Sri Lankan Lamb curry

⇐ Recipes from cookery books

This is not a mild curry! But very tasty. It's worth sourcing curry leaves - dried ones don't do it - think of the difference between dried and fresh mint or sage. This is my adapted version using tips from preview of recipe in book.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced

20 curry leaves

6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

6cm fresh root ginger, finely chopped or grated

4 bone-in lamb shanks approx 350g each, or equivalent lamb shoulder, whole or cut into large pieces - I prefer with bone but without will work.

1 tsp salt - probably slightly more

2 generous Tbsp Sri Lankan curry powder

200g waxy potatoes - or more to taste

300ml coconut milk - look for high fat content - at least 16g per 100ml

2 generous Tbsp Sri Lankan meat powder

1 lime

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan or casserole big enough to hold all the lamb shanks and more. Fry the onions for 6-7 minutes till just starting to brown. Add the curry leaves, and after 30 seconds or so when the leaves are bright green, add the garlic and ginger. Cook for a minute or two until the garlic begins to brown.
2. Add the Sri Lankan curry powder and salt, mix, and then the lamb and mix well again to coat the lamb in spices. Add enough water to barely cover the lamb and bring to a boil.
3. Transfer to an oven 170℃. Or can be cooked on stove top at lowest possible heat.
4. After and hour, add the potatoes. The lamb will need 2-3 hours - maybe even longer if using lamb shoulder in one piece. The meat should be very tender - try cutting with a spoon - and fall off the bone.
5. Turn off heat under casserole and spoon off as much liquid as easily possible into a saucepan. Add the coconut milk and Sri Lankan meat powder and bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Serve in the casserole by adding the coconut milk curry sauce to the lamb and gently stir. Or carefully transfer lamb to a serving dish and pile potatoes around and pour over the combined sauces. Add a generous squeeze of lime

Rambutan - Recipes from Sri Lanka Cynthia Shanmugalingam

sri_lankan

sri_lankan