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Railway Lamb Curry

Railway Lamb Curry is a modern Anglo-Indian recipe for a classic curry of lamb and potatoes in a thick aromatically-spiced gravy with yoghurt that has become a staple of British Indian Restaurant (BIR) cuisine. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Railway Lamb Curry.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

35 minutes

Total Time:

55 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : CurryBIR CurriesSpice RecipesLamb RecipesFusion RecipesBritish Recipes

This is one of the classic Anglo-Indian dish, and something that's still served on some Indian trains even today. According to the story (which may be apocryphal), a British army officer travelling on the railway in the 1900s found his curry too hot. The chef added some yoghurt to cool it down and the legendary Railway Curry was born. That original curry was, of course, a mutton (ie goat meat) curry on the bone. Typically, today, its made with cubed lamb, though meat on the bone will always give you a better flavour. Railway lamb curry, though not cooked in the typical British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style it has become a mainstay of Indian Restaurants in the UK. As a result it's presented as a BIR recipe here. Food historians are divided as to whether yoghurt or coconut cream was used as the addition to the recipe. Yoghurt would be more typical of North India and Pakistan, whilst coconut cream would correspond to the Southern India style. The recipe presented here is more North Indian in nature. I'm not really into the south Indian hypothesis due to the goat meat used in the original recipe.

Ingredients:

600g lamb, cut into large bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp oil
1 1/2 onions, finely chopped
250ml hot water
250g potatoes, peeled and cut into 4cm pieces
1 tbsp curry powder eg madras curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp tsp chilli powder
200ml Indian tomato puree
1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp yoghurt
Salt, to taste

For the Marinade:
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

The Whole Spices:
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp nigella seeds
3 Bay leaves
2 red chillies
2 cardamom pods, cracked but not crushed

Method:

In a bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients, then add the lamb and toss to coat. Set aside for 15-30 minutes to marinate.

Place a pot or wok over high heat. Once hot add the whole spices and stir-fry for 20 seconds ensuring that they do not burn. Reduce the heat to medium add the lamb and its marinade and stir-fry for about 5 minutes, or until all the pieces are coated.

Add the onion pieces and fry for 3 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Pour in the hot water, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring the ingredients occasionally during this time.

Now add the curry powder, turmeric, chilli powder, tomato and tamarind. Mix well to combine, return to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally during this time.

Whilst the lamb is cooking, bring the potatoes to boil in a pan of lightly-salted water. Cook until almost tender (about 10-15 minutes). Do not cook fully, or they will turn to much when you transfer to the curry. Once cooked drain the potatoes and set aside until needed.

Add the garam masala to the lamb and cook for 5 minutes more before adding the yoghurt. Mix thoroughly to combine, add the potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes more, or until the potatoes are warmed through.

Turn into a warmed bowl and serve.

Rather than raw lamb you could also use pre-cooked lamb which means that you would add the lamb along with the potatoes. Which means that rather than cooking the lamb for 20 minutes you would cook the curry ingredients for 5 minutes, making a 5 minute reduction in cooking time.