Lamb curry off test run #1

This time, I wasn’t drunk, but Prasad might have been. We were at his house, standing around in the hallway as people were leaving after watching the Superbowl on a very nice television screen, when we set a date in the spring for the next Curry Off. And, so, I would have a couple of months to prepare, to do test-run of curry recipes, to refine spice mixtures, and to learn how to cook lamb, since this time around it would be a Lamb Off.

Today, was Test Run #1 of lamb curry. (It was actually also the first time I’ve ever cooked lamb.) And, I invited Colin and Eleanor over to help me judge the worthiness of the curry.

The recipe was straightforward. Cook some chopped onions in some oil until brown. Add in chunks of lamb until brown. Sprinkle in ground black peppercorn, whole cloves, and green cardamom pods. Then, add a puree of more onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook that down until almost no liquid remains. Then, pour in some plain yogurt, along with some cayenne and ground coriander. After, add some water and garam masala and let it cook until the lamb is tender. Once it’s done, toss in some chopped cilantro and a drizzle of heavy cream. It was pretty easy, and I made some brown basmati rice with whole cumin seeds to go with the curry.

But, the curry was just okay. The level of heat from the spices was subtle, as were the spices themselves. And the lamb was tender and fell apart nicely when poked at with a fork. But, the curry itself was just okay; far from being a Curry Off winner. Its flavor lacked depth and distinction. It tasted more like an Irish lamb stew than an Indian lamb curry. There was no way that I would put this up against anyone’s curry. So, next week, I’ll try again with another lamb recipe and another hope at finding a winner.