DIY Takeaway – Lamb Curry and Homemade Naan

By Lee Price on May 15, 2012 in Other

As the cooler weather settles in you may be looking for something warm and delicious to fill you up for dinner. While it’s easy to reach for the phone to call your favourite curry house, why not try making your own takeaway at home? You’ll save loads and might even enjoy yourself in the process.

Here is a simple recipe for a warming curry with home-made naan bread. Many people think you need a store-bought paste to make a curry but it isn’t so. Better still, this recipe is also easily adapted to chicken or beef. It’s a great meal to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon, as you need to allow a little time for the simmering of the curry and the rising of the dough.

While most of you won’t have a tandoor oven to cook the naan, you can still make a tasty version in your very own frying pan. Then you’ll just need to convince someone else to do the washing up afterwards…

Ingredients (for the lamb curry)

500g diced lamb
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp minced ginger (or fresh if you have it)
1 tbsp chilli
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp garam masala
400g tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 cup of beef stock

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and soften the onion for a few minutes.

2. Add the lamb, garam masala, ginger and a squeeze of lemon.

3. When the lamb is browned, add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, chilli and stock.

4. Simmer uncovered for 90 minutes until the sauce has thickened up.

5. Serve with boiled rice and a dollop of natural yoghurt on top. Yum!

Ingredients (tor the naan bread)

1 packet of yeast (7g)
1 cup warm water
¼ cup white sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 egg
2 tsp salt
4 ½ cups plain flour
Oil for the bowl
Butter to grease the pan

Method

1. Dissolve the yeast sachet in the warm water for 10 minutes until frothy on top.

2. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, milk, salt and flour to form a soft dough.

3. Knead for 6-8 minutes on a floured surface until smooth.

4. Oil the bowl you used to mix the dough. Place the dough in there and cover it with a damp cloth to rise for an hour.

5. Punch the dough down and knead for 30 seconds.

6. Roll the dough into 6 big golf ball size balls and place on a plate. Cover with the damp cloth and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

7. Heat the frying pan. Roll one of the balls out with a rolling pin to about 0.5cm thickness.

8. Add a little butter to the hot pan and fry the bread on one side for 2-3 minutes. When it looks nice and brown flip it over for another 2 minutes.

Have you got a great recipe that you would like to share? Send it through to operationjamjar@y7mail.com and you could see it in a future issue of The Beast. For more recipes and thrifty cooking ideas visit operationjamjar.blogspot.com.