Lamb with Apricots & Fried Potato Straws (Salli Jardaloo Boti)

This is a one of our recipes that encourages you to try Indian cooking from scratch. You will need to blend your spices first using a spice grinder - you can use a coffee grinder if you don't have one. It takes a bit more effort than most of our recipes, however the results really are flavoursome, and the crunchy potato straws add a fabulous dimensions. So why not give it a go?

Serves: 4 people
Preparation time: 45 mins
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Advanced

Spiciness

If you like this recipe try these

Lamb Rogan Josh with Spinach & Mushrooms

Goan Fish Vindaloo

This recipe features

Ingredients

4 dried red chillies, diced
¼ cinnamon stick, broken
2½ tsp cumin seeds
6 cardamom pods
8 cloves
4cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg boned shoulder of lamb, cut into 2.5cm-4cm cubes
12 dried, ready-to-eat apricots, roughly chopped
500ml vegetable stock
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
200g can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
25g unrefined sugar

For the potato straws:

1 large potato, peeled and cut into thin straws
vegetable oil, for deep frying

Methods

Using a spice (or coffee) grinder, blend the red chillies, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, cardamom pods and cloves, until finely ground.
Mix together half the ginger, half the garlic and half the ground spices. Toss this mixture with the lamb pieces and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile, put the apricots in a saucepan, add the stock and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to soak in the cooking stock for about 30 minutes, until the apricots go soft.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes (until rich brown). Add the remaining ginger, garlic and ground spices and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add the lamb and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and season to taste. Add the vinegar, sugar, apricot and stock mixture and a little water, stir, partially cover and simmer over a low heat for 45-50 minutes until the lamb is tender.
Meanwhile, make the potato straws. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan or deep-fat fryer to 190°C or untill a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Add the potato straws and fry for 1-2 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Serve with the lamb and pilau rice.