Sunday Night Lamb Curry

OK, so this is my first recipe post. We had this lovely lamb curry last night which I threw together based on stuff I had in the freezer/pantry.

First of all, you need to make the curry paste - lightly toast some cumin, coriander seeds, cardamon pods, half a cinnamon stick and fennel seeds in a dry pan. This really releases the flavours of all those lovely spices.

Transfer all the spices to a mortar or flavour shaker and smash it up.

Chop up an onion, a red chilli (if you like it hot), a couple of cloves of garlic, a handful of coriander and grate a 5cm knob of fresh ginger into an oven-proof pot. Combine with the spice mix and fry for a couple of minutes. Add a couple of cans of diced tomatoes and about a cup of water. Return to the boil and then cover with some aluminium foil and pop in a 170 deg oven for up to an hour to allow the flavours to develop.

Fry the lamb in a little olive oil. Then add to the curry base and cook in the oven for an hour or until tender. You can add other things to this curry - I included potato but you could throw in chickpeas, spinach or anything else that takes your fancy.

Serve on a bed of rice and top with some fresh coriander and a dob of yoghurt and freshly ground black pepper. I served this with some yummy naan breads and while we had a red wine with this (Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cab Merlot), it would go oh so beautifully with a nice cold beer!