially meat on a stick. Apparently it originally comes from central Asia, but there are versions from Russia, Turkey and Pakistan.
Pieces of lamb or chicken are marinated in spices and either oil and lemon juice or in this case yoghurt. The meat is then threaded onto skewers with pieces of onion, green pepper and tomato and traditionally cooked in a tandoor or over a charcoal grill. I had to settle for under the grill.

The chicken was really nicely cooked and the marinade gave it loads of flavour and kept it moist. The vegetables became quite nice and charred, but Steve said it wasn’t quite the same as in the restaurant. I think the grill struggled to get hot enough.

Overall, Shashlik is a healthier way to have curry as it’s not laden with lots of cream or ghee, plus it’s grilled. I served it with rice, but I think it would actually be much better stuffed into a soft naan bread and slathered with loads of mayonnaise. Hey, I never said I was on a diet!

• Serves: 2
• You will need: 8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs, deboned and cut into large chunks
• 2 Tablespoons curry paste (I used Korma)
• 2 Tablespoons natural yoghurt
• ½ onion, cut into wedges and layers separated
• ½ green pepper, cut into chunks
• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix the chicken, curry paste and yoghurt. Cover tightly (unless you want to stink out your whole fridge) and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinate.
2. Preheat your grill to high.
3. Thread pieces of chicken, onion, pepper and tomato onto your skewers, leaving a gap at the end so you can turn them.
4. Cover a baking tray with foil (this will save on washing up) and place your kebabs on the tray and season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Cook under the grill for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are nicely charred.

COOK’S NOTES:

• If using lamb or chicken breast instead of thighs, then they should only take about 10-12 minutes to cook.

Lancashire Hotpot

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

This is such a simple dish with few ingredients, but it tastes absolutely amazing. The lamb is meltingly tender and the carrots and onions give a lovely sweetness to the gravy. I can’t take the credit for the original recipe as it’s James Martins’, but I have made it a bit healthier by not using dripping and I left out the kidneys as I don’t like them! The recipe I’ve written is basically half the original, as I only wanted to cook for 2 people.

I’ve made this a couple of times and I really recommend using a mandolin slicer to cut the potatoes so that they are really thin and cook evenly.

I started off the cooking in a large saucepan and then transferred everything to an ovenproof dish, but ideally you want to use a flameproof casserole dish to retain all the flavours.

• Serves: 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C
• You will need: a shallow flame & ovenproof dish

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 450g stewing lamb, cut into large chunks (I used shoulder)
• 1 medium onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 Tablespoon plain flour
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 250ml lamb or chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 400g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 25g melted butter

Directions:

1. Heat oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a flameproof casserole dish or in a large saucepan. Add the lamb and brown (if cooking a large amount then do this in batches), then put onto a plate and set aside.
2. Fry the onions and carrots in the pan with until golden. Add some salt and pepper at this point. Sprinkle over the flour, allow to cook for a couple of mins, shake over the Worcestershire sauce, pour in the stock, then bring to the boil. Stir in the lamb and bay leaf, then turn off the heat. If you’ve used a saucepan then put the stew mixture into an ovenproof dish, then arrange the sliced potatoes on top of the meat, then drizzle with the melted butter. Cover, then place in the oven for about 1½ hrs until the potatoes are cooked.
3. Remove the lid, brush the potatoes with a little more melted butter, then turn the oven up to maximum heat to brown the potatoes (could take up to 30 mins), or finish under the grill for 5-8 mins until brown.

Gordon Ramsay's Shepherds Pie

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

This is Gordon Ramsay’s recipe and even though I can’t stand him, I decided to try his recipe as I’d only heard good things about it. The meaty filling was very tasty due to the red wine, but we thought there wasn’t enough of it compared to the amount of potato, although I didn’t really mind because I love potatoes!

I thought it was strange that the mash didn’t have milk added to it, but egg yolks instead. Also, the ingredients stated 50g butter and olive oil, but they weren’t included in the method, so I just added the butter to the mash anyway because good mash NEEDS butter! I didn’t have any parmesan so I just used mature cheddar cheese instead and it was still pretty tasty.

I would use this recipe again for the filling, but next time I’ll make the mash my usual way by adding milk and leave out the egg yolks.

