13. Lamb Dalcha

• March
• 27

9:36 am Curry Dish, Dinner, Home Cooking, Lamb, Quick n' Easy

My husband loves eating lamb. And I am not good when it comes to cooking lamb, except maybe when making grilled lamb, that is. I think nobody could mess up anything when it comes to grilling, eh?

But anyway, sometimes when we were back in Kent, the husband would buy a pound of lamb for cooking. Since it was already diced, I figure I might do some sort of curry to go with some rice pilaf.

So I wing this one out. It tasted OK…. so I could probably do this again.

LAMB DALCA

Ingredients

• 500g lamb, cubed, squeeze half a lemon and mix with it (to reduce the smell)
• 1/2 cup mung beans — rinse under warm water
• 1/2 cup red split lentils — rinse under warm water

Mix together

• 4 TB curry powder
• 1 TB chilli powder
• 1 cup water

Dried spices

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 3 star anise

Blend together with about 5 TB water

• 2 inch ginger
• 1 onion
• 3 garlic

Keep whole

• About 20 whole dried chillies, marinated in about 2 TB oil
• 1 lemongrass, bruised
• 3 asam keping, cleaned

Vegetables medley

• 1 eggplant, cubed
• 2 medium carrot, cubed
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 3 tomatoes, quartered
• 2 sticks celery, sliced thick

• 1 can coconut milk (about 400ml, thick), or a can of evaporated milk (I used evaporated milk this time around)
• 3 TB oil
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil, then add the dried spices, stir for a moment to release its fragrance, then add the blended items and lemongrass.
2. Saute till dried up, then add curry mixture and asam keping. Stir to mix, add the dried chillies with oil, mix well again. Let it cook down till it separates (oil rises) on medium.
3. Then add cubed lamb, and about 1 cup of hot water. Add a dash of salt, mix well. At this point, add the red split lentils, and mung beans, too. And, you don’t need to pre-soak the lentils, washing it under running water would be enough.
4. Let it cook on medium for about 40-45 minutes, stirring once in awhile. Then add carrots and potatoes. Add more hot water as you cook (usually I would add about 1/2 cup hot water if the curry became too thick). Cook on medium until these root vegetables became tender.
5. Then add the milk and eggplant. Cook, stirring once in awhile, until the cubed eggplant are cooked, about 15 minutes. Then add the rest of the vegetables, and adjust seasonings. Take off heat.