Lamb, coconut and lentil curry

I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer to cook for dinner, so before getting the kids from school the other day, I popped into Sainsbury's to find something cheap and easy to cook. I decided to go for the ever economical stewing lamb, but knew that I’d be up against it time-wise to get it cooking so that it could be on the table at a reasonable hour. On the drive home I was trying to think of what to do with it, and came up with this curry. It is not the usual way that I would make a curry when time is on my side (slowly browning the onions and spices to make the base), but it was so delicious I don’t think it matters at all.  Sorry, no picture - with a new baby in the house, it's enough to even write this down, never mind faffing about with a camera, lighting and angles!
Ingredients:

Stewing lamb (I had about 400g) cut into bite sized chunks

2 large onions

5 cloves of garlic

1 inch fresh ginger

Tin of tomatoes

1/3 of a block of creamed coconut

Curry powder (I used a kashmiri blend that is extra hot, so only used a little to keep it kid friendly)

Garam masala

Tsp black mustard seeds

Tsp cumin seeds

Small cup of red lentils, rinsed

Salt and pepper


Method:

1. Season lamb with salt and pepper and lemon juice and set aside to marinate for ½ hour (If I wasn’t in a rush, I would have added some garam masala and left for at least 2 hrs, but the flavour was great nonetheless)

2. Heat vegetable or sunflower oil in a heavy pan and add the cumin and mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the lamb and brown

3. Meanwhile, roughly chop 1 of the onions and add to the browned lamb

4. Next, finely chop (I used a mini chopper thing I have) 1 onion, the garlic and the ginger and add to the pot, mixing it all about

5. Add the ground spices and stir

6. Put the tinned tomatoes into a blender and blend til smooth, then add to the lamb

7. Add the block of creamed coconut and stir until it has melted in

8. Add the rinsed lentils and season with some salt and pepper, then cover and cook on a medium high heat for 30 mins (stirring occasionally as the lentils will thicken the sauce) add water as necessary

9. Turn to a lower heat and continue cooking for another hour/hour and a half, or until the lamb is tender, again adding water as/if necessary.  Check seasoning

10. Serve. We had it with basmati rice cooked with cardamom pods, cinnamon and butter, and a salad


Ps. This curry tasted even better a couple of days later. I know because I had it for lunch!