Easy Indian Lamb Bhuna Recipe

Lamb bhuna with turmeric rice and garlic and coriander naan

Lamb bhuna was very much my favourite Indian dish as a child and I still very much have a soft spot for it today. I have tried various different ways of preparing it but this is definitely the easiest I have so far discovered and it still affords a very authentic and delicious eating experience.

Cook Time

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 1 hour 45 min

Ready in: 2 hours

Yields: 2 servings

Principal lamb bhuna ingredients

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (225g) diced leg of lamb
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon hot chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon medium curry powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 small white onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely sliced
• 8 ounce (225g) can chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• 1 pint fresh chicken stock
• Salt and pepper
• 6 ounces (175g) basmati or long grain rice
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1.5 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) - 1 tablespoon for rice, 1/2 tablespoon for bhuna, plus extra to garnish
• 2 garlic and coriander (cilantro) naan breads to serve, heated and sliced

 

Spices are added to vegetable oil

Method

Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot. Add the curry powder, chilli powder and garam masala and put the pot on to a low to medium heat. Stir fry the spices gently for a minute or two, just to cook off the harshness - but be very careful not to overcook and burn them or they will turn very bitter and spoil the dish.

Onion, garlic and chilli are added to spiced oil

Add the onion, garlic and chilli to the spicy paste and stir fry gently for another 2 or 3 minutes, just to soften the onion strands.

Lamb is added to onion and spice mix

When the onions are softened, the lamb should be added to the pot. Turn the heat up slightly at this stage to seal the lamb quickly and evenly. Keep stirring all the time with the wooden spoon for the couple of minutes this should take. 

Canned tomatoes are added to sealed lamb combination

When the lamb is evenly sealed and browned, pour the canned tomatoes into the pot. Stir well. Add the chicken stock, stir again and turn the heat right up until the liquid starts to simmer. Cover and reduce the heat to achieve as gentle a simmer as possible for approximately an hour and a half, until the lamb is beautifully tender. 

When the bhuna is almost ready, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Stir in the teaspoon of ground turmeric. Wash the rice through a sieve under running cold water before adding to the boiling water. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes or per the pack instructions (do check, as rice types vary).

Coriander is added to drained turmeric rice

Drain the rice through a sieve and return to the empty pot. Allow to steam off for a couple of minutes before stirring in 1 tablespoon of coriander (cilantro), stirring the other 1/2 tablespoon into the bhuna.

Reheat the naan breads as per the pack instructions and slice for service. In this instance, I have plated the rice and bhuna in separate dishes but please as you prefer and serve.

Quick and Easy Kangaroo Chilli

Kangaroo chilli with rice

Kangaroo is perhaps not something many people would associate with chilli - or as an item to appear on the dinner table. As the world has opened up, however, due to improved transport and the sharing of foodstuffs and ideas, many more ingredients are available to us that we may never have had access to or considered before. This recipe came from a series of kangaroo recipes I prepared a few years back for an article - the online publisher of which has since ceased operating - and I hope it is something you will try. The kangaroo used in this recipe was bought in a High Street supermarket but the meat is widely available online if you have no local stockist.

Cook Time

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 20 min

Ready in: 30 min

Yields: 1 serving

Kangaroo leg meat

Ingredients

• 8 ounce (220g) can chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• 8 ounce (220g) can red kidney beans in water
• 1/2 white onion
• 1 medium size and strength red chilli
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 ounce (110g) kangaroo leg steak
• 3 ounces (75g) basmati or long grain rice
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped coriander (cilantro), plus a little extra to garnish
• 2 teaspoons grated cheddar cheese
• 3 central slices form large green chilli to garnish

Method

Put the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan and the pan on to a medium to high heat. Shake the pan extremely regularly to toast the seeds without burning them. You will smell them cooking after a minute or so and this is when they are done. Grind until smooth with a pestle and mortar, or in an electric spice grinder if you prefer.

Sauteing onion and spices

Pour 2 tablespoons only of the oil into a saucepan and bring it up to a medium heat. The half peeled onion should be finely sliced, the garlic clove should be peeled and either finely sliced or diced and seeding the chilli before it is finely chopped is optional. Add the lot to the hot oil, along with the ground cumin seeds, and saute until the onion is just softened, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.

Canned tomatoes are added to spiced onion mix

Pour the tomatoes into the pan and stir well and season with salt and pepper. Turn up the heat until the combination starts to simmer. Adjust the heat to achieve a gentle but steady simmer.

Red kidney beans are added to spicy tomatoes

Tip the canned kidney beans into a colander in your sink and rinse well under running cold water before adding tot eh spicy tomato mix. Stir well and continue to simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

When the beans are added to the chilli, wash the rice through a sieve under running cold water and add to a pot of boiling, salted water to simmer for 10 minutes (or as directed on the pack).

Chopping kangaroo leg meat

When the rice is on to cook, chop the kangaroo meat with a cleaver or large chef's knife to around the texture of coarsely minced/ground beef.

Kangaroo meat is browned in hot oil

Pour the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil into a frying pan and bring it up to  medium to high heat. Quickly brown the chopped kangaroo meat in the hot oil before removing from the pan with a slotted spoon and stirring it into the simmering sauce. Be sure to drain off as much of the oil as possible before it is added to the sauce.

Stir the teaspoon of coriander into the chilli a couple of minutes before the cooking time is up.

Kangaroo chilli is spooned on to bed of rice

Drain the rice through a sieve and allow it to steam off and dry out for a couple of minutes before arranging in the base of a deep plate in the form of a bed for the chilli. Carefully taste the chilli and adjust the seasoning if required before spooning on to the rice and garnishing with the remaining chopped coriander.

Grated cheese is arranged on chilli

Carefully spoon the cheese onto the centre of the chilli and finish with the 3 chilli slices.

