Treats and things

Last Sunday was an overcast dreary day, so instead of sitting around home hubby and I decided to venture out of town to a nearby city and enjoy a nice café lunch and browse around the shops (sad but true, we have to venture ‘out of town’ for good dining and shopping!).

We went to a fantastic café come kitchenware shop (www.replete.co.nz) that had a great selection of counter foods as well as a large breakfast and lunch menu. The place was packed with people and the food and coffee were delicious! I ordered a ‘Kidney Bean filled Burrito’ and hubby ordered a ‘Lamb and Spinach Karahi Curry’ off the menu. Although mine was very tasty, I must admit I had menu envy as soon as I tried a mouthful of his! It was so yummy in fact that we immediately looked up a Karahi Curry recipe so that we could relive the deliciousness all over again at home.

So here it is, my adapted version of the curry (recipe below the photo). Traditionally this dish is meant to have lamb but as our freezer is stocked full of beef at the moment I decided to use blade steak, which was beautiful and tender after slow cooking all day. We served this with a dollop of plain yoghurt and some mango chutney on top with roti bread on the side. 🙂

Karahi Curry (serves 4)

1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP plain flour
500g boneless leg or shoulder of lamb, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
30g garlic
25g fresh ginger
1/2 tsp of minced chili (less if you prefer a more mild curry)
1/2 TBSP turmeric
1/2 TBSP ground cumin
1/2 TBSP paprika
1/2 TBSP ground coriander
175g fresh spinach, washed with stalks removed
1 tsp garam masala
2 TBSP fresh coriander, chopped
350g (12oz) Fresh Spinach washed with large stalks removed
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in the pan. Toss the cubed meat in the flour then brown in the heated pan (do not cook the meat all the way through).

Place chopped onions in the bottom of the slow cooker or heavy based casserole dish. Add the browned meat.

In a food processor combine the tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chili and puree. Pour this over the meat. Add the turmeric, cumin, paprika and ground coriander to the meat mixture. If using a slow cooker, cook on low for 5 – 6 hours until tender, alternatively, cover the casserole dish and place in the oven at 180 degrees C for 1 – 1.5 hours or until tender. Check the meat occasionally to make sure it isn’t drying out, if necessary top up with a bit of water.

15 – 20 mins prior to serving add the finely chopped spinach, the garam masala and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a sprig of fresh coriander.