Sgt Sange Tamang’s “Ghurkha lamb curry”

To cook about 4 portions of Ghurkha fried lamb curry you will need the following ingredients:

1. Lamb diced – 800g (you can use lamb leg or lamb shoulder)
2. Ginger paste – 1 teaspoon
3. Garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
4. Onion – 1 finely diced (150g)
5. Tomatoes – 2 roughly chopped (150g)
6. Fresh chilli – 2 (depending on how hot you want to make it)
7. Coriander leaves – 1 handful
8. Lemon – 1
9. Turmeric powder – 1 tea spoon
10. Cumin powder – 1 tea spoon
11. Coriander powder – 1 tea spoon
12. Chilli powder – ½ tea spoon
13. Tomato paste – 1 tea spoon
14. Dark soya sauce – 1 table spoon
15. Salt to taste
16. Olive oil or vegetable oil – 2 table spoon

Sgt Sange Tamang in action on the World Curry Festival stage

Method of cooking:
Heat the oil in the pan and fry the meat until it becomes brown. Make sure all the water release from the meat is reduced in the pan and caramelised with the meat. Add chopped onion to the meat and give it a stir until it is cooked. Add ginger and garlic paste and give it a stir until chopped onion and ginger garlic paste become brown in colour. Add chopped tomatoes and stir in and put a lid on and cook for a further two to three minutes making sure that it doesn’t burn at the bottom of the pan. Add all the remaining spices, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder and give it a stir for about 1 minute or until all the spices release their aroma. Add tomato puree and cook for further 2 to 3 minutes. Add soy sauce and cook for further 1 minutes and season with salt. Add chopped fresh chillies, coriander leaves and squeeze in 1 lemon, give it a stir and it is ready to serve. The dish is best served with plain boil rice and mint and tomato chutney.

Note:
Make sure that pan doesn’t burn at the bottom. If it starts to burn adjust the heat and if the curry becomes too dry you can add more liquid.

TOMATO AND MINT CHUTNEY
Tomatoes – 5 medium roughly diced.
Fresh chillies – 3 roughly chopped.
Garlic – 2 cloves roughly chopped.
Oil – 1 table spoon
Salt to taste
Mint 1 bunch (small handful)

Method of cooking:
Heat the oil and fry the garlic and chillies. Add tomatoes and cook until they become soft. Put the cooked tomatoes in to the food blender and add the fresh mint. Blend the tomatoes and mint until they become a smooth paste, season with salt and it is ready to serve.

Plain boiled rice
½ pint of basmati rice
1 pint of water

Method of cooking:
Put the rice and water in a saucepan. Cook rice over a high heat, bring to the boil, uncovered. Switch to a very low heat and cover with a lid. Simmer the rice for 15 minutes. Do not take lid off until time is up. (This is crucial as the rice is steam-cooked under pressure.) When done, fluff up the rice with a fork and serve.