Leftover Lamb Jalfrezi

What a gastronomic feast I cooked up this weekend!  It was hubby's birthday so thought it only fitting I spoil him by cooking all his favourite things.


Friday night (his actual birthday)
- Starter of roasted butternut squash ravioli in sage butter sauce
- Main of veal Milanese, roasted rosemary & garlic potatoes and sauteed spinach

Saturday
- Freshly made pesto made with walnuts & pinenuts with linguine for 8 of us. It was a good way to line the stomach before drinks in our new favourite pub
- Chocolate birthday cake, iced with white fondant and decorated with black and white stars

Sunday
- Lazy brunch consisting of slow roasted tomatoes with oregano, baked portobello mushrooms, softly scrambled eggs, black pudding & Wiltshire cured smoked bacon
- Supper of slow roasted shoulder of lamb with rosemary & garlic, potato dauphinois, roasted carrots and minted peas.

The black pudding, bacon, veal escalopes and shoulder of lamb were purchased from my amazing local butcher. If you are local to the Woking area, you really must try him out as the quality of the meat is far superior to anything I buy in Tesco or Waitrose and reasonably priced too. OMG, now I have just realised what I cooked I feel quite tired!!  This is an entire blog post in itself!

So onto Monday night's healthy dinner which was much needed after this weekend!  I simply feel obliged to use up leftovers and cannot bear to through anything away. I decided on a lamb jalfrezi which has long been a great way to use up leftover meat. Typically a jalfrezi is a quite dry, thick sauce which includes onions and tomatoes.  After researching online I found that the range of spices differ tremendously from recipe to recipe. So I went with my own concoction after from sound advice from mum, obviously.  I was really impressed with dinner and what's more hubby thinks his birthday celebrations are still going on as he loved it! 

If you have alot of lamb leftover, double up the curry and freeze half for a later date

You'll need for 2:

• 1 onion
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
• 1 tsp root ginger, chopped or grated
• Half a lemon
• Half a tin of finely chopped tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper
• Green chilli (optional)
• 180g leftover lamb shoulder or leg fat removed. Alternatively use fresh raw meat of your choice e.g. lamb, chicken or pork
• 1 courgette, roughly diced (or any other vegetable/s of your choice)
• 140g dried basmati rice
• 1 heaped tsp mixed of Mustard seeds yellow & black, Cumin Seeds, Fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• Mug or so of water
• Handful of fresh coriander (optional)

What to do:

• Rinse the rice in cold tap water for a couple of minutes and then cook the rice in salted boiling water for a good 25 - 30 mins. Once cooked, drain and rinse through with boiling hot water from the kettle. You can do this in advance and re-heat the rice thoroughly later
• Heat the oil in a saucepan or stir fry pan / wok and add the mix of Mustard seeds yellow & black, Cumin Seeds, Fenugreek seeds
• Fry the onions, garlic and ginger, chilli (if using) until soft and slightly golden
• Mix the rest of the spices with some salt in a mug and add some water to stir to a paste. Add the paste to the onion mix with about 2/3 mug of water
• Cook on a high heat for a few minutes to cook out the spices
• If using raw meat add this now to seal, otherwise add the courgette or vegetable of your choice. Red and green peppers are also a good choice
• Add the tinned tomatoes , squeeze of lemin and a little more water if need be
• Cook on a high to medium heat for about 10 - 12 minutes and then add the cooked meat if using
• Taste and season accordingly
• Cook for another 5 minutes until the meat is fully cooked through and the courgette still has a little bite. I also threw in a few leftover peas from yesterday too
• Serve up and finish with a sprinkling of fresh coriander