Laal maas is a creamy, rich and spicy lamb curry from Rajasthan. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s time to fix that.
This is a homestyle curry. Not restaurant style. Slow cooking. Gentle simmering. Tender, flavourful lamb. And a crazy delicious sauce.
I do a lot of restaurant style Indian recipes on this blog. But don’t think I don’t love home cooking. It’s not what you get from your local joint. This is what people cook at home. For family. For friends.
If you’ve been making restaurant style curries. And you like a spicy lamb curry. Then laal maas is something you need to try.
laal maas
Ingredients
laal maas curry paste
- 15 kashmiri chilies the dried ones
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 2-3 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- enough water to form a paste
lamb marinade
- 2/3 cup plain yoghurt
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 lbs lamb shoulder cut into 1 inch chunks
laal maas
- 4 cups onions finely chopped
- 6 tbsp neutral oil total
- 3 black cardamom
- 5 green cardamom
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- the marinated lamb
- the laal maas curry paste
- 1 cup water
spiced raita
- 1/2 cup plain yoghurt
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1-2 kashmiri chilies crushed
- 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Instructions
Make the laal maas curry paste
- Seed and stem the dried kashmiri chilies. Just break them in half and give them a shake. A few seeds won’t kill you.
- Place the chilies in hot tap water and soak until rehydrated. This takes about 30 minutes.
- Combine the rehydrated chilies along with the rest of the paste ingredients in a blender or food processor. Add a bit of water. Puree. Keep adding water until a paste forms. Really have at it. The skins from the chilies are pretty hard to break down.
Marinate the lamb
- Combine the lamb, garam masala, yoghurt and salt. Mix. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
Make the laal maas
- Pre-heat your oven to 325F.
- Pre-heat a dutch oven large enough to hold all the ingredients over medium heat. Add 4 tbsp of oil.
- Add the black and green cardamom and cook for 20-30 seconds.
- Add the onions and cook until they are well browned. Regulate the heat to prevent burning. Stir them often.
- Push the onions to the side around the edges of the pot. Add the remaining two tbsp oil to the middle of the pot. Pour in the laal maas curry paste and fry until it darkens. This takes a couple minutes. Stir constantly and regulate the heat to avoid the paste burning. Watch your onions.
- Once the curry paste has darkened slightly mix it in with the onions. Add the tomato paste. Cook the onion/paste mixture over medium low heat for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the lamb and marinade. Stir to mix everything together. Cook about 5 minutes over medium low heat. Don’t forget to give it stir every minute or so.
- Add one cup of water. Stir to combine.
- Cover and place the dutch oven in the 325F oven. Cook until the lamb is tender. This takes somewhere around 90 minutes to 2 hours. It depends on the size of the chunks. It’s ready when it’s ready.
- Remove the pot from the oven. If the curry is a little thin simmer uncovered until you get the consistency you want. Spoon off the excess oil. But remember, there is flavour in that oil so leaving a bit behind is not the worst thing you can do…
- Taste and adjust salt. Serve with spiced raita.
Spiced raita
- Combine the yoghurt, salt, crushed chili and cilantro. Mix to combine. Let sit at room temperature while you cook your curry.
Nutrition
Matzo ball soup really is one of the greatest chicken soups of all time. Simple. Intense. Salty. Savoury. Wonderful stuff.
Full disclosure here. This is about going for the most insane bowl of chicken soup ever. Nothing else. I am not Jewish. Didn’t grow up eating matzo ball soup. I have no fond memories or preconceptions.
I know what I’ve been served at delicatessens and I want better. Better broth. Lighter matzo balls. More chicken. Just better.
