Lamb Jalfrezi Slow Cooked Curry
Lamb jalfrezi is an ever-popular British Indian Curry house favourite, slow-cooked tender lamb is the perfect meat for the bold & spicy sauce.
The aroma of this delicious curry, as it simmers for 2 hours, will fill your house and have you craving your curry fix!
Jalfrezi Gosht
I hardly hide my love of a good curry under a bushel, and lamb or mutton is the perfect meat for a curry as far as I am concerned.
There are a host of curry house inspired recipes here on my site, many of which are made with lamb.
I have everything from lamb bhuna and lamb pasanda through to a lamb tikka masala and nalli gosht lamb shank curry!
A lamb jalfrezi curry is one of the dishes that I order most often from British Indian restaurants.
The rich and bold nature of lamb is the perfect meat to stand up to the full-flavoured sauce, and I love it.
For those of you who want something a lot quicker but with a similar flavour, I do have a chicken jalfrezi curry recipe too!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use another cut of lamb?
Yes, but you do want something with a little fat and that can hold up to slow cooking.
Lamb neck fillet is perfect, and you can get away with diced lamb leg too.
Can I use mutton?
Yes, in fact, please do if you can find it! It will need cooking for longer, and an additional 30 minutes at step 13 should be about right.
Can I cook this in a slow cooker?
Yes, you will need to cook through to step 10 on the stovetop. Then transfer everything to your slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
You will need to reduce the amount of water in the dish by half to account for the fact that you get next to no evaporation in a slow cooker.
Can I cook this in an Instant Pot?
Yes, you will need to use saute mode to complete everything through to step 10. Then seal the lid and cook at high pressure for 30 minutes at high pressure before allowing a natural pressure release.
You will need to simmer for slightly longer on sauté mode at the end to reduce the sauce a little.
Can I make this in advance?
Yes, and as with most generously spiced dishes, it will improve with time. It will last in the fridge for 2-3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Cook in a covered saucepan over a low-medium heat until piping hot for serving.
Serving Suggestions
A lamb jalfrezi needs a tandoori style naan bread to mop up all that lovely gravy, as far as I am concerned. However, chapatis or roti also do a great job, but flatbreads are a must!
Rice is always a good option to serve with a curry. I usually opt for plain rice, but jeera rice or a good pilau rice are good options.
If you want something a little different, then potatoes also work well.
Aloo methi aka fenugreek potatoes, and my roasted Bombay potatoes are both great as a side dish with this recipe.
If you want something to cool that spicy burn, then look no further than a refreshing mango lassi!
Equipment Used
I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe
- Hob/Stovetop.
- Medium saucepan (24cm or 10") with a lid.
- Bowl to marinate meat.
- Kitchen knife.
- Chopping board.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.
Lamb Jalfrezi Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g Diced Lamb Shoulder 14oz
- 75 ml Natural Yoghurt ⅓ Cup
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 3 Green Chilli Peppers
- 1 Red Pepper
- 1 Medium Onion 150g
- 6 Garlic Cloves
- 4 Cardamom Pods
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 8 Curry Leaves
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 2 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- 225 g Tin Chopped Tomatoes 8oz
- 125 ml Water ½ Cup
- 1 tablespoon White Vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Amchoor
- ½ teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 1 teaspoon Dried Mint
- 1 teaspoon Dried Fenugreek
- 1 teaspoon Dried Pomegranate Seeds
- 15 g Jaggery or Brown Sugar 1½ tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
Instructions
- Place the lamb in a bowl, add the yoghurt, chilli powder, turmeric, and salt, then mix, cover, and marinate for between 4 and 24 hours.
- Cut the green chillis in half lengthways
- Peel the onion, then top and tail it and cut it into 8 wedges.
- Deseed the red pepper and cut it into 2.5cm (1") cubes.
- Peel and mash the garlic cloves to a paste.
- Crack the cardamom pods with the back of a knife.
- Heat a medium (24 cm or 10") saucepan that you have a lid for over a medium-high heat, and when it is hot, add the ghee.
- Throw in the green chilli peppers, curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and cardamom pods and cook until the mustard seeds start to splutter.
- Add the onion wedges and red pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the marinated lamb, tomato puree, and garlic, then cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. You are not aiming to sear the meat here.
- Pour in the tinned tomatoes, water and vinegar.
- Sprinkle over the amchoor, ground coriander, dried mint, fenugreek leaves, pomegranate seeds and jaggery.
- Stir to combine, add a lid and reduce the heat to low, then cook for 90 minutes.
- Remove the lid and stir in the garam masala, have a taste and add more salt if required, then simmer on medium-low for 10-15 minutes to thicken the sauce.
