Jamie Magazine
By Maunika Gowardhan
Parsi salli boti
2 hrs 5 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
A celebratory dish from the Parsi community in the west of India, this fragrant curry is often served at weddings and special occasions. Lamb on the bone is cooked in a lightly spiced sauce with cloves, ginger and garlic, then simmered with apricots and jaggery (Indian cane sugar) for an extra touch of sweetness.
Recipe From
Ingredients
5cm piece of ginger
6 cloves of garlic
100g ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato purée
2 small onions
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 green cardamom pods
6 cloves
2 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder or mild paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
850g lamb leg on the bone, cut into 3cm pieces (ask your butcher to do this)
1 small green chilli
4 dried apricots
2 tablespoons jaggery or caster sugar
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon garam masala powder
1 lime
RED ONION SALAD
1 medium red onion
½ a lime
Method
- Peel and roughly chop the ginger and garlic, then combine in a blender with 2 tablespoons of water. Blitz to a smooth paste and set aside.
- Roughly chop the tomatoes and blitz in the same blender with the tomato purée until you have a fine paste. Set aside.
- Peel and thinly slice the onions.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the green cardamom and cloves, letting them sizzle for a few seconds, then stir in the onions and fry for 14 to 15 minutes, or until dark brown in colour, stirring often.
- Mix in the ginger and garlic paste and fry for 1 minute, stirring well. Add a splash of water to loosen the mixture and scrape off the delicious bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the kashmiri chilli and turmeric powder and fry for 1 to 2 minutes, followed by the tomato mix. Stir well to combine and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the lamb and cook for another 5 minutes, ensuring the meat gets coated in the masala.
- Slice the chilli lengthways, then stir into the pan with 150ml of water. Bring it to the boil and simmer, covered, over a low heat, for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in another 150ml of water, pop the lid on and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the meat is tender, and the sauce has thickened into a rich, dark colour, stirring a few times and removing the lid for the final 20 minutes.
- Make the red onion salad. Peel, finely slice and toss the onion in a bowl, squeeze in the lime juice and season with a pinch of sea salt. Toss to combine and set aside.
- Finely chop the apricots, then add to a pan with the jaggery or sugar and vinegar. Cook for 1 minute over a medium heat, then turn off the heat.
- Coarsely grind the cumin, then add to the apricots along with the garam masala powder. Stir well, then add to the curry.
- Divide the parsi salli boti between serving bowls and serve with the red onion salad, lime wedges for squeezing over, and some basmati rice, if you like.
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