Indian Coconut Green Lamb Curry with Sorghum

I had lamb… I was in the mood for curry… the rest brought me here!  I know they sell curry pastes and sauces in all markets now, and I know there are a lot of great versions of them…  But that would be one hell of a boring post, wouldn’t it?

I made my own green curry sauce… based on what I figured would go in one… based on past tastings and what memory the old brain had of them… and blended it with coconut milk to slow cook with some leg of lamb that I rubbed with yellow curry powder and garam masala.  I had it simmering on low, along side the pot of sorghum softening in water, while my husband and I were at the kids’ swimming practice the other day.  We came home to the house smelling incredible, and dinner being ready.

Don’t you just effing love those kinds of meals?  Somehow feels like you didn’t do anything.  Like, you actually forget you cooked it earlier when you walk in the door to dinner being ready for you.

This really is an incredibly easy meal and I had all the ingredients on hand already.  If you don’t have garam masala, but do have an elaborate spice collection, you can make your own by using my recipe HERE.  (It’s a very old post from the old blog, so be kind!)  And the same goes for yellow curry powder.  I have my own recipe for that too HERE (same rules apply 😉 )

And if you aren’t familiar with sorghum, it’s a really fantastic grain to get friendly with.  It’s one of the most popular grains in India, actually.  And here in the American South you may know it only from seeing jars of ‘sorghum molasses’ on the grocery shelves.  But in Africa and India, they’ve been eating it as a grain for years and years.  Now it’s becoming more popular here.  You can cook it in water to eat as a grain for a side dish or in salads, you can have it as a breakfast cereal, you can pop it like popcorn, you can even grind it like flour to use in baked goods (or, ya know, find it already ground to be used in baked goods 😉 ).

It’s extremely nutrient dense… 1 (1/4 cup) serving has 5 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber… it’s gluten free for all you wheat-free’ers… and it’s also just so darn cute!  Tiny pellets with little black specks on them… kinda like micro black eyed peas.  It takes over an hour to cook (so plan ahead!) and even still, it does have a good bite to it.  So don’t expect soft rice here.  They also have a really cool mollasses-y scent to them once cooked.   It’s just a really fun grain to add to the mix and my family loves it!

I use Bobs Red Mill brand…

And you can order it here on Amazon: Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Sorghum 24 Ounce

And then here’s Sorghum flour on Amazon: Bobs Red Mill – Sweet Sorghum Flour Gluten-Free 22 oz

Obviously you could sub any grain here, I’ll never know.  Or use beef/pork/chicken instead of the lamb. Make it your own!

And… I feel it’s important to note that my children decided to sing ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ during this dinner.  It was an odd thing to figure out how to react to as a parent, so… we had ourselves a dinner and a show.

INDIAN COCONUT GREEN LAMB CURRY

with SORGHUM

. coconut green curry sauce .

(sauce can be made a day in advance and stored, covered, in the fridge if need be!)

In a food processor (blender could work as well), combine the following…

• 1 large yellow/white onion, peeled and chunked
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• extra large handful fresh cilantro, leaves and stems allowed
• 1 green jalapeño or serrano pepper (ribs and seeds removed for mild, left in for hot)
• 1 TB coriander seeds
• 1 TB fennel seeds
• 2 tsp ground cumin (use seeds if you have them)
• 1 tsp ground turmeric 
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Pulse and puree this to get it to a liquid state.  The seeds will likely still be mostly whole, blend as much as you can to break them down.

Add in…

• 1 (13-14 oz) can full fat coconut milk

Puree again and this time, let it rip while you break down and season your lamb….

. lamb.

(you can season your meat a couple days in advance and store, covered, in the fridge as well!)

You need a…

• 2 1/2 lb. boneless leg of lamb (shoulder could work as well!)

(I prefer to work on a plastic cutting board when I’m butchering any kind of meat because it’s easy to disinfect in the dishwasher on high heat.)

1. With a sharp knife, remove any silver skin and fat caps and discard them.
2. Cut into slightly larger than bite sized pieces, 1-2 inch cubes or so… no need to be precise here.  The meat will break down as it cooks, so it’s ok to have them different sizes.
3. Spread the meat out in an even layer and season with the following…

• 1 TB kosher salt
• 1 TB brown sugar (I always work with light)
• 1 TB yellow curry powder (use your preference on heat level here and remember I have my own recipe HERE)
• 1 TB garam masala (same as above with heat level… my recipe found HERE)

(You can mix all of that in a small bowl or just sprinkle each separately if you don’t wanna dirty a dish 😉 … just be sure to get it all even!!)

Rub this into the meat as well as you can, and as evenly as you can.

The meat should be room temperature before cooking.  When it is…

. putting it all together .

In a large, deep sided skillet with a lid, or dutch oven on high heat, add…

• 1 TB coconut oil

Once this has melted and begun to smoke, add in your seasoned lamb pieces.

Allow this to sear to a dark brown before flipping around to sear the other sides.  You will notice liquid forming in the pan… totally fine.

Once your meat is seared on all sides, add in your coconut green curry sauce and…

• 1 cinnamon stick

Stir to coat everything.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer.

Cover.

Simmer for up to 3 hours on low.  You can make this quicker by keeping it on medium for about an hour if you need to.  The longer it cooks, the richer the sauce and the more tender the lamb.  But you can absolutely cheat it and crank it for less!  Just keep an eye on it 😉

About 20-30 minutes before you’re ready to eat, remove the lid and reduce the sauce until thickened.  (Also remember the sorghum takes a bit over an hour to cook, so start that at the right time!)

Serve over sorghum (recipe below) and with fresh cilantro leaves and lime wedges!  Be sure to squeeze that lime over your plate before eating!

Also, a cold beer is kinda essential here.  I recommend a super hoppy American IPA with most spicy Indian food.. either that or a sour!

. sorghum .

(this takes an hour – hour and a half to cook)

In a medium saucepan, combine the following…

• 1 cup sorghum grain, rinsed with cool water in a fine mesh strainer
• 3 cups water (could sub salted chicken/beef/veggie stock and eliminate the water if you’d like!)
• several pinches kosher salt

(You can add aromatics here just as you could with any grain, such as ginger, cilantro, etc… but I specifically wanted a simple flavored counterpart to the complexity of the curry.)

Bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmer.  Cover.

Cook on low, covered for an hour before checking… and most likely cook for about 30 min more.  It will remain harder than most grains, but cook to your preference.

…

Thanks for reading, ya’ll!  Enjoy your long weekend!!! xo