Madras lamb, potato and spinach curry
I really enjoy cooking this curry — it’s so quick and simple to put together, and it works beautifully in either the slow cooker or the oven. If you don’t like too much heat, that’s absolutely fine; it tastes just as good made with a rogan josh or tikka paste.
This slow‑cooked Madras lamb curry is everything you want from a cosy, aromatic dish: tender lamb, soft potatoes and wilted spinach simmered together in a rich, spicy sauce that fills the kitchen with incredible warmth. The lamb becomes beautifully tender as it cooks, the potatoes soak up all that flavour, and the spinach adds a lovely freshness at the end. It’s hearty, satisfying and the kind of curry that practically cooks itself
What goes well alongside this dinner?
I love serving this with plain boiled rice, sag aloo,, a soft naan and some crunchy poppadoms on the side
Madras lamb, potato and spinach curry
Ingredients
- 500 g lamb chunks
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- 60 ml madras curry paste
- 400 g can tinned tomatoes
- 400 g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 450 ml water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2 ripe tomatoes, quartered
- 100 g fresh spinach leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºc/Gas 4.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the lamb until lightly browned all over. Remove from the heat and set aside. You may need to do this in batches.
- In the same pan, add the onions and cook over a medium heat for about 6mins until they're softened, stirring regularly. Turn down the heat and add the garlic, ginger, chilli, curry paste and tinned tomatoes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from the heat and blend until you have a smooth paste.
- Pour the mixture into a large casserole dish, add the lamb, potatoes, water, bay leaves, salt and sugar. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for 1hr 30mins or until the lamb is tender and the sauce has thickened. After an hour, remove, stir and place back in the oven to continue cooking.
- Add the quartered tomatoes and spinach and cook for a further 10mins until the tomatoes have soften.
- Remove and serve with rice and plain naan.
If using a slow cooker
- At step 5, place all the ingredients into the slow cooker, cook on high for 5 hours, add the quartered tomatoes and spinach for another 20mins or until the tomatoes have softened.