Lamb Curry/Bhuna (Pressure Cooker Method)

For best results, make this dish in a pressure cooker. It’ll be cooked in half the amount of time and the lamb will be nice and soft. 

Ingredients: Serves 6

2 lbs lamb (cut into medium sized cubes)

3 Onions, 2 inch piece of ginger, 6 garlic cloves

Optional: 2-3 dried red chillies

Optional: 1 large potato or 10 fingerling potatoes

Spices: 1 cardamom, 2 cinammon sticks, 2 bayleafs, 1 and half tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander powder, 3/4 tsp turmeric, and 1 and 1/2 level tsps salt. 

How to: (Pressure Cooker Method)

1. Prepare the meat by thoroughly washing it and then cut into medium sized cubes.

2. In a pressure cooker, add the following ingredients:  Lamb, 3 chopped onions, finely grated ginger, diced garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 cardamaom, 2 cinnamon sticks, and 2 bayleafs.

3. Add 1 full glass of water and close the lid. On high heat, allow the ingredients to cook for about 7-8 minutes. (If you have one of those pressure cookers that has a separate key or top to stop the hissing, place on top when you hear it start to hiss. This indicates that the temperature is right for cooking).

4. Cook for a further 12 minutes. The pressure cooker will then let you know when the meat is ready by making a screeching scound. Remove from heat and go over to the sink. Run cold tap water over the pressure cooker until it stops steaming, Wipe and return to stove.

5. Reduce heat to a medium heat and check that meat is almost ready. The texture should be tender, almost ready to eat but not quite, and should not shred apart in your fingers.

6. If the meat is almost ready as described above, add the following: 1 and 1/2 tsp chilli powder (less if you want it less hot), 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, and 3/4 tsp turmeric.

7. If you are adding potatoes, chop them up into 2 inch cubes and add to the sauce. Alternatively, wash the fingerling potatoes and add to the sauce. No need to peel as all the fibre is in the peel!

8.  Add 1/2 glass of water and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked and the sauce is thicker.  To make a drier curry, ie. bhuna, add less water. Keep cooking the curry until the sauce dries up.  Optional: Add 2-3 dried red chillies to the bhuna as in the image above.

Recommendations:  Serve with hot rice of your choice, naan, chapatti, or pita bread.

Recipe by Kamila Rahman. Image by Sabina Huq