Curry Time

So, another Saturday has rolled round and my usual morning routine kicked in. Sleep in, up, cup of tea, clean apartment and stick on Saturday Kitchen Live. However, where this programme usually inspires me to try something completely new and make an absolute mess of the aforementioned cleaned apartment today was a little different. They made a goat curry. Which put me in mind of a great recipe I had for a lamb&spinach curry. But this time I decided to make it with pilau rice (never before made).

So off I toddled to the local markets (got to support the small businesses, don't forget) and stocked up on my ingredients. To those of you who may shy away from curry this one's a gem as it's pretty  mild and the ingredients make it easy to control the heat going into it.

If you'd like a go the ingredients and method are:

Curry:

Cooking oil

2 onions (sliced)

1/4 bunch of fresh coriander (chopped)

2 fresh green chillies (chopped)

1 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

1 1/2 tsp crushed fresh garlic

1 tsp chilli powder (more or less dependent on heat preference)

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

450g lean lamb, cut into bite size chunks

1 tsp salt

1kg fresh spinach (trimmed, washed, chopped)

700ml water

1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped for garnish

Method:

• Heat oil in large, heavy-based pan. Add onions and cook until golden brown.
• Add coriander and green chillies and stir fry for 3-5mins.
• Reduce heat and add garlic, ginger, chilli powder and turmeric. Stir well.
• Add lamb. Stir fry for 5mins.
• Add salt and spinach and cook for 3-5mins.
• Add water, stirring, and cook over a low heat for 45mins-1hr. (I leave for up to 2hrs to make sure the lamb is super tender.)
• Remove lid and if there is surplus water increase heat and cook uncovered until satisfied. Garnish with chopped, red chilli.

Pilau rice:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 green cardamom pods, split

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

3 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

8 curry leaves

400g/14oz basmati rice

½ lemon, juice only

Method:

• For the rice, heat a saucepan until hot. Add the oil, onion, garlic and spices, and fry for two minutes.
• Stir in the rice and add 600ml/1pint 1fl oz water.
• Bring to the boil, cover and reduce to a gentle simmer.
• Cook for 18-20 minutes until the rice is tender and all the liquid absorbed.
• Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, lemon juice, then stir in the curry leaves.