660 Curries

For a while, Mark and I had been trying to ignore a non-descript butcher's package in a freezer plainly marked, "shoulder." All we knew about it was that a) we had probably bought it during a day at the market when we decided to do some major re-stocking, and that b) it was dirt cheap: probably about a 1.5-2 pounds of meat for $3.50. Finally, on a lazy-ish weekday night, we decided...it was time. We hauled it out of the freezer, and upon inspection realized it was goat shoulder. What to do with a goat shoulder? In came Rhagavan Iyer's 660 Curries!

This is a great, easy-to-follow recipe book that has enabled us to enjoy curry at home many times now. So far, the recipes we've gotten out of this book (the "rule" we follow is to try not to cook the same curry twice!) has allowed us to have fragrant, spicy, and surprisingly quick Indian meals at home. We made naan, rice, and curry from this book and the result was restaurant-worthy (well, close enough) curry. If you think that take-out for two would cost about $30 (curry plus fixings), this curry seriously only cost us the price of the meat, since we had all the other ingredients on hand. That's curry for $3.50! While we're not usually in to posting recipes here, I thought we could share what we did the other night, since it was a great success.

(Don't be daunted if you don't cook Indian food very often. If you commit to it and stock your pantry with the right spices (cardamom, garam masala, cloves, etc.) you'll be set for many other dishes.)

Vinegar-Marinated Lamb with Potatoes and Mustard Seeds
Coriander seeds, fennel seeds, black peppercorns - 2 tsps each
1 tsp cumin seeds 1 cinnamon stick (broken into pieces)
1 lb leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes (again, we cut up our shoulder into cubes and also kept the bones for cooking)
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar, cider vinegar, or malt vinegar 1.5 tsps kosher salt 1 tsp cayenne 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 small, coarsely chopped onion
4 slices fresh ginger (about 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick)
4 large cloves garlic 1 pound russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes 5 tbsps canola oil 1 tsp black or yellow mustard seeds
15-20 medium sized curry leaves (if you can't get these, don't worry, it will still taste great)

1. Combine the coriander, fennel, peppercorns, cumin, and cinnamon in a grinder until it looks like finely ground black pepper.
2. Empty the blend into a bowl with the lamb, vinegar, salt, cayenne, and turmeric. Stir to combine and then refrigerate, covered, for at least one hour or as long as overnight. The vinegar tenderizes the meat and helps it absorb the spices.
3. Combine the onion, ginger, and garlic in a food processor and mince.
4. Wash/drain the potatoes, dry with paper towels.
5. Heat 2 tbsps of oil into a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in potatoes and fry until crisp and honey-brown on the outside, but still undercooked (10-12 minutes). Take the pan off the heat.
6. Heat another 2 tbsps of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion blend and stir-fry till light brown (3-5 minutes). Then add the lamb and its marinade and cook, uncovered, till the meat is seared (12-15 minutes).

7. Pour in 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Cover and lower the heat, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is fork tender (about 30 minutes)
8. Stir in the potatoes, garnish with cilantro, and continue to simmer until the potatoes are fork tender (about 5 more minutes).
9. Heat one more tablespoon of oil in a small skillet, and add the mustard seeds. Cover and cook until they have stopped popping (about 30 seconds). Remove from heat, add curry leaves. Add this to the curry, stirring to blend the flavors.

To be honest, we forgot to put the potatoes aside and just simmered everything all together for about 30 minutes, and the starch from the potatoes worked to thicken up the sauce it cooked. We also skipped the mustard seed and curry leaves step. We cooked this with the "Salt-crusted Grilled Flatbread" (naan) and "Dirty Rice with Caramelized Onions", a blend of cardamom, cloves, and pepper cooked with browned onions. It was a fantastic curry, with a nice spicy kick to it -- and was just as good as leftovers!