How to infuse curry powder into lamb stew?

[Caslon]

My lamb curry comes out OK, but the curry powder in the sauce is what gives the curry kick.
The lamb meat is still somewhat bland, even tho I stew it for 1.5 hours with plenty of curry powder when I go to make it. Any more than 1.5 hours and
the lamb comes out too soft. Low simmer.


How do I infuse the lamb chunks with the curry powder taste more?
Dry rub it with the curry powder (before cooking) and and let it sit in the fridge overnight?
Will that do anything?

 

[miniman]

A lot of curry recipes use marinades. Mix the curry powder with some natural or plain yoghurt and marinate the meat in this mix for several hours or overnight. The rub route may work but I have no experience of this.

You could also try making up your own curry powder by mixing the spices up yourself.

 

[Loprraine]

Thelast time I did a curry stew, I added the spice mixture to the oil in the pot for a few minutes after browing the meat. It was very infused.

 

[Yakuta]

Alright so the technique to infuse flavor is actually using freshly ground spices (cumin, corrainder, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves etc.) and freshly chopped ginger and garlic.

When you make the curry. First add oil, then onions and cook them until they are golden brown. Next add the ginger and garlic and toast them. Add the dry spices and lamb and fry that in oil for 5-10 minutes. Then add lots of chopped tomatoes and keep frying for another 5 minutes or so.

Don't add a ton of water but just about a cup or so. Cook it until almost tender. Ensure the gravy is not runny but nice and thick. Reduce it if you can and then finish it by adding a couple of tbsps of yogurt.

The more you concentrate the gravy the better the lamb will taste. Authentic Indian curries are very thick and the sauce literally sticksto the meat.

 

[Caslon]

Well, I stew lamb curry. I don't fry the lamb.

Please read my post about my recipe, I don't plan to change it.

After reading it...maybe a dry rub of the lamb chunks kept overnight
will infuse more curry flavor into the lamb.

 

[Yakuta]

Caslon, when I said frying, it implies using elbow grease and sauteing the lamb with the spices and aromatics and the oil you use to cook the onions for several minutes.

If you don't want to saute it then marinate it in yogurt as the earlier poster suggested. You can add some freshly roasted and ground spices to the marinade along with ginger and garlic (freshly minced) and it makes a big difference in the end flavor.

Although I still prefer the sauteeing method to get a vibrant color. I am Indian so I can tell you how I make it. If you like to give it a try feel free to or use what works for you.

 

[Caslon]

Since I prefer to lamb stew my Lamb Currry, are you saying to lightly
saute the lame pieces before the stewing process?

It takes a good 1 hour cleaning up the lamb for stew.

OK, now that's done.

What? Fry all that 2.5 lbs in a skillet?

I stew lamb for curry (forget all that about making your own curry).

Making it my way...would dry rubbing the lamb cubes overnight help?

The sauce has a curry "kick", but the lamb doesn't.

I am determined to make my lamb curry my way.

Thanks

 

[Lynan]

Well good for you, wanting to make your curry your way. And your way, the lamb is bland and doesnt have a good curry flavour., so I guess its either carry on your way or go someone elses!!

Everyone has given good advice on how to get more flavour into the dish . I agree that the curry powder/spices MUST be fried in oil first ( either with onions or the lamb) to get maximum flavour. Adding the powder or spices to a liquid just will not provide depth of flavour. And BTW, frying off batches of your lamb before cooking will give you a 100% improved dish. An hour to prep 2.5 lbs??? Are you boning lamb with a butter knife??

Good luck with your curry.