This recipe may be easily doubled. I just love it with Tomato Pullao.

　　

Ingredients

serves 3¿4

　　1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds

　　One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

　　2 good-sized cloves garlic, chopped

　　3 tablespoons olive or canola oil

　　One 2–3-inch cinnamon stick

　　8 cardamom pods

　　5 whole cloves

　　2 bay leaves

　　1 1/4 pounds boneless lamb, preferably from the shoulder, cut into 1–1 1/2-inch cubes

　　3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

　　1 1/4 teaspoons salt

　　1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled

　　1/2 cup heavy cream

　　

Step 1

Soak the almonds in 1/2 cup boiling water for 2 hours. Put the almonds, their soaking liquid, the ginger, and garlic into a blender and blend until smooth.

　　

Step 2

Pour the oil into a medium pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves and stir-fry them for 5 seconds. Put in half the meat and brown on all sides. Remove the meat with tongs and put in a bowl. Brown the remaining meat the same way. Now return the first batch of browned meat to the pan. Pour in the paste from the blender. Add the cayenne, salt, and saffron. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer gently for 60–75 minutes or until the meat is tender. Add the cream and cook on medium-high heat for a few minutes so the sauce thickens.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.