Pakistani Lamb Curry, Gosht ka Shorba in under an hour

Introduction

Pakistani Lamb curry is an absolute classic and essential curry that every Pakistani house-person should know how to make! This curry is gorgeously rich and has a beautiful depth in flavour. As a child there was always something exciting about eating lamb curry, we knew it was an indulgence even from a young age. I have to admit that as an adult, I never made lamb curry that often. This was due to it taking well over an hour to make. However, once I invested in a pressure cooker, it was a total game changer. This classic Pakistani lamb curry can be made in under and hour. The flavour is by no means compromised.

My Tips on Pakistani Lamb Curry

I love using tinned tomatoes in shorba, it just adds a different richness in colour and flavour. To make sure you get a smooth shorba, give them a blitz in a food processor. I usually throw in the green chillies with the tomatoes as it blitz well with the tomatoes and saves extra chopping.

Again with the onions, I would finely chop them in the food processor. Be careful not to over blitz, you do not want a water liquid puree. This will make it difficult to brown and will therefore end up burning very easily.

I have used the pressure cooker for this gosht ka shorba, it just saves so much time! You can have tender lamb ready in a matter of minutes, instead of 1 hour of simmering on low heat. However, I have also made a recipe card for making it in a standard saucepan, just in case you do not have a pressure cooker.

With regards to the lamb, I always use lamb on the bone. The flavour is richer and deeper than boneless lamb. For a curry like this where it’s simmered in all the luscious spices until softened, you really can not beat the flavour of lamb on the bone. However there are some people who simply prefer boneless cuts of meat, you can still make the recipe with boneless lamb.

Variations on making Pakistani Lamb Curry

This classic Pakistani lamb curry is very versatile, you can add in vegetables to make it an even heartier curry. For example, potatoes, peas and chickpeas all work well. You can add them in at step 7 and simmer for 5-6 until the vegetables are cooked.

For potatoes, this will take longer, you may want to add half a cup of water and let the potatoes for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Or if you want to shortcut this process further, add pre-boiled potatoes into the curry instead.

I would serve this Pakistani Lamb Curry with matar pilau and zarda, what a treat, actually it’s the meal we would have on Eid!

See my video on Youtube for how to make this Pakistani Lamb Curry!

Ingredients for Pakistani Lamb Curry

Feeds 4

Preparation- 5 minutes, cooking time 54 minutes

• 1/3 cup (125ml) of vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped in food processor (it should be nearly a pureed form, but do not over blitz so that the onion becomes watery)
• 1 heaped teaspoon of finely chopped garlic
• 1 heaped teaspoon of finely chopped ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1.5 teaspoons of salt (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 2 green chillies finely chopped (to taste)
• 1/4 can of tinned tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes (blitz in a food processor to pureed form)
• 500 grams of lamb on the bone, cut in pieces
• 1 heaped teaspoon of ground coriander powder
• 1 heaped teaspoon of ground cumin powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1 black cardamom
• 2.5 mugs of water (800 ml)
• 3/4 teaspoon of garam masala
• 3-4 tablespoons of freshly chopped coriander

Method Cooking via Pressure Cooker

1. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker and add the pureed onions.

2. Fry the onions until quite dark, you will need to keep stirring to ensure the puree doesn’t burn as this will ruin the taste of the curry by adding bitterness. Then add the garlic and ginger and stir through. 

3. Next you need to add the pureed tomatoes, green chillies, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric. Turn the heat to low and cook for 6-7 minutes. Keep stirring the tomato masala , if it starts to dry out, add small splashes of water. After the 6-7 minutes, you should see the oil start to separate from the masala.

4. Turn the heat to medium and now add the lamb to the masala and stir through. Make sure the lamb properly coats in the masala and that the lamb browns.

5. Then add the ground coriander, cumin, bay leaf, black peppercorns, black cardamom . Stir through and sauté the lamb for 5 minutes on low heat. Again, add splashes of water if the lamb starts to stick to the pan.

6. Next add the 800ml of water, bring to boil and cover the pressure cooker with the lid. Then turn the heat to medium and once you hear the whistling of the steam in the pressure cooker, time the pressure cooking for 12 minutes. The lamb should be soft after this time.

7. After 12 minutes, remove the pressure cooker lid, check the lamb is soft (if not let it simmer for a further few minutes on the hob) and then add the garam masala and stir through.

6. Add the freshly chopped coriander and serve!

Cooking via Saucepan

• Heat the oil in the saucepan and add the pureed onions. Fry the onions until quite dark, you will need to keep stirring to ensure the puree doesn’t burn as this will ruin the taste of the curry by adding bitterness. Then add the garlic and ginger and stir through. 
• Next you need to add the pureed tomatoes, green chillies, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric. Turn the heat to low and cook for 6-7 minutes. Keep stirring the tomato masala , if it starts to dry out, add small splashes of water. After the 6-7 minutes, you should see the oil start to separate from the masala.
• Turn the heat to medium and now add the lamb to the masala and stir through. Make sure the lamb properly coats in the masala and that the lamb browns.
• Then add the ground coriander, cumin, bay leaf, black peppercorns, black cardamom . Stir through and sauté the lamb for 5 minutes on low heat. Again, add splashes of water if the lamb starts to stick to the pan.
• Next add the 700ml of water, bring to boil and cover the pan lid with the lid. Then turn the heat to low and let the curry cook for 1 hour. Stir the curry on an adhoc basis.
• After the hour, check the lamb is soft, if not let it simmer for a further few minutes on the hob and then add the garam masala and stir through.
• Add the freshly chopped coriander and serve!