Put Some Groove in Your Heart - Lamb and Lentil Curry
The reason in Indian cuisine there are sambals and raitas is 'cos quite a lot of curry's look a lot like dog food, and who wants a plate that looks like that, even if your nose is going, Youser! Youser! Youser! The plate or the table in front of you needs colour and decoration.
I ate up the last of this today and even cold I thought it would make a great pasty filling and even, yes even, a veggie version with some pots or parsnips it would be top in a pie.
Back to lamb and lentil curry, err um, thirty years ago poorly sick I asked the then gf to make this as I lay in bed wiv der man flu, the food was okay, er thanks, and I got better, 24hr thang ya know, I remember, eating a bowl of this curry in bed, then going back to sleep. She went, not because of the curry but ten years older I was, she was twenty one, da, da, la. Anyway, I still see this as comfort food in the same way that 'we' associate comfort with 'Heinz' chicken soup, but in a curry way, and believe me, at any time - you'll feel better following this dish, and whilst I have made it only a few times over the years, that memory remains, fond, and oddly of her. Though I don't miss listening to the Sugarcubes, Deee-lite's 'Groove is in the heart', is still is the 'nazz'.
The chills that you spill
I couldn't ask for another
My supperdish
Hey DJ soul is on a roll
Just de-lovely and delicious
I couldn't ask for another
DIG
Groove is in the heart...
Groove is in the heart...Yay Yay Yay
LoVe BaBy
Anyway the recipe
It's not a hot dish, but delicate in the way I think all lamb dishes should be, always the lamb must be the diva, everything else the chorus.
So in the usual way fry onions gently, add lamb pieces and continue to gently brown in a little oil, add some sliced fresh chilli, garlic, your own mix of curry ground spices, such as coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, cook for a minute or two then add water and two tablespoons of tamarind. Simmer for half an hour and then add red lentls and more water and gently simmer till the lamb is cooked and the lentils very soft. Monitor as it can dry quickly. But serve fairly dry. Ideal with Indian flat breads and chutney.