Lamb Madras

"Shish Mahal" Was the first Asian restaurant to open in Glasgow, in 1961. Starting with only 5 tables. The restaurant was gradually extended and today 110 people can be seated. The following recipes have been inspired by my visits to "Shish Mahal" many years ago, and this curry tastes as good today as it did then.

Lamb Madras with Basmati rice

Chapati and spiced onion

Ingredients

900G leg of lamb, trimmed and cubed

250g onion, sliced

125g fresh tomatoes, sliced

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

30g fresh ginger, grated

4 black Cardamom pods

2" cinnamon stick

5 cloves

125g ghee

1 1/2tsp salt

1tsp Turmeric

3tsp ground Cummin

3tsp ground Coriander

3 tsp chilli powder, strength to your taste

300ml water

2tbsp Garam Masala

2tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 fresh green chillies

Next prepare your chapati dough, as directed below. (the dough needs to rest for 1 hour).

Melt the ghee in a large frying pan, or heatproof casserole, fry the onions, garlic and ginger over a moderate heat until the onion is golden brown.

Add the rest of the spices, except the garam masala and green chillies and fry for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add the meat and continue to cook over a gentle heat, stirring, until the meat is well coated.

Add the tomatoes and enough of the water to form a thin sauce, cover and leave to simmer gently until the meat is tender, approx 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes sprinkle the chopped chillies, garam masala and lemon juice over. Leave it to cook for a further 15 minutes.

If you use all the chillies it will be HOT, HOT, HOT! you can also cut down on the chilli powder.

Chapatis

280g Chapati or fine wholemeal flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

220ml warm water

1tbsp ghee

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, add the water and mix to a soft dough. Turn onto a floured board and knead for 10 minutes. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave for 1 hour.

Take a piece of the dough, roughly the size of a golf ball, place on a lightly floured board and roll out as thinly as possible to a round shape. Heat a heavy based frying pan, and cook the chapatis, one at a time for about one minute each side. If you press the chapatis lightly round the edges, with a rolled up tea towel as they are cooking, it will encourage bubbles to form.

Wrap the chapatis in a clean cloth until you are ready to serve.

Spiced onions

8oz finely sliced onion

2 1/2tbsp tomato sauce

2tsp tomato puree

1/2tsp chilli powder

1/2tsp salt

Blend all the ingredients, except the onions, mix well the add the onions, stir to combine and cover and leave for 30 minutes.

Serve with Basmati rice.