Janice Tripepi

This really is a saucy little number.  Lamb swimming in a bath of gravy laced with “unrecognisable” spinach!  A Great way to get Popeye food – brimming with goodness off the Richter scale – into unsuspecting victims.  This is another winter dish that comforts one and is kind to the waste line too.  Palak Gosht - originates from the Punjab region of India that is blessed with an abundance of wheat, rice, corn and a cornucopia of vegetables.  This is another one of Camellia Panjabi’s recipes from her book, 50 Great Curries of India (Woolies), I made Ally’s easy peasy – naan bread (and it really is easy as anything) with this to mop up the juices and the whole dish went down like a bomb with the Tripepi men. 

I had some problems with a flat camera battery (mental note – CARDINAL SIN TO NOT HAVE A FULLY CHARGED CAMERA BATTERY when cooking!) – AND my cat Valentino and my dalmation  dog, Bubbles were on the hunt.  These two are a formidable thieving duo.  They should be tag wrestlers … for they work as a team.  Bubbles is one of those sharp little doggies – not intelligent at all, in fact I think she may just be a few sandwiches short of a picnic if you know what I mean – and Tino my cat, who on a normal day won’t have anything to do with Bubbles – has razor sharp claws that are something like fishing hooks!!!  These two have opened cupboard doors (the Bubble-ator) and ripped open a 10kg bag of dog food (Tino- the Knife Tripepi) and proceded to munch away on their booty together on the kitchen floor!  I walked in to find the Bubble-ators eyes virtually rolling back in her head with glee – thick as thieves they are, thick as thieves. 

On this particular occasion,Tino-The-Knife-Tripepi managed to hook at least two of my lamb knuckles off the counter into the gob of The Bubble-ator, who ran outside with them both in her ample jaws - and they had a bit of an afternoon snack together!  Tino-the knife Tripepi can hook something without you even seeing him – he is like a stealth bomber – a little black thieving ninja cat!!!  And the Bubble-ator is just always hungry ……  

The Bubble-ator!!!

Lamb Curry with Spinach – Palak Gosht

Ingredients

1kg lamb – i use knuckles but you could use chops

4 cloves of garlic

1 thumb of ginger

2 – 3 chopped green chillies 3-4 if you like it hot

1 1/2 cups of plain yoghurt (fat free or full fat – your choice)

1/2 tsp cumin powder

200g spinach leaves

1/4 cup oil

1 bay leaf

1 black cardamon

4 cloves

200g finely chopped onion

1/2 tsp cumin powder

6 tomatoes chopped

1 tbl tomato paste

1 tsp salt

nutmeg powder – just a sprinkle

a knob of butter

(i must admit i have altered this recipe slightly – i have increased some quantities

as the first time I made this I found it not spicy enough for my liking)

In a blender – puree the ginger, garlic and green chillies – add 1/2 tsp of cumin powder, the yoghurt

and wizz it to a smooth paste.  Put your lamb into a dish and cover it with this marinade – leave to soak

up the flavours for at least 1 hour – preferably more.

In a pot – add a tiny bit of oil and when hot add the spinach (don’t add any water) and cook until all

of the water has evapourated then puree in your blender.

In a nice heavy based pot – heat some oil and fry the bay leaf, cardamom and cloves for about a minute

then add the onions and fry on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, add the coriander powder

and fry fro another 2 minutes stirring all the time.  Add the 1/4 tsp of cumin powder give it a quick

stir then add enough water to just cover the onion.  Not too much water here peeps!

Cook this until the water has almost all gone then add the meat – together with the marinade – stir it well

and cook over a moderate heat for about 10 minutes or until all the yoghurt is absorbed

Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for a few minutes – then add about 2 cups of water and the tsp of

salt – turn the heat right down now and cover the dish and leave

to cook slowly for a few hours – when the meat is nerly falling of the bone – add the pureed spinach and

check for salt and cook for a few minutes.

You could also add a few potatoes to this dish happily – I do hope that I am not breaking some

Punjabi cooking law by saying this – but you really do get loads of saucy gravy

with this dish – and a few tatties mashed into this would be

scrummy.

Put the curry into a serving dish with and top with a knob of butter,

a grinding of fresh nutmeg and a few leaves of

fresh coriander!

I served my Palak Gosht with lime and baby brinjal pickles

Punjabi Gobi – another Punjabi dish of cauliflower with shredded ginger

and Ally’s Naan (recipe here) which Riccardo went dilly for!!

Buon Appetito!

xx

jan