Black pepper (1/2 tsp) salt (seasoning at end) corriander powder (1 tablespoon) cumin powder (2 tablespoons) (note: the proper Asian shops call it powder, so correcting is futile) cinnamon sticks (about an inch) tumeric (1 tsp) cloves (12) garlic (half a medium sized head) ground ginger (1 tablespoon, or 2 inch fresh root) garam masala (in the bonne maman jar, 1 tablespoon and seasoning) onions (2 medium sized) peas (1 cup) chilli (1 small chilli) chopped tomatoes (actually needed another tin on top of the carton) lamb mince (400g)
A more complete picture of the ingredients, but blurrier.
Mix the cumin and corriander together
Melt 3 tablespoons of oil and 25g of butter in a pan. I had to improvise a bit as I had less butter.
This is for the first step. Chop onions, and get the cinnamon stick and cloves together for entry to pan.
Add to pan once butter is melted. Add the black pepper. Keep on a medium heat, stir about lots until the onions are browned. Use less black pepper than I did: around 1/4 of a teaspoon will do the trick.
Prepare the next stage. Chop the chilli finely. The more seeds you leave in the hotter it will be. Don't go nuts for this, it has a fairly delicate flavour for a curry. Peel the garlic ready to crush into the pan. If no crusher, flatten with side of knife then chop up very finely.
The chilli minced up nicely. Look how awesome my knives are. Use less chilli than I did - probably about half that?
The onion cooking away in the background.
Remove the cinnamon stick, then add the mixture of cumin and corriander.
And the garam masala.
And the tumeric.
Stir about a bit until everything is covered, then add the tomatoes. Unless you have a big heavy bottomed pan, you'll need the heat higher than I have here.
And the chilli!
Stir about a bit for about 10 minutes. You want the oil to leak out a little bit on the edges of the mixture at the end. Then add the mince.
Break up the mince lots, make sure it's all mixed together. Don't worry about browning it off completely. Then cover for 40mins on a low head, ensuring the curry stays moist: feel free to add chopped tomatoes (the second tin) if it needs it.
10 minutes before the end, add the peas.
Curry!
Add salt and garam masala to taste. Don't get paranoid and start adding worcestershire sauce and maple syrup like I did. The curry will work. You now need to turn the heat off, like I did. Allow the curry to cool then reheat for serving. Rice is win.
