Letter L The A to Z of TV Cooking

We're going to cook a lamb curry.

Cooked with squat green chillies, this curry comes from Hyderabad,

in southern India, where they love strong flavours.

-An onion?

-Thank you.

All I want is a really rough chop cos we're going to blend it anyway.

'Ground fennel seeds, with their distinctive anise flavours.'

Smell that.

Cor, that's quite strong, isn't it?

A little bit less than a teaspoon.

'Turmeric, with unmissable colouring.'

-OK.

-Garam masala.

-Mm-hm.

-So you'll smell a mixture of spices...

-Oh, yeah.

-..but more familiar.

-That's like a cinnamon sort of smell.

Yeah, there's a lot of cinnamon in this one.

But there is cinnamon in garam masala generally.

These are poppy seeds. I know they don't look like normal poppy seeds

-because they've got the skin removed.

-Right.

These are very typical for the Hyderabad region. They use a lot of poppy seeds.

'Along with chopped fresh ginger, garlic and tomatoes,

'this is going to be our masala - or curry mixture.'

-So, how's that?

-Let's have a look.

That looks all right, actually.

So now you have two options -

you can either put the meat in that and leave it to marinade

and you can just leave it there for a few hours,

go out, do a job, come back, or do it at night for the next day...

-Right.

-..and the flavours will already start getting into the meat.

If you don't have loads of time,

you can just cook all this straight away.

'This is a really flexible dish to make.

'Cooking the masala right now and will also tenderise the meat.

'When it's finished, Paul can then leave it and reheat it

'when Blue Watch are hungry.'

There's a lot of Indians say that

if you make a lamb curry or a chicken curry the day before...

-It will taste better...

-..better the next day.

'Before I start cooking the meat, I'm frying off my whole spices -

'in this case, cumin and Nigella seeds -

'a classic Indian cookery technique.

This ensures that they get cooked properly and flavour the oil.'

-OK, let's get the lamb in.

-OK.

SIZZLING

-It does look very nice, actually.

-It does.

-It's quite a strong smell, as well.

-Well, it's a curry!

-I'm not apologising for my strong curry.

-No, that's fine!

A lot of people will go, you know,

no coconut milk is going in it, nothing to mellow it.

But the curries from this region tend to be real curries.

'Ten minutes on a gentle heat

'and the flavours of our curry mixture are really being drawn out.'

What I want to show you about this curry is I keep the bone in.

Indians always leave their bone in

cos the flavour of that lamb kind of flavour we love

is in the bones. So if you keep it in the lamb, it goes into your curry

and you don't have to add mixed stock.

But also, when the meat starts falling off the bone,

then you know it's really cooked and tender.

So it serves a dual purpose.

'Now to add that special flavour - chillies.

'We're using jalapenos -

'mild green chillies that won't overwhelm

'the other flavours with their heat.'

How spicy do you like it? Now be honest. Be honest!

I'm not normally adventurous with spices.

'To make them extra mild we've taken out the seeds,

'frying them first to bring out the chilli flavour.'

They're not as hot as the proper Indian ones

that we used to cook with. But if I use six of these you'll die.

Someone once told me that if, um...

-If you do eat something that's too hot...

-Yeah?

-..the best thing to do is to take a spoonful of sugar.

-Yeah.

-Cos it takes the spice out. Is that right?

-Sugar and yoghurt.

So now, the best way to know if your masala is cooked is trying it.

-If there's no kind of harsh elements coming out at you...

-OK.

-..then it's cooked and you go to the next stage. Have a go.

-Yeah.

And because it's quite smooth,

you know what the taste of the curry is going to be like...

-Mm.

-..and we can add the water.

'And our work is essentially done.

'The masala is now left on a low heat for about 40 minutes.

'Paul only needs to stir it every now and then.

'Very low-maintenance.'

-So, shall we put our chillies in?

-OK.

-Just add them in.

That's great, thank you.

'To finish off, a little sourness to enhance the other flavours

'from tamarind paste.'

-Coriander...

-Lovely.

And then I think we deserve a taste, don't you think?

-Oh, definitely.

-Open up!

Oh-ho-ho!

That is lovely!

-You taste the chilli...

-Mm.

But...it's not hot with it.

Not the heat because it's not a small chilli,

-so it's not so kind of hot, but just great flavours.

-Mm.

-Isn't that a great flavoured chilli?

-Mm!