Adventures in cuisine

[cat_i_th_adage]

I'm going to make a try for some real cooking tomorrow, with a slow-cooker borrowed from a friend and plans to portion it out and freeze some. Lamb saag is the plan, otherwise known as, that green goop from the local curry shop that smells like forest and tastes like the breath of god.  I don't expect my own attempt to turn out that cool, but hopefully it will be spicy and edible and such.  Also, with half a kilo of red meat and another half of spinach, it will undeniably be rich in iron and nutritional goodness.

Most of the recipes on-line for saag are really, really complicated.  The one I'll be using, http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2014/06/26/lamb-curry-spinach-saag-gosht/, is more - throw it all in the pot and come back in eight hours, which is a bit more my speed.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 red onion quartered and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 tbsp ginger crushed
• 2 tsp dried cardamon
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp tumeric
• ½ tsp chiili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp cumin
• 500g cubed lamb
• 500g packet frozen spinach
• 400g chopped tin tomatoes

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Defrost the spinach in the microwave, then squeeze handfuls to get out the excess water (don't squeeze too hard and make it dry).
2. Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker, stir.
3. Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or LOW for 8 hours.

I'm short a couple of spices, and might have to double up on the garam masala (which seems like a blend of several).  I couldn't find any stewable lamb at the supermarket so I'll be using chuck beef instead (I picked some with a bit of white tissue on it, because apparently that's good for slow-cooking as it dissolves and thickens the mix or some such).  In deference to the more complicated recipes, some of which insist on ghee (which I lack), I'll be browning the meat, and cooking and blending the onions with the spice and a bit of butter before they go in the pot.  And I'm adding in celery leaf, because apparently a saag isn't exclusively spinach, either.

Time to buckle up: I'm going in.

EDIT:

Not bad, and not much work, even with the extras I did.  Turns out cumin is also known as that flavour I don't really like in curry, so I'll be using it less next time.  The meat was tender, the goop was fragrant, though not as much as I would have liked.  The celery I added near the end was quite strong.  Next run: include the cloves and chilli, less tomato, maybe add the spices later in the cooking period.  Don't think I'll bother with a 'red' onion.

All in all, it was tasty, nutritious, and sits comfortably in my stomach.  Will make again.

Holy moly - I just made curry from scratch!