This is curry lamb, which is not the same as lamb curry. I’ve taken inspiration from the Caribbean, where Jamaican curries are usually made with goat or chicken and feature Scotch bonnet chillies and plenty of lime juice. I always make my curries medium hot. I don’t want bland, but I don’t want to turn my kids off, either, so I put chilli sauce on the table. Invariably they add their own once they see me doing it, so we all end up with much the same dinner. You could add some finely diced chilli and temper it with some coconut milk if you find it too hot. The lime juice, as well as making the lamb taste good, helps to break down its fibres, ensuring the result melts in the mouth, with plenty of flavour from the spices.
If you wanted to make this extra authentic you could use kid-goat meat, which is quite like lamb or mutton. O'Mahony's butcher's, in the English Market in Cork, recently had a fantastic pop-up kid-meat stall. Broughgammon Farm, in Co Antrim, also produces goat meat; it delivers the next day throughout Ireland. Goat is one of the most sustainable meats you can buy. Young billy kids are usually killed at birth, as the dairy industry has no use for them. It makes perfect sense to stop seeing them as a waste product and instead use them to help satisfy the ever increasing demand for meat.
Curry lamb
Serves 6
Ingredients
1kg diced stewing lamb
3tbsp curry powder (Jamaican if you can get it, or a garam-masala mix)
Juice of 2 limes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, diced
1tbsp ginger, finely chopped
500ml vegetable or beef stock
2tbsp tomato puree
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
200g carrot, cubed
300g potatoes, cubed
3tbsp roughly chopped coriander
Lime wedges
Olive oil
Sea salt
Plus, to serve
Rice
Wedges of lime
Fresh coriander
Chilli sauce
Method
1 Mix the lamb with the lime juice and 2tbsp of curry powder. Cover the lamb evenly and put in an airtight container in the fridge, to marinate for at least half an hour. Overnight is best.
2 Preheat the oven to 160 Celsius. Heat 2tbsp oil in a wide, heavy-based pot. Add the remaining tablespoon of curry powder and leave to warm through for a minute or two. Add the lamb and stir until it is evenly coated in the spiced oil. Cook for 10 minutes, until the lamb has browned and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the lamb and set aside.
3 Add another splash of oil to the pan, along with the onion, ginger and garlic. Leave to saute for a minute or two on a medium heat. Return the lamb to the pot, along with the stock and tomato puree. Put the lid on, then place the pot in the oven to simmer for an hour and a half.
4 Taste for seasoning, adding salt as necessary. Add the chopped pepper, carrot and potatoes to the curry and stir gently. Add extra stock or water if you need to, but it should be fine. Return the pot to the oven, again with the lid on, to simmer for a further hour, until the carrot and potato are just cooked.
5 Stir half the chopped coriander through and taste for seasoning. Serve on hot rice, with a wedge of lime and a scattering of coriander. Put the chilli sauce on the table so everyone can add their own.
