In our household I am only one who eats lamb, in India though we eat goat meat.  The Sunday goat curry or Mangshor Jhol (in my native language) was a family favourite. I love to cook lamb whenever possible as its gives a nice break from the chicken everyday. Don’t get me wrong, chicken is fabulous but when you are looking for that little bit of indulgence, cooking a hearty lamb dish is just perfect.

Therefore today I share with you my lamb mince masala with aubergines. Its a heavenly combination and unless you are in an aubergine hater camp, this recipe is sure to hit your taste buds. The home made garam masala is the secret ingredient for this spicy dish. You can slow cook it if you got the time or otherwise it can be done in 45 minutes. Either way its delicious and hearty!

What you will need (2-3 people)

1. Lamb mince – 400 gm (I used organic lamb from riverford)
2. 1 medium sized aubergine – 1/4 sliced into thin slices and the remaining cut into chunks
3. Home made masala (1tbsp cumin +tbsp coriander+1 tbsp fennel+ 2 star anise+3 cloves+ cardamom+2 inch cinnamon+2 kashmiri chillis dry roasted on a pan and then made into a powder in a grinder)
4. Ghee (4 tbsp)
5. Tomatoes – finely chopped
6. 2 medium onions (finely chopped)
7. Green chillies
8. Ginger garlic paste (preferably freshly made using a blender or a pestle and mortar)
9. 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
10. Salt to taste
11. Red chilli powder (1 teaspoon) – optional
12. Coriander (fresh and finely chopped)

Process:

• Heat the ghee in a pan and once hot add the onions to it, once the onions are translucent and start changing colour, add the ginger garlic paste to it and fry it nicely. Add the turmeric powder to this and lower the flame. Continue frying the paste until the oil separates. Its important to be patient as otherwise the paste will be raw and unpleasant. Once the oil separates, add the lamb mince to the spices.
• Toss the mince nicely to ensure that the spice paste coats it well. Add the home made masala and continue frying this for a few minutes.
• Add the chunky aubergines to the lamb mix and fry it for further few minutes. Then add the tomatoes and add some salt to the mix.
• Cover the pan with a lid and leave it to cook on slow flame for around 25 minutes.
• At the end of it, the lamb will leave some water and be nicely cooked with the aubergine all nice and mushy.
• When you are ready to serve, heat some oil / ghee in another pan and fry the thin long slices in oil along with some salt. They should be like match sticks so will crisp up.
• Serve your lamb masala with fried aubergines on the top and garnish it with chopped coriander some green chillies and a good dash of lemon juice. Voila, its ready to be served with rice or naan. I served it with berry pulao and I will share the recipe of that in another post.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe and will try it in your kitchen. I would love to hear any feedback about my recipes. Till the next time, Ciao