• Serves: 4
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• You will need: a large frying pan, a large ovenproof dish

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 500g minced lean lamb
• 1 large onion, finely grated
• 1 large carrot, finely grated
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• Handful of thyme sprigs, leaves picked
• 1 sprig of rosemary, needles chopped
• 250ml red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1kg Desiree potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 50g butter
• 2 egg yolks
• Parmesan, for grating (I used mature cheddar cheese)
• Olive oil (er, optional?)
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan until hot. Season the mince and fry in the oil over moderate to high heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir the onions and carrot into the mince then grate the garlic in as well. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree and herbs and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in the red wine and reduce until almost completely evaporated. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce has thickened.
3. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain then return to the hot pan over low heat to dry out briefly. Pass them through a potato ricer then beat in the egg yolks and butter, followed by about 2 tbsp grated Parmesan. Check for seasoning.
4. Spoon the mince into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish. Using a large spoon, layer the mashed potato generously on top of the mince, starting from the outside and working your way into the middle. Grate some extra Parmesan over and season. Fluff up the mash potato with a fork to make rough peaks. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown.

* The dish I used was one of my new Pyrex Pyroflam casserole dishes. I used the 1 litre one, which measures 6.8cm deep x 16cm diameter, as I wanted to make a pie that served 2 people so I filled it with half the mince and half the mash. With the other half I refilled the dish after we’d eaten and put it in the freezer for another time.

I defrosted the frozen shepherd’s pie and then reheated it in the oven at Gas 6 for about 40 minutes. I had some leftover hollandaise sauce that I’d made and I thought it would be a good idea to mix it in with the mashed potato topping, because the sauce is just butter and egg yolks. Steve wasn’t keen on the idea, so I scraped off only half the potato topping and mixed it with a generous Tablespoon of the sauce. It looked pretty disgusting after I’d mixed it with the potato and then spread it back onto the mince mixture, but I covered all the potato with some mature cheddar and after 40 minutes in the oven it looked amazing! The half that had the hollandaise sauce in had turned a lovely golden brown and it was a lot tastier than the half that didn’t have the sauce added. I love it when a plan comes together! I have to say, that Steve and I both thought the shepherds pie tasted better reheated, as if the flavours had developed more over time.

Check out my hollandaise sauce recipe here.

Thai Massaman Curry

MUNCH RATING: 5/5
This is more of a stew than a curry, but it’s delicious and there is just enough spice to make your tongue tingle. The sauce is thick and even though it contains the obligatory coconut milk, the tamarind gives it a nice zing, so I don’t find it as sickly as normal Thai Red Curry. Steve doesn’t normally like potatoes, but they’re a common ingredient in this dish, and he really liked them in this as they soaked up a lot of flavour from the sauce and were nice and sweet.

I’ve found that Massaman/Mussaman paste isn’t that widely available in your average supermarket, so I bought mine from www.bartspices.com (it is also available from Waitrose). I’ve also bought a different brand from a Chinese supermarket, which was better value but wasn't nearly as good as the Barts one. The paste usually contains chilli, shallot, tamarind, coriander and lemongrass and it is Muslim in origin.

I adapted this recipe I’d saved from one of Steve’s Neo Magazines. I slow-cooked this is my Tefal 4-in-1, but you could cook it on your stove top or in the oven for a couple of hours.

• Serves: 2 very generously with rice (or 4 if serving with starters or other dishes)
• Tefal 4-in-1 Slow Cook: 6-9 hours
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil for frying
• 500g stewing beef or lamb*
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 350g new potatoes, washed and cut in half (new potatoes hold their shape better, I used Charlotte’s)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons massaman curry paste (I used Bart’s)
• 400ml can coconut milk (I used reduced fat)
• 200ml vegetable stock
• 2 teaspoons tamarind paste (I used Bart’s)
• 2 Tablespoons dark soy sauce (or fish sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Heat a Tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and fry your meat until brown and sealed. Put into your slow cooker.
2. Fry the onions, potatoes and garlic until golden brown**. Add these to the slow cooker.
3. Add a little more oil to the pan, then fry the curry paste on a high heat for a couple of minutes, until it smells really fragrant.
4. Take the pan off the heat, then add the coconut milk and stir it in really well. Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
5. Add the stock, tamarind paste, soy/fish sauce and sugar, then boil the sauce for 5-10 minutes to thicken until it has reduced by a third.
6. Add the sauce to the slow cooker and stir well to coat all the ingredients in the pot.
7. Close the lid and check you have the slow cooker set for 6 hours cooking time.
8. Transfer the curry to a large pan and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken the sauce a bit more.
9. Meanwhile cook the rice in the cooker, which should take about 20 minutes.