Made this last night after purchasing a large lamb leg and wanting to batch cook a few meals..Curry, Scotch Broth and Lamb with Boulanger potatoes..the leg made 24 individual meals and this one was the perfect recipe for the curry.
The spice level for me was perfect, not too hot and so flavoursome, in addition it was simple to prepare and I put it in my Aga simmering oven for approx 4 hours until the meat was super tender..then added the Gara Masala at end on the hot plate to get the right consistency.
This recipe has now gone into my ‘home cook book’ as a keeper..thank you
You are more than welcome Anita... Recipes are meant to be a starting point for people to go ahead and make there own scran, and it sounds like you nailed it.
Thank you for taking the time to come back, leave a comment and a review, they are important to independent websites, and more importantly, they make me very happy 😀
All the best.
Brian
During marination, chilli paper is not clear. Is it green chilli and green paper? Also green chilli never mentioned when to add. So pls tell me during marination, we add green paper and also add green paper while cooking.
Hi Satish...
I have updated the recipe to make things clearer, sorry for any confusion.
Brian 🙂
Can I sub a vegan yoghurt to accommodate a dairy allergy? Which one would be best? Coconut?
Hi Sam... I have honestly never tried, I've tried to do a little research and am getting mixed answers, but nothing with enough consistency to give you a recommendation I would stand behind.
The common theme seems to be that Cashew nut or Almond nut yoghurts are the most stable for cooking, but much of that comes from sites specialising in baking.
If you do try it please do let me know how it goes, it would be useful to know.
Good luck and sorry I don't have a definitive answer.
Brian
This is a gorgeous recipe. I made it a few days ago and we had it for lunch today. My husband loved it too.
I did not have all the ingredients (I had to leave out the Amchoor and the pomegranate and used a Chinese sugar rather than the jaggery), but decided to do it anyway and it still tasted great.
I will be doing this one again. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed this Tessa and thank you for taking the time to tell me.
Your substitutions and omissions all make sense, I cook quite often with amchoor it adds a lovely hint of tartness but it is not essential, likewise with the pomegranate.
I hope it keeps on keeping your belly happy 🙂
Brian
Hi
Please can you tell me a good substitute for Amchoor, I was thinking of add a touch of lemon juice or mango chutney
You are correct in thinking that the amchoor adds a subtle sour hint to this dish, but it is very subtle, I lemon juice or zest would work ok, it would be different but still good. Mango chutney would add too much sweetness for me, but you could omit the jaggery and add mango chutney instead, another good option would be a little bit of tamarind, which would mimic both the earthiness and sourness of amchoor.
Enjoy.
Brian
Black or Brown Mustard Seeds?
Hey Alex, I use brown but you can use black too if that is what you have to hand or are used to using.
@Brian Jones, This is very good. I have been trying to replicate a good UK curry house Lamb Jalfrezi for a while now and I have not been able to find a recipe in any of my Madhur Jaffrey books (probably because it’s an anglicised dish).
I went with the Brown Mustard seeds. I think I would reduce the mint a little next time.
What doesn’t quite hit is the heat level. I use 5 small green Cayenne peppers but it’s still not enough for my taste. Should I add a little more Kashmiri Chilli powder or more Chilli Peppers next time?
Hi Alex...
Thanks for taking the time to come back to me and glad you liked this.
Madhur Jaffrey has long been fairly "unkind" about British Indian dishes, which is not particularly uncommon, diaspora food is far too often (in my opinion) looked down upon by folk from "mother countries".
In terms of upping the heat I would look at chillies rather than the Kashmiri chilli powder which provides colour and flavour rather than raw heat. I would also maybe consider shifting to something like a Thai birds eye chilli which will give you up to 2-3 times the heat (pepper dependent) for the same volume of chilli 🙂
Fresh green finger chillies at the end (last 3-4 minutes) are also a good way to up that level, it's the old school curry house way of increasing the heat when folk asked for an *insert curry here* extra hot 😉
Happy Cooking
Brian
Hi Brian,
Really looking forward to making this. One question, though: if I make this in an Instant Pot will there be an issue with pressure cooking yoghurt? Using dairy products usually features on the list of pressure cooker no-nos.
There isn’t that much in the recipe, so it may not be a problem, but I thought I’d check with the man who’s been there, cooked that and licked the plate clean.
Cheers,
John
Hi John... Sorry it took a whole to respond, I have been taking a bit of a break, but I am at the coal face now. The yoghurt is a marinade and not the key element of the sauce, as a result, for me at least it is not an issue to cook it in the Instant Pot and I've never had an issue. Be sure to use full fat yoghurt rather than low fat stuff which will really break down.
Enjoy.
Brian