Atul Kochhar’s lamb pepper fry
This special Keralan dish is flavoured with curry leaves, cloves and plenty of black pepper. “From Kerala, this curry – a very common recipe among the Christians of the region, where it would most likely be made with mutton or goat – has very little gravy,” says Atul Kochhar. “In my catering college, I had lots of classmates from Kerala and they were all experts at cooking curries like this. I was fortunate to learn first-hand from the masters. I owe so much to George; he was an absolutely amazing chef and this was his favourite curry as well… All you need is some bread to serve with this.”
Ingreadient
- 600g boneless lamb rump or neck fillet, chopped into bite-size pieces
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (see Tips)
- 1 heaped tbsp coconut oil
- 2 onions, finely sliced
- 5 fresh or dried curry leaves
- 2½ cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 2 tsp caramelised onion paste (optional)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander
Instruction
- Put the lamb in a large saucepan with the vinegar, ½ tsp of the freshly ground black pepper, ½ tsp salt and 200ml water. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and leave the meat to simmer for 8 minutes. Strain, reserving the cooking liquid.
- Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil over a medium-high heat in a frying pan. Add the onions, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring, until the onions are lightly coloured (about 8 minutes). Stir in the onion paste (if using) and turmeric and cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the meat and half the reserved cooking liquid, which will be absorbed and evaporate quite quickly. Then add the remaining liquid, a little at a time, stirring, until largely evaporated. The gravy should almost be like a thin paste coating the lamb and the lamb should be tender.
- Stir in 1 tsp of the freshly ground black pepper, season to taste with salt, if necessary, and continue stirring until all the liquid has evaporated. Sprinkle over the remaining pepper and the chopped coriander leaves just before serving.