*It is most commonly made with beef, but I used lamb as that’s what I had in the freezer. I used 1 inch cubes of frozen lamb, which I cut into smaller 1 cm pieces after I’d browned them in the pan (this makes the meat more tender and it goes further!).

**For the best results it’s important to brown the meat, onions and potatoes. I have tried adding potatoes without browning them first and it just wasn’t as good!

Lighter Lamb Burgers

MUNCH RATING: 1/5

This recipe is from BBC Good Food magazine and I liked the sound of it because the couscous and carrot make it a healthier burger. I did tweak the recipe slightly to use ingredients I already had and although the burgers were quite tasty, we weren’t keen on the texture. Even though I used more lamb mince than the recipe suggested, there wasn’t enough of a meaty texture to the burger, which is what we really wanted. It is a good way to make the mince stretch but I don’t think I’ll be making this recipe again.

I froze 2 of the burgers, but we don’t want to eat them again as burgers, so I’ll have to create a recipe to use them up!

I’ve written the recipe as I made it, but you can find the original recipe here: Lighter Lamb Burgers.

• Makes 4 burgers 

Ingredients:

• 100g / 4oz couscous (I used a Thai Curry flavoured packet)
• 2 carrots, finely grated
• 400g pack lamb mince
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 4 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, beaten 

Directions:

1. Place the couscous in a heatproof bowl and pour over 100ml boiling water. Leave for a couple of minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. Squeeze any liquid out of the carrots, then stir into the couscous along with the mince, spring onions, mint and egg. Season well.
2. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour for them to firm up.
3. Shape the mixture into 4 large burgers. Transfer to a non-stick baking sheet, then grill under a high heat for 6-8 minutes on each side.

Slow cooked Lamb Korma Curry

MUNCH RATING:3/5

 

I’ve been using my Tefal 4-in-1 to slow cook quite a few dishes and so far they’ve all been successful! For this lamb korma I used 1 packet of frozen casserole lamb which comes cut in 1 inch cubes and it’s really handy as you can cook from frozen.

 

I’d read that some people worry about using milk or coconut milk in their slow cookers, as they worry it will boil over. I didn’t have any problems using coconut milk in this recipe, but it’s probably because the Tefal 4-in-1 has such a large, deep bowl.

 

I used the Tefal 4-in-1 to cook my rice as well, so I had to transfer the curry to a pan, but this allowed me to thicken the sauce and finish cooking the potatoes.

 

Steve and I managed to eat all of this between us (because we’re extremely greedy, but we did feel ill afterwards!), but the amount of sauce would serve 4 people and you can double up the amount of lamb and potatoes for healthy appetites.

• Tefal 4-in-1 Slow Cook: 6 hours
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients:

• 500g/1lb casserole lamb, cubed
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 tablespoons (about ½ jar) korma paste (I used Pataks)
• 1 400ml can coconut milk
• 8 small potatoes (about the size of plums), peeled

 

Directions:

1. In a large pan brown the lamb in a little bit of oil – you will probably need to do this in batches. Once brown put the lamb into the slow cooker (at this stage I switch my slow cooker on to warm it up and set it for 5 hours).
2. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until golden brown, then put the onion into the slow cooker.
3. Put the korma paste into the pan and gently fry for about 1 minute until the paste smells fragrant. Add the coconut milk and stir it into the paste until you get a nice smooth sauce. Bring it to the boil and then pour it into the slow cooker. Stir the sauce into the lamb and onions so that they are evenly coated.
4. Close the lid and check you have the slow cooker set for 5 hours cooking time.
5. Once 5 hours have passed, add the potatoes and cook for another 1 hour.
6. After 6 hours cooking, the lamb should be soft and tender. Transfer the curry to a large pan, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Then remove the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
7. Meanwhile cook the rice, which should take about 20 minutes.