Badam Zarda Gosht (Lamb in Almond Sauce)

Local lamb was on sale last week, so I picked up a small package of stewing lamb. There were a lot of tempting options for what to do with it, but, in the end, I settled on this simple curry that simmers the lamb in an almond-saffron sauce. I appreciate that it requires no marinade and is easy to put together with pantry staples once you have the lamb.

Badam Zarda Gosht

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 3 cinnamon sticks (each ~7cm long)
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 black cardamom pods
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 680g stewing lamb¹ (or similar)
• 1 c. slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 c. water, divided
• 1/4 tsp. lightly crushed saffron threads
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cardamom pods and cook until they sizzle and the cardamom and cinnamon swell a bit (~1 minute).
3. Add the onion, reduce heat to medium, and stir-fry until onion is well-browned (~10 minutes).
4. Add the lamb and cook, stirring occasionally, until it browns (15-20 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, add 1/2 c. of water to a blender jar along with the almonds and purée.
6. Once the lamb is nicely browned, add the almond paste to the pan.
7. Add the remaining water to the blender, swish it out, and add this to the pan as well.
8. Stir in the saffron and the salt.
9. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lamb is tender (25-30 minutes).
10. Stir in the cilantro and serve with rice and/or your favourite flatbread.

---

¹ Whoops! I only just realized that I completely misread this line of the recipe when cooking it and made it with only 450g of lamb. No wonder there was so much sauce! Oh well... too late now. It was still delicious. Just not quite as substantial as it should've been. ^Back