Lamb Madras

Lamb Madras is a one pot spicy & tangy lamb curry made with lamb meat, madras spices in an onion tomato sauce.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 45

Total Time 1 55

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon white poppy seeds khus khus, skip if not available
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds skip if not available
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1.5 tablespoon coriander seeds
5 cloves
6 green cardamom pods
15 black peppercorns
6-8 dried kashmiri red chilies (super hot) adjust to taste, if you cannot find dried chillies, use fresh green or red chilli(make sure they are hot)

Place a cooking pot (I use a 4 qt pot for 1 lb lamb meat) on low flame. Add 2 tablespoon cooking oil.
Once oil is warm, on low heat add to it the dried red chilies, white poppy seeds and the whole spices - cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, black peppercorns, cloves and whole green cardamom. Fry the spices on low heat in oil for about 30-40 seconds taking care that they do not change color.
Add the chopped ginger and garlic next and fry for 20-25 seconds.
Then add the roughly chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes on low medium heat until you see that they soften and few of the onions are getting light brown edges.
Add the roughly chopped tomatoes and sprinkle salt. Fry the tomatoes with spices and onions until they just soften. Don't make them pasty or dry out too much.Take off the stove and let cool down a bit.
Transfer this onion, tomato and spice mixture to a grinder jar. Add little water and grind to a paste. Keep near.

Place the cooking pot back on stove. Add 2-3 tablespoon oil and let heat up on low flame
Temper the hot oil with cinnamon stick, star anise and curry leaves(if using). Be careful since fresh curry leaves crackle as soon as they hit the oil.
Add the lamb next and sprinkle turmeric powder and salt. At this point, you could also sprinkle bit of paprika powder or kashmiri red chili powder if you want a deep reddish color, however I didnt.
Brown the lamb on medium heat for next 8-12 minutes or until you see no pink. Depending on quality of your lamb meat, you might see some the meat releasing its moisture.
Next, add the ground spice paste to the pot. Mix to coat the lamb in the masala and fry for next 3-4 minutes until the masala is heated through.
Cover the pot and let slow simmer for about 90 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and tender. I added about ? cup of water midway. You might need to check a few times in between to make sure that there is enough liquid for lamb to cook it. Add water if needed but keep in mind that we need a thick sauce so add accordingly.
At the end of cooking, taste and adjust the salt if needed. Let rest for about 10-15 minutes and serve warm with rice or flatbreads.

Lamb - Use a lamb shoulder or lamb leg. Meat from both those areas has enough fat to keep the meat moist during cooking and become tender when cooked slowly.
Thaw The Meat - Always, thaw the meat if its frozen. Additionally, don't cook very cold meat. I recommend pulling out the meat out of the refrigerator at least 45 minutes to 1 hour prior to when you begin cooking.
Spices - Make sure that the whole spices do not become too brown when you toast them, else the sauce may get a bitter after taste.
Don't Skimp on Red Chilies- Madras curry is known for its heat. If you reduce the quantity of chilies tremendously or omit them, the true taste of lamb madras won't come through. However, you can reduce the level of heat to your preference.
If desired, you could finish lamb madras with unsweetened coconut milk to tame the spices and for creaminess.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!