Lamb in Pickling Spices

Ingredients:

500g lean lamb cut into 4-5cm cubes

1/2 tsp nigella seeds

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

A pinch of asafoetida

4 - 6 cloves crushed

5cm piece of grated ginger

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 tbsp jaggery, broken into small pieces

Juice of 1 lime

Fresh coriander to garnish

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

25ml of mustard oil

100g ghee

4 large onions, thinly sliced

4-6 whole dried red chillies, broken in half

6 whole cloves

3 black cardamom

4 green cardamom

Chapattis to serve

Method:

Boil the meat with salt and turmeric in only as much water that it should dry up when tender. If some liquid remains, drain and keep aside for later.

In a separate pan heat the mustard oil, when it begins to smoke add the clarified butter or ghee.

Fry the  sliced onions to a golden brown, remove and set aside. This will take around 15 minutes and be sure to continue stirring them to get an even golden brown.

In the same oil add the whole dried chillies and fry until they blacken, remove the pan from the heat and discard the chillies.

Bring the same oil to the heat once again, and add the cloves and both the cardamoms and allow them to sizzle for a few seconds, then add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel, nigella, fenugreek and asafoetida.

Once the seeds crackle and pop, add the garlic and ginger stir-fry for one minute then add the cooked meat along with the red chilli powder, jaggery and two thirds of the fried onions.

Stir-fry for a few minutes, add some of the leftover meat liquid or water to keep it moist and break the meat up a little with the spoon.

Add the lime juice with two tablespoons of water and simmer over a low heat until the liquid dries up and only the ghee remains.

Serve with hot chapatis and garnish with the remaining fried onions, and chopped fresh coriander.