Bhuna Gosht, from Hotel RAAS, Jaipur (recipe)

Time for another recipe. This one was typed in rather broken english, with some hand-written notes from Mum. I have taken the liberty of cross-checking with some other recipes for Bhuna Gosht for clarity. The bits in [square brackets] are my notes/additions/interpretations. I will add a comment if I modify this after talking with Mum (who spoke to the chef) and/or trying to make it myself.

Many Indian curries use meat-on-the-bone, as the bone adds much more flavour. Although some recipes use boneless meat (preferably shoulder or something equally suited for slow cooking), this one asks for "lamb nalli", or lamb shanks. (gosht = lamb)

Bhuna, according to several sources, is a process of slowly simmering in a spiced broth, which is then thickened to a thick gravy which sticks to the meat.

Ingredients:
1.8 kg lamb nalli (shanks, or other meat with lots of connective tissue, preferably on the bone)
10g whole spice garam masala. What should be in it? Well your guess is as good as mine. Ask at your local Indian spice/food store for their recommendation.
1kg onions, finely chopped
100g green chilli, roughly chopped
100g garlic, roughly chopped
100g ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
50g red chilli powder
1.5kg tomatoes, finely chopped


Method of working [sic]

1. Into a large pot, add [a third of] the oil. Add the whole spices [until they pop], then add the finely chopped onion. Cook until past translucent, but not burnt.
2. [Add the rest of the oil, and the meat. Brown the meat]
3. Add green chilli, ginger, garlic, red chilli powder, and the tomatoes. Cook until the oil [separates].
4. Add some water [no, I don't know how much! Mum's annotations say "cook in a broth with spices"], and cook until tender. [This might take a few hours. I usually do this in the oven - less likely to burn on the bottom of the pot.]
5. [Remove the meat/bones, and reduce the stock until it is a thick gravy.]
6. Add salt to taste. Serve hot, garnished with green coriander.
7. Serve hot, with any bread.

Enjoy!