Hi all. I have a pound of boneless leg of lamb chunks. Wanting to do an Indian style curry/stew dish in a few days. Does anyone have a favorite recipe? Only caveat is the recipe can’t have nuts. Or, they can’t be so prominent an ingredient that I can’t just leave them out. TY!
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Laal maas is my favourite South Asian lamb dish, both to order in a restaurant and cook at home. A classic of Rajasthani cuisine. Lots of chilli heat - you can tone that down but don’t tone it down too much (and make a mint & cucumber raita to “soften the blow”. Lots of recipes online - this one works for me:
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Thank you. Looks tasty but I may have to go hunting for the chili peppers. None of those in my pantry.
The chiles she calls for are more about color than heat. While it wouldn’t be perfect, you could substitute guajillo or New Mexico chiles. I have a vindaloo recipe by Floyd Cardoz in which he substituted dried red New Mexico chiles. Otherwise, Kashmiri chiles can be obtained through Amazon, if there are no Indian markets in your vicinity. Mathania chiles are traditional for the dish and probably even harder for many to obtain. This is an interesting article about the origins of the dish.
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Thank you Amanda. Since I was planning to make this tomorrow or Sat, I won’t have time to amazon it. But I may have a bag of dried red chilies from my last trip to the Mexican grocer.
I’ve been impressed by the beauty and drool value 
of the dishes you post. Do you have a lamb curry recipe you like?
Aw, thank you! I can vouch for the one Harters posted, actually. She has others that are excellent as well:
- Rogan Josh
- Dahi Masala Gosht
-
Lamb Biryani
I also really, really like this keema recipe she has (if you wanted to grind/mince some of your lamb).
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Rogan Josh may be an easier way to go, ingredient wise. I always think of it as Laal Maas’ rather timid cousin.
Never tried a biryani at home. I work on the basis that many restaurants don’t do it well, so it must be a tricky dish to get right.
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I don’t mind timid. There is only one spice monster in my house, whereas my older son can’t handle any heat. As they say, you can add, but you can’t take away!
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Agree with @Amandarama on Maunika Gowardhan’s recipes. I’ve recommended her biryani before, as also Madhur Jaffrey’s. I don’t like all the dry fruit and nuts in the end product so I never use them.
I made Camellia Punjabi’s Rogan Josh during the pandemic and it was spectacular (fresh mace might have been a factor). MG’s is good also, but the saffron is a heavier flavor component.
A couple of other ideas:
Dal Gosht / Dalcha from Asma Khan – Dhansak is another twist on lentils and lamb cooked together, but more complicated than this
Salli Boti from Meherwan Irani – his spicing is simplified but it’s still good (you can use crushed potato chips instead of the salli or skip the topping, though it’s part of the fun)
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The Laal Maas is warm, but I don’t think overpowering; I have been known to goose it with a couple of dried sannam chiles (or chile de arbol, depending on what I have in the house). But it is definitely chile forward. Gowardhan’s recipe has a little tomato in it, but it is common to have no tomato (the other one I linked to doesn’t have any, for example). A raita of some sort on the side would help knock any heat down.
Here is one more recipe to consider - Hyderabadi Dalcha (Tangy Lamb with Lentils). 1 teaspoon of chili powder (can use paprika with cayenne to taste) and 2 dried red chiles in the tempering. If you’re using lamb leg, it may not need to cook as long (start checking for tenderness at 45 minutes or so in step 3).
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I just posted the Dalcha, too!
Thank you! An abundance of riches.
For the non-spice tolerator, this is a little like saying you can set your house on fire, so long as the hydrant is nearby and the fire department is on speed-dial. I’d rather not put him through it! I do challenge him by upping his spice tolerance just a little here and there. But when you’re cooking for a group with long held food preferences, going way outside those boxes intentionally is a little mean. So I avoid it.
But it appears I have lots of recipes to choose from and I thank you, @Saregama , and @Harters.
Absolutely noted! Yeah, I remember my mom feeding me the first dish I every had with chile peppers. Whew! That was not repeated again for some time. My sister loved Rogan Josh when we were kids; might be a good place to start with him!
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@Sasha @Amandarama the way that Indians deal with varying spice tolerance (children, elders) is to cook everything without (or much less of) the spicy elements (chillies and garam masala).
When it’s mostly done, remove a portion for those who eat less spicy, then add the chili and garam masala to the rest, and finish cooking the two portions separately.
Enables basically the same dish to be eaten with a minor modification.
I will say, though, that Laal Maas and Vindaloo rely on chilli as a major flavor component (vindaloo also has sour and sweet as important flavor components, so even though it’s vilified by “how hot can you take it” it actually does fine with much less chilli).
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A couple of others that aren’t spicy but are delicious:
Sindhi mutton (lamb:goat) - this draws on cardamom for flavor, but is otherwise a mild tomato-onion base. This MJ recipe is basically the same thing with a different name.
Palak gosht / saag gosht - lamb with spinach (I made this with chicken this week). Bonus is you don’t need a vegetable on the side. I usually double the spinach and aromatics.
In general, even after you cut back red chillies in a recipe, be mindful of whole cloves and peppercorns — those are what add heat to garam masala. And of course, taste your garam masala and cut back on too if needed (it intensifies).
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Do you have a go-to vindaloo? The sweet/sour/spicy profile appeals to me.
You’ll like Salli Boti then.
Either MG or MJ will be reliable for vindaloo - I don’t cook it (or eat it - not a favorite).
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What access do you have to the spice elements of most curry-style dishes please? Thinking mainly coriander, turmeric, cumin (all dry ground versions) and Kashmiri chilli powder. Whole cloves and green cardamom pods are good to have too.
Failing the above, does curry powder exist in your neck of the woods please? Which brand?
I already have everything above in my pantry except the kashmiri powder.
