Healthy Lamb Curry with Cilantro, Peanuts and Coconut
American lamb chunks simmered in warm Indian spices mixed with a green cilantro curry baked until tender is the perfect dinner to come home to on a cold Winter night.
While November tends to be all about Thanksgiving comfort food, I love to throw in some comfort food for my husband. While he has come to love an all American Thanksgiving, the food he grew up with and celebrated special occasions with is Indian food. I had never made a single Indian dish before we met. I’m not even sure I had ever had Indian food. One bite and I was hooked, holy flavor explosion. Indian food is incredibly flavorful, sometimes spicy, but always delicious. When the American Lamb Board wanted to celebrate global cuisine, I was thrilled. I love any chance to bring Indian food to more dinner tables.
Using lamb in curry is pretty common. I loved the idea of using American Lamb in an Indian dish. It mirrors my marriage, an American woman married to an Indian man. I can highly recommend such a marriage in food or life. Lamb is very popular and often used in many global cuisines. I made a delicious Greek inspired lamb for Easter and turned the leftovers into a Gyro. I’ve had it in Thai restaurants and even Chinese restaurants. If you haven’t tried American Lamb, go for it. You will be supporting small, family owned farmers in almost every one of the 50 states. It is high quality with delicious flavor and tenderness.
This curry is by no means an “authentic” Indian recipes. As usually I had to mix flavors and spices. I love green curry. It happens to be my favorite, but I’ve been dying to make a curry with peanuts. So why not combine them. I used my favorite spices cumin seed, fennel seed and mustard seed. Of course, Indian food wouldn’t be Indian food without garlic and ginger. I wish I had a lamb curry recipe from my Mother-in-law. Sadly, she passed away before I met my husband. She adored cooking and I can just imagine how much we would have loved cooking together. She could have taught me all of her tricks and “bits of love” she threw in. I have a much treasured recipe book of hers, but it mainly has Chinese recipes in it. Go figure! They lived in Singapore for many years so she enjoyed learning to cook Chinese food. I wish I had more of her recipes for Indian food. Ones I do have never seem to be quite the way my husband remembers. I can just imagine her taking a taste than tweaking the flavors to achieve the taste she was looking for. That is where the “love” comes in.
When I finally gave up trying to replicate her dishes and instead tried making my own, I finally had an Indian dish to be proud of. My husband is very proud to tell his Indian relations that everyone loves his wife’s Indian food. He is the best PR person a food blogger could have. So I am happy to make him a little comfort food and a taste of home. Our daughter will be lucky enough to grow up with a sense of cooking from both of her cultures. Give Healthy Lamb Curry with Cilantro, Peanuts and Coconut a try and enjoy a little comfort food from my family to yours.
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Print Healthy Lamb Curry with Cilantro, Peanuts and Coconut
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 hour 25 mins Total time: 1 hour 35 mins
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. lime juice
- ½ cup water
- 2 packed cups chopped cilantro, including the stem
- 2 tbsp. raw peanuts
- 1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped*
- ½ tsp. ground turmeric
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tbsp. oil
- ½ tsp. cumin seeds
- ½ tsp. fennel seeds
- ½ tsp. mustard seed
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 ¾ lbs. boneless leg of lamb, visible fat removed, cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
- ½ cup lite coconut milk
Instructions
- In a blender, puree lime juice, water, cilantro, peanuts, ginger, garlic, jalapenos, turmeric and salt. Blend until it is a fine paste.
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. When hot add cumin, fennel and mustard seeds. Stir fry until fragrant, a few seconds.
- Add onion and stir fry until onions are brown around the edges.
- Turn the heat to high and add the lamb. Brown the lamb on all sides, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Add cilantro sauce and bring to a simmer.
- Cover and place in the oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until meat is tender.
- Take out of the oven and stir in the coconut milk.
Nutrition Information Calories: 233 Fat: 6g/Carbs 12g/Fiber 1g/Protein 25g
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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Happy Healthy Eating,
Christie
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