Parsi Lamb in apricot stew: a recipe from Indian cook Mallika Basu

This week our food columnist Mallika Basu settles into autumn with a Parsi lamb stew also known as Jardaloo ma Gosht
Mallika Basu28 November 2018

Sweet, sour and with just a hint of chilli this lamb in apricot stew is the perfect shoulder season stew. Jardaloo ma Gosht is traditionally Parsi, the community of Zoroastrians who left Persia over a thousand years ago and settled in the West of India. They brought with them a unique cuisine that combines sweet and sour, stewing meat in fruit and vinegar to a delectable end.

For me, this is the perfect slow cooker/slow roast dish. I use a bag of soft apricots, and supermarket friendly lamb shanks to get meltingly soft, meat-on-the-bone curry. While it’s lovely with rice, you could also source some naan to dunk into the thick, flavourful sauce. And don’t forget to make extra – this tastes even better the next day!

Ingredients (feeds 2-3)

• 2 lamb shanks, about 850gm

• 2 medium tomatoes

• 2 onions

• 20 dried apricots

• 4 fat garlic cloves

• 1.5 inches ginger

• 8 whole black peppers

• 2 inches cinnamon

• 8 green cardamoms

• Half tsp whole cumin powder

• 1 tsp whole coriander

• 1 tsp sugar

• Half tsp chilli powder

• 3 drops of worcestershire sauce

• 3 tbsp sunflower oil

• Salt to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. First roast the whole spices in a frying pan for 20 seconds. While it sits to cool, peel and chop the garlic and ginger. Now, in a small food processor or blender, grind the whole spices together with the ginger, garlic and a tablespoon of water.

Next, roughly chop the onions and tomatoes. Bring a deep, lidded casserole pan with the oil to heat over a high flame. When the oil is hot, add the onions and fry for about 10 minutes until they caramelise. Then add the spice paste and stir for another five minutes.

If the paste starts getting stuck to the bottom of the pan, add a little hot water and scrape it off.

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Now add the spice paste, the lamb shanks and the tomatoes, and stir like mad for 10 minutes. Add salt according to taste, and shove into the oven for two to two and a half hours.

Take the lid off and stir through the lamb once in between cooking, sticking the lid back on. Half an hour before the lamb is done, take the lid off and sprinkle the sugar, the worcestershire sauce and the apricots into the curry. It should be rich and thick, so do add a bit of water if it is too dry.

Finish by stirring through the curry well and serve hot.

Mallika Basu is a London-based food writer, cookbook author and cookery personality; quickindiancooking.com. Follow her on Twitter @MallikaBasu_ and find more of her recipes for the Evening Standard here.

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