One of the comments we frequently hear is about the depth of flavours in Executive Chef Vivek Singh’s food. How you we manage to keep the flavour of one ingredient when it’s surrounded by other strong flavours? Well in this week’s recipe, by cooking the lamb separately to the corn sauce, and combining the elements of the dish at the end, you too can succeed!

Serves 4
4 x 200g lamb chops
1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the marinade:
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the corn sauce:
100g ghee or clarified butter
8 cloves
2 black cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
2 onions, finely chopped
3 green chillies, chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
tbsp garlic paste
100g lamb, finely diced
200g sweetcorn
4 tbsps plain yoghurt
150ml lamb stock
6cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
50g fresh coriander, chopped
juice of 1 lemon

Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade and rub them over the lamb. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the ghee or clarified butter in a heavy-based pan and add the cloves, cardamom and bay leaf. When they start to crackle, add the onions and cook of a medium heat until golden. Add the chillies and cook for 1-2 minutes. The add the turmeric and salt and saute briskly for a minute taking care that the dry spices do not start to burn. Add the garlic paste and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes. Ass soon as the fat starts to separate out at the side of the mixture, stir in the diced lamb. Cook for 4-5 minutes until browned, then add 3/4 of the corn and all of the yoghurt. Cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the corn is nearly mashed and the sauce is becoming very thick. Add the lamb stock and bring back to the boil, then add the ginger, coriander and remaining corn. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Check seasoning and add lemon juice.

Now on to the meat. Heat the oil in a large oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat, add the lamb and sear for 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a preheated oven at 180˚C and roast for 6-7 minutes. Leave the meat to rest for 3-4 minutes, then cut into slices. Divide the sauce onto 4 plates and place the lamb on top to serve.

Tags: flavour, lamb, marinade, rajasthani, sweetcorn 
Author: Alison

For a Christmas drinks party canapes are perfect. This is quite a long recipe but these kebabs are so cute when cut into 4cm bites and will definitely wow your guests – far better than cheese on a stick! You can make your own bread for these wraps but alternatively (as in this blog) you can use tortilla wraps, and let’s face it who has time to make bread – we’ll leave that till January.

Lamb Kebab Wraps
Serves 6

For the seekh kebabs:
500g lamb mince
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies
8 sprigs of fresh coriander, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsps of grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp salt

1 red onion sliced
juice of 1/2 lemon
mango chutney
4 tortilla wraps
butter for brushing
2 eggs, lightly beaten
oil for brushing

For the seekh kebabs, mix all the ingredients together and divide into 4 portions. Shape each one round a skewer, squeezing the meat gently with wet hands so it adheres to the skewer. Place under a medium-hot grill for 8 minutes, turning regularly, until the kebabs are dark brown all over. Mix the red onion and lemon juice and set aside.

Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan or a flat griddle over a high heat and place one of the breads in it . Cook for 2 minutes on each side until just starting to colour. Brush the top with a little oil, turn the bread over and cook for 1 minute, then brush with oil again and turn again. As the bread starts to colour underneath, reduce the heat, flip the bread over and pour a quarter of the beated egg on to it. Let the egg congeal for a minute or so, then turn the bread over again to cook the side with the egg on it. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with the remaining breads.

Once the breads are all cooked, lay them out egg-side upwards, spread them with butter and top with the red onoin mixture. Remove the lamb kebabs from the skewers, place a kebab in the centre of each bread and drizzle with mango chutney. Roll up the bread so the kebab is completely covered. Secure with toothpicks to prevent the bread opening, trim off the ends and cut into small chunks. Voila! The perfect canape. And to make them even more dazzling, garnish with a couple of pomegranate seeds. Yummy!

Tags: canapes, lamb, party, pomegranate, seekh kebab, The Cinnamon Club Cook Books, tortilla wraps 
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