Angela Killian

As a contributing author to a new cookbook called The Christmas Kitchen, I’ve put together a collection of meaningful recipes and I’ve been cooking up a storm to make sure they are all presented in the book exactly how they should be.

The menu this weekend was my partner’s mom’s curry. According to the family lore, it’s completely different to his Ouma’s curry because she didn’t stir hers after adding the potatoes.

Curry leaves prove to be very hard to find, but we were able to pick some in the wild thanks to a tip from a friend. Bobby picked some flowers for me too.

The butcher cut the lamb shanks for me, but he didn’t cut them small enough and I used 1kg instead of 850g. It still turned out great.

 

 

Joey’s Curry

My partner is from South Africa and this is his mom, Johanna’s recipe. After living in Asia, I’ve grown fond of all curries and love how different this one is from the Asian varieties.

This curry transports my partner back to the time when he was a little boy, sitting on the floor of his mom’s kitchen, eating the spices out of the cabinet with his hands.

Around the holidays there would be many extended relatives in his family home, and all the cousins would build forts made of sheets and sleep under the kitchen table. This is still one of his favorite places to be in our home: the kitchen.

Ingredients

2 onions, diced

¼ t turmeric powder

¼ t coriander powder

¼ t ginger powder

2 t / 10g masala curry powder (or any brown curry powder)

½ t minced garlic

½ t apricot jam

2 t salt

1-2 curry leaves (you can substitute bay leaves or lime leaves)

4 white potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

½ C frozen peas

1.8lbs / 850g lamb shanks with bone cut into 1in / 3cm pieces

3 T tomato paste mixed with 1 C boiled water

Method

1- Cook onion in margarine until soft

2- Add turmeric, coriander, ginger and curry powders, cook 3min on low heat

3- Add lamb shanks and cook 5min

4- Add tomato paste / water mixture

5- Add garlic and apricot jam

6- Cook for 10min over medium heat

7- Add curry leaves

8- Add water to cover meat

9- Cook for 30min

10- Add potatoes, salt and peas

11- Add more water if needed to cover potatoes, but not too much

12- Cook another 30min or until potatoes are soft

13- Serve with rice