Indian Style Lamb Curry

One of my favorite cuisines is Indian. Ever since I was introduced to the exotic spices so beautifully put together in Indian cuisine, I have loved it. I woke up today with a craving for spicy lamb curry. Luckily, there was lamb in my fridge and almost everything else you need is in the pantry. I even make my own curry power, which I will post. But for this recipe, a good quality store bought curry powder will be fine. Here is what I made tonight. It's a combination of various recipes for homestyle curries I have come across in my mountain of Indian and curry cookbooks. This is true comfort food.

Lamb Curry - serves 4
1 1/2 lbs lamb shoulder or leg cut into  2 inch cubes
1 large onion, Vidalia or Peruvian sliced.
2-3 Serrano chillies seeded and sliced
2 inch piece of ginger, grated or minced
3 large cloves of garlic or 4-5 small ones minced
1 Tbsp Indian Curry powder, plus 1/2 tsp
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1 bay leaf
1 15 ounce can petite cut tomatoes
5-6 Cardamon seeds
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper, about 1/2 tsp or to taste
3/4 - 1 cup of water
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
Vegetable oil for sauteing

Sprinkle lamb cubes with 1/2 tsp of curry powder. Set aside.
Saute onions in a little oil until soft. Add ginger, garlic, cardamom seeds and Serrano pepper. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp curry powder and saute a minute more. Push onion mixture to one side of the pan. Add about 1 tbsp oil and add lamb pieces. Lightly brown lamb then mix with onion mixture. Add salt, bay leaf, tomatoes, garam masala and 1/2 cup water. Mix well and lower heat and let simmer until lamb is tender, about 20 minutes. Watch pan and add more water from time to time. Liquid should be about the consistency of a thin gravy. When done, remove bay leaf and cardamom seeds. Off heat and mix in fresh cilantro.  Serve with basmati rice and raita.

Raita (yogurt dressing)
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp cumin power
1/2 cup chopped cucumber, seeded
1 plum tomato chopped
pinch of salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup Fresh cilantro, chopped

Mix all ingredients. Serve with curry and rice.