Indian extravaganza: Lamb- and Chicken Curry

Making Indian curry is actually fairly straightforward and you can follow pretty much the same steps no matter what kind of meat (or fish) you are using. The only thing that will need to adjust is the cooking time (longest for lamb and beef, shortest for prawns), the curry spice mix that you are using, and the amount of chili you want to use. Naturally you can put together the spice mix yourself (usually a combination of ground cumin, ground coriander, chili, tumeric, ground ginger, garlic, and a few other things), but I decided to make my life simpler by purchasing a high quality ready mix*. In this particular case, I am using a spicy curry for the lamb and a milder version for the chicken.

Ingredients (serves 4 in total):

500gr Chicken breast (alternatively you can use drumsticks)

500gr lamb (from the leg)
1 large red onion, chopped finely

2 tablespoons of grated ginger
2 red chilis, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

2 cans of coconut milk
1 handful of chopped coriander
1 large can of peeled tomatoes

Curry spice mix

Preparation: 

1.  Starting with the lamb curry  (since this takes longest), cut the meat into 2-3cm cubes. Heat some oil in a saucepan and add half of the onion, about 3/4 of the chili, half the ginger and half the garlic. Fry gently until the onion starts to soften. Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the curry mix, continue to fry for another 2-3 minutes, then add the meat. Stir will until the meat is evenly covered, then add the coconut milk (1 can) and 3 peeled tomatoes (without the juice). Season with some salt and pepper and simmer with a closed lid for about 1 1/2 hours until the meat is soft.

2. For the chicken curry, you follow pretty much the same steps, the main difference being that I used a milder curry mix and less chili. Also, assuming that you are using chicken breast, the cooking time will be much shorter (about 20 mins once the meat is in). In case you are using chicken thighs or drumsticks (with bones), the cooking time will be longer, roughly 45mins, 

3. Once the meat is soft and tender, season to taste and sprinkle with some coriander.

(*) In the UK they usually sell these in the form of a paste rather than a dry mix. In case you are using such a paste, simply start by frying the onion, chili, ginger and garlic briefly, add the paste and continue to fry slowly until the onions are soft. Add the meat and fry for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the coconut milk and cook until the meat is nice and tender.