Curry in a hurry

Bride-to-be Michelle has put in a request for a curry I cooked for her a couple of weeks ago - another experiment from the Faking It cookbook I borrowed from Nicole at work. It was delish and super easy. And I love the idea of incorporating the rice into the curry just at the end. The fewer dishes the better, if you ask me! I hate washing up! The end result is a kind of biryani/Indian risotto kind of thing. Really good! I served it with a veggie curry my Mum had made (the seven veggie special!)

Oven-baked lamb curry

Serves 4

600g lamb fillets, cut into cubes

2 Tbs olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 Tbs mild curry paste

600ml chicken stock

400g can chopped tomatoes

2 cinnamon quills

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

12 fresh curry leaves (impossible to find at the shops - Nicole randomly has them growing in her backyard, but I used curry powder instead and it had the same effect)

1 1/3 cups (300g) medium-grain rice

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Season the lamb.
3. Heat half the oil in a fry pan over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb in batches for 2-3 mins, then remove and set aside.
4. Return the pan to medium heat with remaining oil. Add onion and cook, stirring for 5 mins until golden.
5. Add curry paste and stir for few seconds until fragrant, then transfer to a 2.5litre baking dish.
6. Add the lamb, stock, tomato, cinnamon, garlic and curry leaves. Season with salt and pepper, stir well to combine, then cover with foil and bake for 20 mins.
7. Stir the rice into the curry and then return to the oven, uncovered for 10 mins or until lamb is tender and rice is cooked.
8. Serve with natural yoghurt and pappadums.

Enjoy Michelle xo