Coriander Lamb Dalcha

1 May 2016 By

Dalcha, is a rich, flavourful and delicious stew of meat, lentils and vegetables cooked together. A kind of tasty cross between a South Indian lentil and vegetable curry and a hearty mutton stew. Dalcha is best enjoyed with flaky parothas, naans or any other Indian flat breads like rotis and chappatis.

Ingredients A

  • 1 cup yellow split dahl, washed and drained
  • ½ cup split red lentils
  • 4½ cups water
  • ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
  • ¼ tsp asafoetida
  • ¼ tsp each cumin and fennel seeds
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • Salt
  • 1 green chilli, split
  • 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
  • 1 stalk curry leaf
  • A few slices onions

Ingredients B

Ingredients C

  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 2 x 4 cm cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
  • 6 cardamoms
  • 8 cloves
  • 2 tsp fennel, coarsely pounded
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 medium potato, diced
  • ½ a small brinjal, cut into 1.25 cm wide slices
  • 1 cup cut green beans, cut into 3 cm pieces
  • ¼ small cabbage, shred into chunks
  • ½ small Chinese radish or daikon, diced
  • ½ carrot, diced
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 3-4 cups water as required
  • 50 g tamarind, boiled with 300 ml water then strained

Garnish

  • 2 bunches coriander leaves, chopped
  • Crispy fried shallots in some ghee

Method

  1. Prepare dahl by rinsing well then adding all the ingredients in a pot and bring it to a quick rolling boil. Then place a lid and simmer for 45 minutes until soft and gently use the back of a wooden spoon to crush it down slightly.
  2. In another deep pan, heat some oil, then add crushed onions, ghee or butter, some salt and cook for 15 minutes until onion caramelises. Add Latasha’s Kitchen Coriander Curry Paste, 120 ml water and Latasha’s Kitchen Garam Masala Powder. Cook until aromatic for about 5 minutes then add tomatoes, meat, coat well then add water and green chillies. Bring to a quick rolling boil. Cover with a lid and simmer until meat is done, about an hour. Mix cooked lentils with meat and keep aside.
  3. While the meat is cooking, heat oil in a larger pan, add whole spices and fry until aromatic. Add sliced onions and crushed garlic and cook until golden brown. Add all the diced vegetables, turmeric and water, bring to a boil then continue cooking until soft. At this stage add the tamarind water, them combine the meat and lentil stew from Step 2 and bring everything to a quick boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. Garnish with coriander and fried shallots in ghee.
  5. Serve with rice, parothas or chapatti.