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5 from 9 votes

Lamb Kalya with yogurt and cream

Aromatic and delicious slow-cooked lamb in a rich yogurt and cream sauce
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: indian curry, lamb curry, lamb in yogurt and cream, lamb kalya
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Marinating the Lamb

  • 1 kg lamb pieces preferably the leg
  • 1/3 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1/2 tspn turmeric
  • 2 tspn kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp masala
  • 2 tspn ground cumin/jeera
  • 1/2 tspn ground soomph/fennel
  • 1 tspn garam masala see note 4
  • 1 tspn ground coriander/dhania
  • 1/2 tsp saffron
  • 50 gram tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Handful of mint leaves chopped

Cooking the Kalya

  • 2 tbsp butter ghee
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 2 green chillies
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 bay leaf
  • 1 black cardamom/elachie
  • 4 green cardamom/elachie
  • salt
  • pinch of sugar
  • 1/4 cup fresh cream (optional)

Instructions

  • Marinate the lamb with all the spices, salt, yogurt, mint, ginger/garlic, tomato paste, lemon juice and mint. Refrigerate overnight or for an hour.
  • In a large pot heat the butter ghee. Add the fennel seeds and once it splutters add the whole spices, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black cardamom and green cardamom. Fry until fragrant
  • Add the curry leaf, onion, thyme and green chillies. Fry until onion is golden brown
  • Add the marinated meat. Season with salt and bring to a boil
  • Lower the heat, cover and simmer. After 45 minutes add the fresh cream (if using) and simmer further until meat is tender and gravy thickens. You can add a pinch of sugar if sauce is too acidic
  • In between cooking you can add a little water if you prefer for more gravy
  • Serve with rice or naan bread

Notes

  1. You can fry some potatoes and add it to the curry if you prefer
  2. You can also add boiled eggs
  3. If you are short on time you don't have to marinate your meat for a long time, however marinating overnight does allow all the flavours to really get into the meat
  4. The addition of masala causes a lot of confusion for most. In South Africa we use a blend of spices, which is called a masala (similar to a curry powder). Most spice shops stock it and you get many variations. You can choose one that suits your palate. If you don't have any you can omit it and add a little more chilli powder. Masala is not to be confused with garam masala, masala has the addition of chilli powder whereas garam masala does not.