Posted in Books, Hints + Tips, Main Meals, Restaurants, Cafes and Pubs
Tags: Bradford, Curry, Food Heroes, Indian, Karachi Restaurant, Mumrez Khan, Pakistani, Rick Stein
A couple of weekends ago, I had a weekend morning with nothing much to do but wait for the Cricket or Rugby to start. I ended up watching Saturday Kitchen, which we’ve not done in ages. On the show they showed a recipe from Rick Stein’s Food Heroes
What drew me to the recipe, was how differently it’s made to other curries I’ve made in the past. I’ve made other curries consisting of a base ‘gravy’, but generally the meat tends to be browned and/or marinated first. In this, you just add it to the sauce uncooked and cook very slowly. I’ve never encountered the spinach puree either.
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 4 oz Ghee (I made an alternative by clarifying butter and adding Bay Leaves)
- 2 medium Onions, chopped
- 1/2 ” Ginger, peeled
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 400 g Chopped Tomatoes
- 1 lb Diced Lamb (leg or shoulder)
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 2 tsp Tumeric
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Chillli Powder
- 6 oz Fresh Spinach
- Fresh Green Chillies (up to you)
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Method
Cook the Chopped Onions with the Ghee/Butter for about 20 minutes, until well cooked, but not burnt.
When their cooked, blend the Ginger, Garlic and Onions into a smooth paste. Add the Chopped Tomatoes and blend again. Add a touch of water if necessary. You should have a mixture slightly thicker than Tomato soup.
Return to the pan and add the Diced Lamb, add some salt. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes.
Wash the Fresh Spinach. Add 3/4 of it to a pan to wilt, the water from washing the Spinach should be enough to cook it. It always amazes me how it shrinks to nothing.
Blend the cooked Spinach into a puree.
After the 30 minutes, the colour of the curry will have changed a lot. Less tomato soup, more curry. Add the Paprika, Tumeric, Cumin and Chilli Powder and cook for another 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it and add water if needed.
If you have Fresh Chillies, make a puree from them with a dash of water. I didn’t have any so I soaked a chopped dried one. After 20 minutes add the Spinach Puree, Chilli Puree (to taste), remaining Fresh Spinach, Garam Masala and Salt and Pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Mr Stein suggested serving with Basmati Rice cooked with Cinnamon and Cardamom. I opted for Naans this time round.
Verdict
The Karachi Restaurant and Mr Stein are definitely on to a winner here. The slow cooking makes it so rich, yet without over-doing the meat. Unfortunately, since Jenny was away and she’s trying to be veggie, I had to eat it all myself.
Wow, I must try this. It looks and sounds delicious. I’ve been to Pakistan (lived and worked there for a couple of years). The food is delicious, I actually prefer it to authentic Indian. Of course, as we both know, British Indian curry is a whole different matter.
Hello there, I came across your blog by chance coz iv been up all night (3.30 am right now!) looking for karahi recipes. I found the video to the rick stein karahi so here’s the link :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI8i9eTbFSE
Hi There – I followed Rick Stein’s recipe and it was the most delicious curry I ever made (my son says so so it must be true!). I do not have a blender so I grated the onion to make it very fine, finely chopped the tomatoes and simply threw in some frozen spinach – which is pretty much as a puree once it cooks for a minute or two. I did not have fresh ginger so used a sprinkle of dried – Other than that I followed the recipe and method and still it was completely delicious so dont be put off if you cant follow to the letter and use my alternative options – I am cooking tonight and still have no blender but do have “lazy ginger” and some fresh spinach for the end so looking forward to the end result!!
I have eaten at the Karachi for 40 years and i have to say the karahi lamb and keema curries are superb and always consistent. I have not tried making it from this recipe yet as I have a fantastic recipe from an asian lady in Bradford which is the best ever but I will try it out an as an avid Karachi fan I will post my verdict as against the restaurants version
Hi Imz, thanks for the video, worth checking out for those who haven’t seen it.
Anne-Marie, I definitely agree – it’s one of the best curries I’ve made too. Handy to know your alternative steps worked too.
John – I’d love to know how it turns out compared to the ‘authentic’ karahi. I have to confess to not yet having visited the Karachi, I was really fascinated by the technique used though.
Just cooked this tonight as my first homemade curry – was really delicious! I used 2 green chillies but I think one would be better – it seemed to overpower the other flavours a little, even though I enjoy the hotness!
It really looks great when you see the ghee rise and it’s all bubbling away.
Was the inauguration of our new blender too – a fitting maiden dish for it.
Nice recipe, I’ve got a copy of the video downloaded to my desktop if you want a copy. Send me an email.
i have known the karachi and eaten there for many years on top of that i am a top chef and have owned restaurants all my life and i am telling you those ingredients dont make a karachi lamb curry lots of things and know how missing
I agree with Steve, as good a recipe as Rick’s is you are’nt going to end up with a curry like you get in the Karachi, but don’t dismiss it too much Steve you could do a lot worse and probably have!
Also why hasn’t John posted his fantastic curry recipe he was given by the Asian Lady in Bradford?
I do think British people try to cook curry too quickly and end up chewing on tough meat.
I am going to make this tonight,just waiting on my fella coming home with the lamb. I am a lamb karahi freak I absolutly love it asian style. I will fill u in o the taste, hope fully it is as good as what I’m used to buying from the resturants I visit.