Step 1

Preheat the oven to 160C / 140C fan / gas mark 3 / 325F.

Step 2

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a wide, deep saucepan or hob proof casserole dish and add the sliced onion, cinnamon stick, bashed cardamom pods and cloves. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 5-10 minutes until the onions have softened but are not brown.

Step 3

Add in the crushed garlic, ginger, chilli flakes, cumin, coriander, turmeric and garam masala. Stir and fry uncovered on a low heat for 3 more minutes.

Step 4

Add in the chopped lamb and stir to coat the lamb in the spices. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes to allow the lamb to start cooking.

Step 5

Add in the tinned tomatoes, 100ml water and salt. Stir and bring to the boil.

Step 6

If you are using an ovenproof saucepan or casserole dish, simply pop the lid on and put it in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Step 7

If you are using a saucepan that cannot go in the oven (e.g. one with a plastic handle!), transfer the curry to an oven dish / Pyrex dish, put the lid on and pop it in the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. (It gets an extra 5 minutes, as the oven dish will be cold, so will slow down the cooking process to begin with.)

Step 8

Don’t forget to make some rice 10-30 minutes (depending on your recipe) before the curry is due to come out of the oven.

Step 9

Just before serving the curry, add a large handful of coriander leaves to the curry and stir. Serve scattered with more coriander leaves and with some rice and a beer or a glass of red wine. Enjoy!