Spring is here and we are celebrating the abundance of fresh produce with a fantastic competition. Send in your fresh vegetarian or floral recipe (with six ingredients or fewer) and the best one will be picked from the crop to receive the honour of featuring on our special menu. The winner will also receive a fantastic 3 course meal for two with matching wines to enjoy at The Cinnamon Club. So hurry and email your recipe to events@cinnamonclub.com

Tags: indian recipe, recipe vegetarian menu competition, vegetarian 
Author: Alison

The name of this dish means’red meat’ in Hindi, indicating the liberal use of dried red chillies that make this dish intensely hot, with robust, smoky flavours. You could use lamb or goat – they are interchangeable here.

This curry is one of those dishes that contains heat in every sense – it’s both ‘chilli hot’ and ’spice hot’. Cloves and cardamom are effective heat-inducing spices, perfect for cold winter evenings.

Serves 4

5 tbsp of ghee or vegetable oil
1 tsp of cloves
25 dried red chillies, stalks removed, broken into 2-3 pieces each and soaked in warm water for 30 mins
2 bay leaves
6 green cardamom pods
4 black cardamom pods
6 1/2 tbsps finely chopped garlic
2 large onions, finely chopped
750g lamb diced (1 12 inch pieces)
600ml of water or lamb stock
30g fresh corriander, chopped
juice of 1 lemon

For yoghurt mixture
250g yoghurt, whisked until smooth
2 tsps cumin seeds roasted in deep frying pan
4 tsps ground coriander
2 tsps red chilli powder
2 tsps salt

Mix yoghurt with cumin seeds, ground coriander, chilli powder and salt, then set aside. Heat 3 tbsps of ghee or oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the cloves, setting 4-6 aside for later, then add 3-4 soaked chillies, saving the rest for later. Add the bay leaves and the green and black cardamom. When they begin to crackle and change colour, add the garlic and saute until it starts to turn golden. Add the onions, stirring constantly, until light brown. Now add the meat and cook, stirring over a high heat for 3-5 minutes. Again, save 3-4 red chillies for later and add the rest to the pan. Cook for 10-12 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated and the meat starts to brown. Add the yoghurt mixture and cook over a medium heat for 15-18 minutes, until the yoghurt has dried up. Pour in the water or lamb stock, then cover the pan and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes or until the meat is tender. Check the seasoning, remove from the heat and keep warm.
To finish, heat the remaining ghee or oil in a small pan, add the remaining cloves and red chillies and, as they change colour and release their flavours into the fat, pour the mixture over the lamb. Finish with chopped coriander and lemon juice.

This recipe was taken from Vivek Singh’s Curry, Classic and Contemporary cook book and you can try this dish now in the restaurant as it’s on our set menu (better be quick though, the set menu will change again on 30th November).

Tags: curry, fiery, indian recipe, ingredients, lamb, rajasthani 
Author: Alison