Today, Howard and Hector finally enjoyed a day of indulgence featuring the odd Bier or two, and many a cult movie: Hell Drivers, This Island Earth, The Day The Earth Caught Fire, The Satan Bug, Zero Hour, The Black Shield of Falworth, Deep End. A home-cooked Curry would feature, Marg even promised to return in time to partake.
One of the main criticisms, in these pages, of Curry as served in restaurants is when the Meat and the Masala are clearly strangers until the point of serving. Yet I was advised many years ago by a Chef that cooking the Lamb in the Masala can lead to the latter being burned. Pre-cooking the Lamb in a pressure cooker can therefore reduce the actual time of cooking the Meat in the Masala. Subsequently, leaving the combination overnight solves everything.
To seal the Meat or not, the debate continues. This is how the Hector got around this.
Whole Spices, typical of what is usually ground to create a Garam Masala, were dry roasted on the base of the pressure cooker: Cinnamon Bark, Black Cardamom, Dried Red Chillies, Coriander Seeds, Methi Seeds, Mustard Seeds and Black Peppercorns. Care was taken not to overdo the roasting, too much and all turns to Carbon very quickly, also the fumes become noxious.
Today’s Meat was Scottish Spring Lamb, on-the-bone, purchased at House of Sher, Kingston, Glasgow’s foremost Asian supermarket. Already cut into manageable pieces, the 1.3kg of Meat would certainly be enough for three even allowing for the bone content. This is the only precise quantity I intend posting today, the photos should tell all. The bulk of the preparation was conducted last night.
The Meat was stirred into the Roasted Whole Spices, the browning process inevitably now underway. Enough Oil to create the sense of sealing the Meat was then added and the juices correspondingly started to be released.
With the Meat browned and sealed, enough Water to cover the solids was added and brought to the boil. Thirty minutes of cooking under pressure. The result, the Lamb cooked through but still firm enough to take some more.
Not wanting boiled Spices in my Curry, the larger Spices were separated, the liquid discarded.
As Curry was the intended outcome, not Karahi, Onions would feature. Having watched many a Curry being cooked on social media, today I would cook the Onions, Garlic Paste and chopped Ginger without Spice, then blend.
Some dry Brown Onions were fried in minimal Oil and half a large bag of frozen Onions then added. Frozen Onions, I find, will never turn brown.
A handful of Cashew Nuts and a dollop of Indian Yoghurt were placed in the blender, once the Onion combo had been cooked, in it went.
The result, a smooth Paste, and more than I intended using today. Having deliberately added no Spice, this Paste can be used in non-Curry creations as and when.
The Masala was therefore going to be Tomato-based.
To satisfy my own Curry-Heute criteria, Whole Spices would have to be visible. Cinnamon Bark, Cloves and Black Cardamom were fried in way less Oil than I would customarily use in the preparation of a Curry.
Three fresh, chopped Tomatoes were cooked for ten minutes, Coriander Seeds (forgotten at the start) were stirred in.
To this, a tin of chopped Tomatoes, Green Chillies, Tomato Puree and Garlic Paste were added in turn, then Turmeric, Kashmiri Chilli and Salt.
With the Oil separating, I knew this was – the brew that is true.
Time to add the cooked Meat. Having stirred this through, it could have passed for Curry already. Ten minutes cooking with the lid on the karahi and the desired – Dry-Thick Curry was manifesting itself.
Around a third of the Onion-Nut-Yoghurt Paste was added and stirred in.
No Hector Curry would be complete without Methi.
With the Dry Methi mixed through, I knew the Curry would need more liquid for today’s additions to work. The Water, although looking excessive to start, soon reduced. The creation was left overnight to infuse.
This morning, the final preparations.
Potatoes were par-boiled, fresh Coriander Leaves and Stems finely chopped, Garam Masala, and finally Tamarind were introduced, no further cooking required at this point.
When Marg returned and declared she couldn’t wait any longer to eat, so the Curry was reheated as the Basmati also cooked.
Visually, this Desi Lamb Curry is what I had imagined: a Thick, Tomato-based Masala with minimal Onion, the hint of Creaminess partly from the Cashew Nuts. The Potatoes, having sat all day in the Masala would have taken in the Flavours.
Some of the Meat had already detached itself leaving Sucky Bones. The Tenderness was a given, the pre-cooking guaranteeing this. Having been cooked firstly in the Garam Masala, then the main Masala, the desired – something extra – was achieved. 
This Lamb was very much in the – giving – category. Short of ordering Tikka Lamb, Mainstream Restaurants do not manage this, and how is pouring a Masala over Tikka Lamb a Curry?
Technically, this Curry was as I would seek it. However in terms of Flavour, it was very much a la Hector. Short of adding Lime Pickle to create an Achari, I do not know how to overcome this. All Hector’s Curry creations taste like Hector’s Curry.
Marg was first to comment:
My first fork happened to have a black cardamom. That woke up my senses. The texture of the sauce and lamb looked perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed the very tender meat with flavoured potato.
The spice level was fairly high, but I soon got used to it. The meat on the bone was excellent and I enjoyed the plain rice. A good taste of coriander and plenty of bursts from the black peppercorns. An enjoyable meal in good company.
FYI – Upside Down (Night) by Gazpacho – was the musical accompaniment.
Howard had the final say:
A Rare Treat
There’s been a plan in place to have a day and overnight watching favourite films and drinking good Bier with Hector Curry-Heute. Of course it was hoped that curry would be involved somewhere in the mix. In this case it was a special treat of a home-made curry.
The curry naturally was lamb which came in a rich, deep sauce. Dark and intense, both the sauce and meat had oodles of flavour, with the lamb being melt in the mouth. Given that some, too many restaurants et al only get one element of this right, it was a bonus to get both.
Served with boiled rice, it topped an excellent occasion that, we hope will be repeated.
With some movies still to watch, this may well happen. If only Howard would show me his diary for the next five years…