Nisha Katona's railway lamb curry
If you’re looking for the perfect midweek meal the whole family will enjoy, look no further. Nisha Katona’s back in the kitchen with her irresistible railway lamb curry, so named as it was once cooked by the chefs working on the Indian railways in the 1900’s. Packed full of flavour and served with pine nut rice it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Railway lamb curry with pine nut rice
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the Lamb Curry:3 tbsp vegetable oil 2 white onions, finely diced 25g piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated 5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced3 carrots, peeled and halved 4 white potatoes, peeled and quartered700g diced lamb leg 2 tbsp garam masala3 bay leaves1 tbsp cumin powder 1 tsp ground turmeric ½ tsp chilli powder 1x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes 200ml water 1 ½ tsp salt, or to taste 1 heaped tsp sugar 1 large green chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
For the Pine Nut rice:2 tbsp vegetable oil1 tsp cumin seeds4 tbsp pine nuts300g white basmati rice600ml cold water
To garnish:Pomegranate seedsFresh ginger, sliced into fine batons
Method
For the Lamb curry:
1. Put the vegetable oil in a large heavy-based pan over a medium high heat.
2. When hot, add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook for 8 minutes until the onions have softened and turned golden brown.
3. Add the carrots and potatoes, turn up the heat and toss for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the lamb and brown it off.
5. Add the garam masala, bay leaves, cumin powder, ground turmeric and chilli powder and fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt, sugar, and chilli. Give everything a good stir together, then turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer on a low heat for 50 minutes, or until the lamb is very tender and the vegetables turn soft.
7. Serve with the pine nut rice.
For the Pine Nut rice:
1. In a small saucepan add the oil and once it’s hot, add the cumin seeds and fry until they turn dark brown. Next, add the pine nuts and toss for a few seconds until they get some colour and then throw in your rice and toss the grains in the oil. Turn the heat to medium low and add the water.
2. Simmer gently until the rice has nearly absorbed all the water. Put the lid on tightly, and switch off the heat. Leave for 10 minutes and the rice is done.
3. Garnish the rice with pomegranate seeds and sliced ginger.