Welcome friends! To get the most out of our year in Chicago, we're seeking out 40 new examples of each of our 10 categories (see below right) and documenting the results on this blog. Suggestions and comments are always welcome (just click on "comments" in the lower right hand corner of any message.) To see all the posts, look at the list sequentially. Or you can follow specific 10x40 categories by clicking on the label for each in the lower right hand corner of any post.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Recipe #2 Lamb with Whole Spices

Well, We've been falling behind on the recipe category so here's a great one we just tried from "An Invitation to Indian Cooking" by Madhur Jaffrey. For purists, this is called khare masale ka gosht, but lamb with whole spices works too.

8 TBSP vegetable oil (ok, that's alot but most of it stays in the pan and it's really worth it)
1 2" stick cinnamon
20 whole black peppercorns
15 whole cloves
10 whole cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 whole dry red pepper
2 lbs boneless shoulder of lamb cut into 1" pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala (optional)
1 TBSP chopped cilantro (optional)

Pat the meat dry on paper towels. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. When it is very hot, put the spices in quickly in this order (the order seems to matter) cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaves and hot pepper. When the hot pepper begins to darken, add the pieces of meat and the salt. Stir for 5 minutes or until the pot begins to make boiling noises (I did this in a wok and it began to make boiling noises right away so I went about 3 minutes and it turned out fine). Cover, lower heat and cook for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes or until meat is tender (I think I cooked mine 40 minutes, at which point it started to look a little charred around the edges. Use your best judgement.) Remove the cover and continue cooking on medium for a final 3 to 5 minutes, gently stirring the meat pieces. Take care not to break them. Remove from pot using a slotted spoon to drain off excess oil. You can serve with the whole spices for effect, but they shouldn't be eaten. Serve over rice and sprinkle with garam marsala and / or chopped cilantro.

This takes awhile but it tasted AMAZING. Give it a try!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Baaa.