Lamb Curry with Sweet potatoes - An experiment that turned out great.

                                                                                                                                                                                

 

I am not going to start with my usual story of why I was missing in action because by now the whole world knows that I was on a month long vacation! It was my son's summer vacation but I was the most excited one to be getting away from the heat wave that the city was facing at that time. Few days in my favourite city Delhi, then a few in  the picturesque and peaceful town of Kasauli and then finally few weeks at my mom's den.What more did I want..I was a happy soul. Ate a lot ,slept a lot, shopped a lot and spent a lot of time with my loved ones..I have come back with a lot of energy to get into everyday chores and be happy and busy.

 

Now this dish Lamb curry with sweet potatoes  is something I made before I went away but did not have the time to share with you all. It so happened that I was watching a show by Rachel Allen and it was an episode on robust meals and she made this lamb curry. Sweet potatoes is something we so use in our cooking but maybe would never really put it in a lamb curry. In my heart I felt that it would turn out good and I should give it a try. After all we Bengalis love our meat - Kosha Mangsho , Mongshor Jhol - we love all of that. This turned out to be a successful experiment so here I am sharing it with you all. Its different but it is nice. Very clean flavours, a little tang from the yoghurt and soft meat from the slow cooking. I skipped adding sugar as I was using sweet potatoes and it went perfectly with steamed rice.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Lamb/mutton - curry cut - 500 gms

Onion - 2 medium - thinly sliced

Ginger - 1 tbsp.- grated

Garlic - 1 tbsp.- grated

Cardamom pods - 4-5 crushed

Roasted cumin powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Sweet potatoes - 2 medium - cut into big chunks

Fresh mint leaves - a handful - finely chopped

Yoghurt/Curd - 1 cup

Red chillies/green chillies - 2-3 - finely sliced - adjust acc to taste

Salt - to taste

Refined oil - 2 tbsp

Warm water - 1 cup

Toasted almond flakes - for garnish

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan heat 2 tbsp. of refined oil. Once done add the mutton pieces and sear on high heat for 10 to 15 mins. Its important to keep it on high flames so that the moisture is sealed in. Remove from pan and let it rest.

In the same pan add the grated ginger,garlic and the crushed cardamom. Saute lightly and add the finely sliced onions. Fry on low heat till slightly golden in colour. Tip in the seared mutton and all the dry spices - roasted cumin powder ,turmeric and Kashmiri chilli powder. Mix well with the mutton.

Next add the chunks of sweet potatoes.Add a cup of warm water,add salt,cover and let it cook for almost 45 mins on low heat. By now the meat would be soft and tender and the gravy would thicken.

Whisk the yoghurt well and add it to the pan.Also add the chopped mint leaves.  Mix well while adding the yoghurt so it doesn't split or curdle. Sprinkle the chopped chillies on top.
Remove from heat, garnish with toasted almonds and serve hot with rice.