Lamb with Cardamom
Many versions of this dish exist among the Sindhi community of India. Here the green cardamom pods are ground whole, skin and all. This recipe comes from Draupadiji, a veritable treasure house of Sindhi specialities. The mild, aromatic dish – it has no red chillies – is very much like a stew; gentle and soothing. It should have quite a bit of sauce. Sindhis often eat it with bread, so serving it with a good, crusty loaf would be downright ‘authentic’. You may serve a salad or a selection of Indian vegetables on the side. You do not, of course, have to use a pressure cooker here. If you use an ordinary saucepan, put in 600ml (1 pint) water and cook for 1 hour or a bit longer.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cardamom pods the green kind sold by Indian grocers are best
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 900 g boned shoulder of lamb, cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes
- 2 large tomatoes chopped
- 4 tablespoons finely chopped onions red onions or shallots are ideal, but any will do
- 1½ teaspoons garam masala
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1½ teaspoons salt or to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Put the cardamom pods into the container of a clean coffee grinder or other spice grinder and grind until you have a fine powder.
- Put the oil in a pressure cooker and set over a medium–high heat. When hot, put in the cardamom powder. Stir once and put in all the meat. Stir over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and onions, stirring for another 3 minutes. Now put in the garam masala, tomato purée, salt and 450ml (15fl oz) water. Cover tightly and bring up to pressure. Turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Reduce the pressure quickly with cool water and uncover.
- Reheat the meat over high heat. Grind in a very generous amount of black pepper and cook, stirring gently, for a minute. Check the salt.