Mushroom Stuffed Calamari in Tomato Sauce

Stuffed calamari with tomato sauce

I've never really been in the habit of publishing starter/appetizer recipes on this blog but I am very much making an exception for this tantalizing and incredibly tasty little creation. I devised and first published this recipe around 15 years ago and managed to salvage it from the site on which it first appeared before that site went out of business. This dish could also be made in larger portions to serve as a main course, perhaps with additional accompaniments such as broccoli.

Ingredients

• 2 cleaned and prepared calamari squid mantles, wings and tentacles*
• 14 ounce (400g) can chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• 1 large garlic clove
• 2 closed cup mushrooms
• Butter for frying
• Salt and pepper
• Freshly chopped parsley to garnish

 *Please note that you can find simple but detailed cleaning and preparation instructions for the calamari in my Dab a la Meunier with Calamari Rings post on my fish and seafood blog.

Method

Put 2 (unmedicated!) wooden toothpicks or cocktail sticks into a small bowl of cold water for 10 minutes to let them soften.

Pour the tomatoes into a small saucepan, season with salt and pepper and put the pan onto a medium heat until the tomatoes start to simmer. Adjust the heat to maintain as gentle as simmer as possible for 10 to 15 minutes, until a lush sauce is effectively formed. Be sure to stir frequently with a wooden spoon.

Calamari wings and tentacles are fried in butter

Melt a little butter in a frying pan and stir fry the calamari wings and tentacles for a couple of minutes. Remove to a holding palate and leave for a few minutes until cool.

Sauteing mushrooms and garlic in butter

Finely dice the mushrooms and peeled garlic clove. Melt a little more butter in your pan and stir fry the mushrooms and garlic for a couple of minutes before finely chopping the calamari wings and tentacles and adding to the pan. Stir well, turn off the heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Stuffed calamari

Very carefully, use the cooled stuffing mix to almost but not quite fill the calamari mantles (bodies). This can either be done with a teaspoon or by hand but be very gentle and do not overfill the cavities. You don't want them to burst during cooking. Use a toothpick/cocktail stick to seal each package as shown in the image above before sitting them gently in the simmering tomato sauce and covering the pan to simmer for 5 minutes.

Lift the calamari from the sauce with a slotted spoon to a small plate or saucer and carefully twist and gently pull the sticks to remove. plate the sauce in a deep serving plate before sitting the calamari on top and garnishing with the chopped parsley to serve.

Tuna Shish Kebabs with Sweet Potato Fritters

Tuna shish kebabs with sweet potato fritters

Well, it's been a while! Life has taken a number of unexpected twists and turns for me over the past few years (some good/some bad) and I have had to focus my attentions on matters other than this long established project. I'm pleased to say that now I have managed to organise my life to an extent that I can revisit this blog on a regular basis and hopefully once again share with you tasty, healthy and moderately straightforward recipe ideas that you may wish to try for dinner tonight or any night. So let's take up where we left off a while back with this ultra tasty and healthy idea for tuna loin shish kebabs.

A shish kebab by definition is quite simply cubed bits of meat, threaded on to a skewer and cooked by grilling. While the meat from this originally Mediterranean dish would most often be lamb, goat, or perhaps even beef, there is nothing to stop us using moderately firm fleshed fish such as tuna.

Cook Time

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ready in: 20 min

Yields: 1 large or 2 medium servings

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander (cilantro)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons plain (all purpose) flour
• 4 ounce (110g) tuna loin fillet, chopped into 8 equal sized chunks
• 1/2 courgette (zucchini), seeded and chopped to 1 inch (2.5cm) pieces
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped to 1 inch (2.5cm) pieces
• Vegetable oil for deep frying and oiling kebabs
• 2 tablespoons soured cream
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and grated
• 1 teaspoon chopped chives

  

Preparing sweet potato fritters batter

Method

Put 2 wooden skewers into a basin of cold water to soak for 10 minutes. This will prevent them burning during grilling.

When you are grating the sweet potato, do so into the centre of a clean tea towel or similar. Gather up the edges of the tea towel and squeeze hard over your sink to remove as much of the liquid from the sweet potato as possible. This is essential - do not ignore this step or your fritters will not come together properly.

Put the sweet potato into a large bowl. Add the beaten egg, coriander and flour. Season with salt and pepper and stir very well until a thick batter is formed.

Fill a deep frying pan with oil to a depth of about 2 inches (5cm) and bring it up to a medium to high heat. You could use a deep fryer if desired. The oil is hot enough when a little water splashed into it it spits noisily.

Put your kitchen grill (broiler) on to preheat to its highest setting.

Starting to fry sweet potato fritters

Use one or two dessert spoons to quenelle the sweet potato batter before carefully depositing in the hot oil. This much batter should make around 5 or 6 fritters. Adjust the heat under the pan if necessary to maintain a steady fry and turn the fritters carefully ever minute or so.

Tuna shish kebabs ready for grilling

As soon as the fritters are on to cook, thread the tuna chunks, courgette and bell pepper alternately on to the soaked wooden skewers. Lay them on some lightly oiled foil on a grilling tray and use a pastry brush to oil the tops of the kebabs. Grill for 3 minutes each side until done. Be very careful not to overcook the tuna!

Pour the soured cream into a small bowl. Add the grated garlic and most of the chives, reserving some of the chives to garnish. Stir well and transfer to a small ramekin for serving.

Draining sweet potato fritters

Lift the sweet potato fritters from the hot oil to a plate covered with kitchen paper to drain while you remove the kebabs to your serving plate.

Tuna shish kebabs with sweet potato fritters and dip

A fork is best used to slide the tuna and vegetables from the skewers. Plate the potato fritters and dip, garnishing the dip with the last of the chives at the last minute.