Aloo Gosht

Delhi lamb with potatoes

Madhur Jaffrey

Aaloo Gosht

Madhur Jaffrey was my first introduction to Indian cooking, and her recipes never disappoint. This light and mild recipe from her book Indian Cooking [1] comes from her home city of Delhi, but I have darkened it by adding red chilis, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion
  • 1 green chili
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 300 g lamb, diced
  • 2 large red tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • ½ stick cinnamon
  • 1 red chili, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp cumin seed, ground
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 3 pods cardamom, seeds only, husk removed
  • 150 g potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered according to size
  • 300 ml water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 200 g basmati rice, cooked
  • handful of coriander leaves, chopped

Method

  1. Finely chop and mix together the onion, green chili, and garlic..

  2. Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pan and add the onion, green chili, and garlic mix and cook gently for 5 minutes.

  3. Add the lamb and raise the heat to cook until browned.

  4. Add the tomatoes and stir well, then turn down the heat to about half.

  5. Add the cinnamon and red chili and stir in.

  6. Dry-fry the cumin seed, coriander seeds, turmeric, pepper, ginger, and cardamom for a minute, then grind to a powder and add to the pot. (see tip)

    If you don't want to prepare the spices by hand, use ready-ground cumin seed, turmeric, and coriander seeds, plus 2 tbsp of Patak’s Rogan Josh paste or similar.

  7. After about 15 minutes, remove the cinnamon and add the potatoes and water.

  8. Bring back to the boil and simmer covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally but gently so as not to break up the potatoes.

  9. Remove the lid and cook for another 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the lamb is tender. Taste, and add salt according to your liking.

  10. While it is cooking, prepare the rice whatever way you like it. (see tip)

  11. Serve over the rice, sprinkled with the coriander leaves.

References

  1. Madhur Jaffrey (2003) Indian Cooking. Revised edition, BES Publishing, Hauppauge, NY. ISBN 0764156497, 240pp.