Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Lamb Bhuna with Pilaf Rice and Onion Relish
If like me, you love a traditional Christmas lunch, you have probably spent the past week grazing on leftovers. I love Christmas leftovers. I can happily live for days on toasted turkey and ham sandwiches with my own cranberry sauce, lots of melted cheddar and some spicy horseradish. In fact, I think the leftovers are the best part of Christmas food. Tonight, I will be rustling up some crispy potato rosti, and serving a stack of them with the last of the turkey, ham and stuffing, some fresh vegetables, lots of gorgeous leftover gravy on the side and the last of my cranberry sauce.
We had a break from the leftovers yesterday though. I fancied something spicy, so I made this lovely lamb bhuna. I served this with pilau rice and an onion relish on the side. I came up with this relish especially for this curry and it is phenomenal. The bhuna has rich, deep flavours so the fresh zesty relish is a perfect accompaniment. The rice is a slight variation on a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey, one of my favourite Indian food writers.
We also had some home-made garlic and coriander naan with this, you can find the recipe for those over on my Instagram. I also made a simple side dish, a vegetable curry made with aubergine and tomatoes. Make the sides if you fancy a bit of a feast, or just have the lamb bhuna with lots of rice, the relish and maybe a few crispy poppadom.
You will see that I roast and grind whole spices for this recipe. This is always worth the little effort it takes as it adds so much more flavour than ready ground spices. You can use a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle to grind the toasted seeds to a powder, it honestly only takes a few minutes. I use Kashmiri chilli powder in this recipe which is a little milder than most other chili powders. Adjust the amount of chilli powder according to the heat you want.
500g diced lamb
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 onion
2cm piece fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
½ tin chopped tomatoes
1tsp sea salt
150ml water
400g basmati rice
½ onion thinly sliced
1 stick cinnamon
2 pods cardamom
2tbps coconut oil
1 tsp salt
30g flaked almonds
30g sultanas
1 medium onion
Juice of 1 or 2 limes
½ tsp slat
½ tsp caster sugar
30g desiccated coconut
Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Toast the cumin, fenugreek, coriander, mustard seed and fennel until they turn a little dark. This will take 3-4 minutes. Take them off the heat and let them cool a little before grinding them to a powder.
Chop the onion and grate the garlic and ginger. Heat 45ml of coconut or rapeseed oil in a large pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the onion, garlic, and ginger for about 5 minutes until they brown a little, then add the ground spices along with one teaspoon of chilli powder.
Fry the spices with the onion mixture for about a minute, stirring all the time. Next, add the tomatoes. Keep stirring until the tomatoes cook down a little and you have a thick paste, this will only take a few minutes.
Now add the lamb and salt, stir well to coat the meat, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 150ml of water and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Let the curry simmer away until the lamb is soft and tender. This will take anything up to an hour. Be patient, this low slow simmer is what makes the lamb tender and the gravy deep in flavour. It is worth the wait.
While the lamb is cooking, prepare the rice and the relish. Put the rice in a sieve and rise it thoroughly under a cold tap. Pop it into a pan, cover it with water and let it soak for about thirty minutes.
Heat the coconut oil in a medium pan over a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, pop in the cinnamon and the cardamom pods. Add the onion and fry until it starts to turn brown, and then add the almonds and sultanas. Stir for a few minutes until the almonds start to go brown, and then add the drained rice and the salt. Stir well and add 600ml of water.
Bring to a boil, then cover the pan with a lid and bring the heat down as low as possible. You want this to just barely simmer for about twenty to twenty-five minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is soft and fluffy.
While the rice and lamb are cooking, make the relish. Peel and very thinly slice the onion. Pop it into a bowl along with the lime juice, sugar, salt and chopped coriander. Toast the coconut in a dry pan until lightly browned, then add that to the bowl. Stir to combine well and that is it. Set aside until you are ready to eat.
When the lamb is soft and tender, remove the lid and if the sauce is till a little thin, keep the pot simmering until it reduces to a thick gravy that clings to the meat.
Serve with the pilau rice, your lovely fresh relish, and other sides if you made them. Feast well.
