Spicy Lamb Curry This is based on a traditional Malay curry, not hot, but full of interesting flavours.

Ingredients 25ml oil 2-3 large onions, sliced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 15ml curry powder 10ml turmeric 10ml ground coriander 5ml ground cumin 1 stick cinnamon 1 knob root in ginger, peeled and crushed in garlic press 4 cardamom pods, split 2 bay leaves 3 whole cloves 1-1,2kg sliced shoulder of lamb 3 tomatoes, skinned and chopped 10ml salt 5ml sugar 200ml hot water or stock Method Heat oil in large saucepan and brown onions.

Add garlic, curry powder, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom pods, bay leaves and cloves and fry for a few minutes, stirring and taking care not to scorch. Remove most of the fat from the lamb but do not slice off the bone.

Add to pan and when coated with curry mixture add tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer very slowly, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour 30 minutes, or until tender. You shouldn’t need to add more liquid, or have to thicken the rich gravy. Remove whole spices and serve with rice and sambals. Serves 4-5. Note Sambals range from diced pawpaw to poppadoms but the simplest (and most popular) are: desiccated coconut, chutney, cucumbers in yoghurt or sour cream, sliced bananas and sweet pickles. Butternut Bredie This delicious, spicy stew is slightly different from the traditional bredie, which uses mutton breast, neck or rib.

Furthermore, this bredie is baked, instead of simmered on the stove, and requires little attention. Ingredients 750g chump chops (weight after trimming) 25ml flour 5ml salt 10ml ground coriander 5ml turmeric 25ml oil 2 onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 125ml stock or water 10ml brown vinegar 750g butternut squash (weight before peeling) 7ml ground cinnamon Pinch ground cloves 5ml ground ginger 15ml brown sugar Method Preheat oven to 160?C. Having removed excess fat from chops, slice into fairly large pieces. Mix flour with salt, coriander and turmeric and dust meat on both sides. Heat oil in large frying pan and brown meat lightly over medium heat to prevent scorching. Remove to 30 x 20cm baking dish.

Add dash more oil to frying pan if necessary and add onions and garlic. Cover the pan and allow to sweat gently. Add to lamb, pour stock over, sprinkle with vinegar, cover and bake for 45 minutes. Peel butternut and cut into smallish dice. Mix spices with sugar and shake cubes in this mixture until coated. Add to lamb, stir to mix, then return to oven and bake, covered, for 1 hour, stirring twice and adding a little more stock or water if necessary to ensure a rich gravy. Serves 4.