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.