The 12 Best Curries to Cook at Home

Method:

A curry to cook at home

This is the onion lover’s curry: one batch melts into the sauce while another keeps its sweet, browned edges. Allow about 2 1/2–3 hours. Keep the chilli gentle enough to enjoy those two textures; patience with the onions is more useful here than another spoonful of spice.

Ingredients for four

- Lamb shoulder (800 g)
- Onions (4)
- Garlic (4 cloves)
- Ginger (20 g)
- Oil (3 tbsp)
- Tinned tomatoes (400 g)
- Cumin (2 tsp)
- Ground coriander (2 tsp)
- Turmeric (1/2 tsp)
- Sweet paprika (2 tsp)
- Cayenne (1/2 tsp)
- Water (300 ml)
- Salt (1/2 tsp)

Before you start

Use boneless lamb in 3 cm pieces. Finely chop 2 onions; cut the other 2 into thick petals and keep them separate. Grate the ginger and crush the garlic. Reserve 1 tbsp of the oil for the onion petals.

At the stove

Use the remaining 2 tbsp oil and only the finely chopped onions for the following casserole steps.

Heat the oil in a heavy casserole. Brown the meat in two batches for 6–8 minutes altogether and lift it out. Soften the onions in the same pan for 12–15 minutes until golden; add a splash of the measured water if they catch. Stir in garlic and ginger for 1 minute, then the dry spices for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, breaking them up with a spoon.

Return the lamb and its juices, add the water and 1/2 tsp salt, then bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 90–120 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, until a fork slips easily into the meat. Older or larger pieces may need longer. Add hot water in 50 ml splashes if the sauce catches; uncover for the last 10 minutes if it is too thin.

Finish and serve

While the lamb cooks, fry the onion petals in the reserved oil in a separate frying pan for 15–20 minutes over medium-low heat until golden and tender. Stir them into the curry for its final 10 minutes so that they remain distinct.

Taste for salt and let the curry stand for 5 minutes. Serve with plain rice or warm flatbread, bought ready-made if that makes dinner easier. Put a little plain yogurt on the table for anyone who wants to soften the heat; it is an optional accompaniment.

Everyday substitutions

Ordinary yellow onions are ideal; red onions work in the same number but change the colour. Do not replace the second batch with onion powder: its texture is the point of the dish. No special curry paste or garam masala is needed.

Use sunflower, rapeseed or mild olive oil; ghee is optional, in the same quantity. Use pure cayenne or ground chilli, not a chilli-con-carne seasoning blend. Start with less if you prefer gentle heat. All spoon measures are level; spices are ground unless stated otherwise.