Pasanda Badam Curry

We eat a lot of Indian food at home and one of my favorite dishes is this rich lamb curry from northern India which I originally got from one of Mridula Baljekar's highly recommended recipe books.

Ingredients
2lb lamb leg steaks
1 inch cube of root ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 fresh green chillies, seeded and coarsely chopped
4 tbsps natural yoghurt
2 oz unsalted butter
3 medium sized onions finely sliced
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsps ground coriander
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼-½ tsp chilli powder
8fl oz warm water
1/2 tsp salt
5fl oz single cream
1oz ground almonds
1sp garam masala
2 tbsps warm water (or rose water if it's available)
½ tsp paprika

Trim the fat off the meat and cut into cubes.

Blend the ginger, garlic, green chillies and yoghurt in a liquidizer until smooth.

Lightly brown the onions in the butter over a medium heat. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, nutmeg and chilli powder, and cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes stirring frequently. Increase the heat to high, add the meat and fry for 3-4 minutes or until it changes color.

Start stirring in the yoghurt mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time, cook for 1-2 minutes and repeat until all the yoghurt mixture is used up. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 4-5 minutes - keep stirring. Add the water, bring to the boil, cover the pan and simmer until the meat is tender (about 1 hour).

Add the salt, cream and ground almonds and simmer uncovered for 5-6 minutes. Stir in the garam masala and a couple of tablespoons of warm water, transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with paprika and serve with pilau rice.