Anne Morgan With a real coconut, Delia Smith’s lamb curry becomes her Spiced Lamb Curry with Chickpeas, for 6 people. You cook neck of lamb slowly with whole spices, chickpeas and coconut. Then you serve it with a green coconut sambal and a quick tomato and red onion pickle. Soak the chickpeas the night before, then allow a little over 3 hours, mostly in a low oven.
This curry is in How to Cook Book Three, from 2001. Delia admits there is some work in it, but she says the flavour of a real coconut is worth the extra time.
The good news for a party is that you can do all the work ahead. On the day, you only cook some plain basmati rice.
The curry is mild and creamy, with soft chickpeas and tender lamb. The sambal adds herbs and heat, and the pickle adds sharp lime and crisp onion.
Delia Smith’s Spiced Lamb Curry
Course: DinnerCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Medium6
servings40
minutes2
hours30
minutes760
kcalNeck of lamb and chickpeas cooked for 2 hours in coconut milk with cumin, coriander, cardamom, fenugreek and turmeric. A herby coconut relish and a sharp onion pickle go on the side.
Ingredients
- For the curry:
900g (2lb) neck of British lamb, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes
1 rounded teaspoon cumin seeds
1 rounded teaspoon coriander seeds
6 cardamom pods, crushed
1 rounded teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 rounded teaspoon ground turmeric
225g (8oz) dried chickpeas, soaked and drained, soaking liquid kept
3 medium onions, peeled
1 fat garlic clove
4 bird’s eye chillies, deseeded
4 tablespoons groundnut or other flavourless oil
2.5cm (1in) root ginger, peeled and grated
milk from 1 fresh coconut
grated flesh of ½ the coconut (about 75g/3oz)
75g (3oz) creamed coconut, grated
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- For the sambal:
grated flesh of the other ½ coconut, kept from the curry
3 shallots, peeled
10g (½oz) coriander leaves
1 tablespoon mint leaves
1 medium green chilli, deseeded
1cm (½in) root ginger, peeled
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- For the pickle:
3 medium ripe but firm tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 medium red onion, sliced into thin half moons
1 dessertspoon chopped coriander leaves
juice of 1 large lime
a few pinches of chilli powder
Directions
- Soak: The night before, soak the chickpeas in 2.25 litres (4 pints) of cold water. Or, on the day, boil them in the same water for 10 minutes and leave them to soak for 2 hours. Drain them, but keep the liquid.
- Onions: Chop the onions, garlic and chillies quite small in a food processor. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the casserole and cook them gently for 5 minutes.
- Brown: Heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Brown the lamb cubes quickly, in about 3 batches.
- Spices: Sprinkle the ginger and the spices over the onions, stir them in and cook gently for 2 minutes. Heat the oven to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas mark 2.
- Coconut: Push a thick skewer into the 3 holes in the top of the coconut and drain out the milk. Put the coconut in a plastic bag on a hard floor and crack it with a hammer. Prise out the flesh with a knife, peel off the brown skin with a potato peeler, then rinse it.
- Grate: Grate the coconut finely, in a food processor or by hand. Keep half of it for the sambal.
- Liquid: Make the coconut milk up to 850ml (1½ pints) with the chickpea soaking liquid. Pour it slowly into the casserole, stirring all the time.
- Oven: Stir in half the grated coconut and the creamed coconut, then add the lamb and chickpeas. Season, bring it up to a simmer, cover it and cook it in the centre of the oven for 2 hours.
- Sambal: Dry-roast the cumin seeds in a small pan for 1 to 2 minutes, until they smell toasted, then crush them. Grate the shallots finely into a bowl. Chop the coriander, mint, chilli and ginger very finely and add them with the cumin and the kept coconut.
- Pickle: Mix the tomatoes, red onion, coriander, lime juice and chilli powder in a small bowl. Leave it for at least 15 minutes.
- Serve: Serve the curry with the sambal, the pickle and plain basmati rice.
Notes
- You need a lidded flameproof casserole of about 3.5 litres (6 pints).
- Delia cooks the rice with a cinnamon stick and a bay leaf in the pan.
FAQs
Is this her Sri Lankan curry?
It is the newer version of it. In her Summer Collection, from 1993, Delia calls her Sri Lankan Curry one of her favourite curries, made special by real coconut. It serves 4, with 700g of shoulder or neck fillet.
The method is almost the same. The coconut milk is made up with liquid, half the grated coconut goes in, and it cooks for 2 hours at gas mark 2. But the 1993 version uses Madras curry powder, flour and stock instead of whole spices and chickpeas.
The older curry also has hard-boiled eggs and raw onion stirred in at the end, just to warm through.
What is her lamb and chickpea curry with aubergine?
An older curry, called Spiced Lamb with Chick Peas, in her Complete Cookery Course. It serves 4 to 6, with boned shoulder instead of neck.
Brown 900g of cubed shoulder in 4 tablespoons of oil, then fry a sliced onion and 350g of aubergine chunks until coloured. Add a teaspoon each of turmeric and garam masala for a minute. Then add 450g of sliced peeled tomatoes, 3 chillies, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of mint and a tablespoon of ginger.
Add 175g of cooked chickpeas and about 425ml of their cooking water. Simmer it covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for about 45, then stir in 150g of yoghurt and heat it through.
Can I make the curry ahead?
Yes, and Delia says all the work can be done in advance. That leaves only the rice to cook when your guests arrive.
Her casserole notes in the Complete Cookery Course say many braised dishes improve overnight. Cool it quickly, keep it in the fridge, then reheat it until it simmers gently for a full 30 minutes. The sambal and pickle are best made on the day, my own view.
Can I use tinned chickpeas?
Yes, but Delia prefers dried ones here, because the recipe needs their soaking water to make up the liquid. In the same book, she also finds most tinned pulses second best.
If you must, my own swap is 2 drained 400g tins, with vegetable stock in place of the soaking liquid. Add the tinned chickpeas for the last 30 minutes, so they don’t break up.
Which other lamb curries does Delia have?
Her How to Cheat at Cooking has a Goan Lamb Xacuti for 2, made with 450g of neck fillet. It uses browned desiccated coconut and a ready-blended Goan curry powder, and simmers gently for about an hour.
She serves it with basmati rice and a coconut sambal. For more of her lamb neck fillet recipes, see her lamb casserole with flageolet beans.
