Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
500 kg minced lamb
2 large onions
3 inches ginger
2 green chilis
5-6 small garlic cloves
12-15 cashews, soaked
1 bay leaf
1 back cardamom
½ tsp cinnamon or ½ cinnamon stick
2 large tomatoes
½ cup light cream
1 tbsp garam masala
Salt, to taste
Fresh coriander, finely chopped
Sliced/flaked almonds
DIRECTIONS
Chop half an onion very finely. In a large bowl, place minced lamb and mix the onion in. Chop 2 inches of ginger, 2 chilis, 2-3 small garlic pieces very finely and throw this all into the bowl. Add a little bit of turmeric, salt, and coriander and mix the meat so everything is incorporated. Place this on the side.
In a food processor, take the remaining 1.5 onions and chop finely. In a separate small bowl, boil cashews in hot water. Take a large pan, and over medium-low heat add olive oil and the remaining onions and start browning them. Add the bay leaf, black cardamom, and cinnamon. Let this all brown slowly. After about 15-20 minutes once it has started to brown. In a food processor, blend 1 inch of ginger and 3-4 garlic cloves. Add this paste to the onion mix.
In a clean blender, puree 2 large tomatoes with the cashew/water mixture. Once the onions are fully cooked through, remove the bay leaf and black cardamom (but don’t throw this out!), and blend the rest of the mixture with the tomatoes/cashews until you have a nice and smooth paste. Add a little boiling water to thin out the paste, as needed.
In the same pan, place the bay leaf and cardamom back in the pan. Take the minced onion mixture and start making small meatballs (about 1.5 inches wide). There’s no need to put oil in the pan, as the lamb will release oils. Brown the meatballs and turn them so that all sides are browned. Take the blended mixture, and add this back into the pan with the meatballs. Add the cream, salt, and garam masala and mix everything carefully. Reduce the heat until it’s very low, cover the pan, and cook for another 20-30 minutes.
Once all the flavors have married, top with chopped coriander, flaked almonds, serve, and enjoy! This can be served with plain parathas or rice.