Succulent Curried Lamb Stew

This is yet another comfort food for me..especially during winter season when  all I crave is for something hot and spicy.According to me, lamb Stew with Crusty or Naan Bread is a sure thing to beat the wintry blues.

Ingredients:

• Boneless Lamb - 2 pounds, cubed
• Frozen or Fresh Carrot - 3, crinkled or thickly sliced
• Yukon Gold Potato - 4 medium,halved and then quartered
• Mint - a handful, coarsely chopped
• Coriander Powder - 3 tbsp
  
• Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
  
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Cracked Pepper - 1 tsp
• Olive oil - 2 tbsp
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Cloves - 3
• Cinnamon Stick - 1
• Salf for taste 
  

For Grinding:

• Onion - 1 large, chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 8 cloves
• Ginger - 1/2 inch
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
• Poppy seeds - 2 tsp (optional)
• curry leaves - 2 sprigs (optional)
• Dry Red chilli - 4-5 (or less for less heat)

Procedure:

• In a pressure pan, add the cubed lamb chunks with half the cracked pepper, salt, turmeric powder, a few chunks of cut onions, a clove of garlic and a little water to partly cover them.Pressure cook for 10-12minutes(4-5 whistles).The resulting lamb should be tender. Save the fatty liquid.
• Fry all the ingredients under "Grinding" in a tbsp of oil and grind to a fine paste.
• In a pan, heat the remaining tbsp of oil.Add the cloves,bay leaf and cinnamon.
• Throw in the potatoes, carrots and saute for 2 minutes. Follow up with mint leaves and the cooked lamb chunks and further fry for 3-4 minutes.
  
• Pour the ground mixture plus the saved fatty liquid, chilli powder, coriander powder,remaining pepper and lastly the salt.
• Cover and cook for 30minutes on low-medium flame or until the oil separates.
• Serve hot with Crusty Bread or Indian flat bread(Naan).

Enjoy!