Lamb or chicken with coriander & yoghurt

This magic little curry is not at all hot, but otherwise is very spicy and tasty. While I prefer the lamb version, it can also be prepared using the same quantity of chicken. (If you use the chicken option, reduce the initial cooking time by about 40 minutes.)

1100 boned shoulder lamb (or boned-out forequarter chops), cut into 4 cm cubes

200 g onions, halved then sliced into fine half rings

½ turmeric

75 vegetable oil

4 cm stick of cinnamon

2 firmly packed, chopped green coriander leaves and soft stems

1.1 plain, whole-milk yoghurt, lightly beaten

1.	Combine meat, turmeric, salt and black cardamom pods with 750 mL water in a large, heavy-based pot and bring to the boil. Cover and reduce heat to low, then simmer for about an hour, or until the meat is tender.

2.	Heat the oil in another large, heavy pot over a medium flame, then fry the onions until they are a medium dark brown, reducing the heat as they darken. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon when they are crisp, leaving as much oil behind as possible. Spread the onions on kitchen paper.

3.	Add the cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods and cinnamon to the oil and stir once. Stir in the yoghurt and garlic, and increase the heat to medium-high. Keep stirring until the mixture has reduced to a very thick, white sauce with oil starting to show around the edges.

4.	Strain the meat from the first pot into the yoghurt sauce and reserve the stock for later. Stir and cook the meat over medium heat for about 4 minutes, when the sauce should be clinging to the meat.

5.	Add the stock and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is reduced to about a third of the way up the meat.

6.	Crumble the onions and sprinkle over the top with plenty of ground pepper, then mix through. Remove all of the hard spices and spoon off the oil.

7.	Stir in the chopped coriander just before serving with Steamed ginger rice.

Madhur Jaffrey, Indian Recipes, Pavilion Books, London, 1994