Serendib. The journey begins in a daydream of Saag Gosht.

OK, Tickets booked and paid for. With very little buyers remorse I must add.

I'm usually susceptible to a rapid onslaught of varying degrees of buyers remorse after most of my financial transactions, however after spending quite a considerable amount of my hard-earned savings yesterday I feel decidedly calm about the departure of my funds.

I will be making my way, along with my better half (Nicolette), to the island formally known as Serendib and Ceylon. Sri Lanka. A journey which I'm sure will have as much of an impact on our lives, if not more than our South East Asia travels of 2009. We are to spend 14 days in Lanka, traveling by rail throughout its sandy borders, eating glorious street food, playing street cricket and having hilarious conversations with locals over a few cold Sri Lankan beers. I hear Lion Lager is the beer of choice. On route home we make a stop in Mumbai, for a taste of what the spiritual India has to offer. More than anything I'm excited for the amazing and strange foods which will be on offer in the numerous side-alleys and markets  on the sub-continent.

Last night, with all my excitement from the purchase earlier in the day, I decided to make a Sri Lankan Chicken Curry. The result was great, although it was hotter than a Durban masala, it came out pretty good. Their cuisine seems to have influences from both India and the South East with some of their own flare thrown in for good measure. Curry leaf and lemon grass aromas compliment the Indian flavours of cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, with distinct Cardomom overtones and a coconut milk finish. This makes for a soirée of flavours that leaves you feeling slightly more spiritual than before. I definetly hope to indulge in a cooking course during my stay, as well as bring back some interesting ingredients to spice up my repertoire.

And so the Journey begins, there has been several months planning prior to the ticket purchase and I'm positive that there will be several more months planning in the build-up to our introductory tour of the Sub-Continent. As an ode to the east I have a recipe for a Saag Gosht (Lamb and Spinach curry) which I made last week, which has had me dreaming of spices since.I must make reference that the idea for divulging recipes on my blog is straight out of the hilarious and edible captains blog.

This recipe is something I came up with after reading through a variety of recipes on the net. After carefully inspecting them all, I concluded that a combination of recipe ideas were needed in order to produce the final taste sensation that is Saag Gosht. This recipe requires a number of processes and it is suggested that you save at least an hour to an hour and a half for preparation. This recipe is intended for 2-3 people. Lets begin.

Ingredients : 

- 100-150 gm  diced lamb.
- 2 cups pureed fresh spinach
- Panch Phoran (Indian 5-spice)
- 100ml yoghurt
- 100 ml fresh cream
- 2-3 tsp garam masala
- 2 fresh tomatoes (Diced)
- 1 cup crushed cashew nuts- 1 large brown onion
- 1 big stick cinnamon
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Salt to taste


Method : 

Step 1:  Make the Panch Phoran

 Ingredients : (I did not use any measuring devices whilst making my Panch Phoran I simply grabbed    pinches of the seeds in amounts I thought would best compliment each other, but for this recipe I have included spoon measurements)

- 1.5 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp feneel seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tsp nigella seeds
- 3 cardomom pods (shelled, only use the seeds)
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds

I also added :
- 1 tbs coriander seeds
- 1 tsp black pepper corns


Dry-fry all the seeds on a medium heat until they become aromatic (ie when the kitchen starts smelling really really nice) toss them into a mortar and grind them with a pestle until the seeds break-apart and form a nice powder-like substance (It doesnt have to be a fine dust, just a rough powder is fine).

Step 2: Caramelize the onions

Chop you onion into half moon slices and fry on a low-medium heat for 20 min or until the onions have turned a nice golden colour.

Step 3: Brown the Gosht (Lamb)

Add the cinnamon stick to the onions. Mix the garlic and ginger with your Panch Phoran to form a nice paste and add this to the onions and fry for 1 min on high. Add the lamb and fry until the meat browns. Next add the tomatoes. Fry for a further 2-3 mins.  Turn the heat down to low and add the yoghurt, 1/2 cup of water, spinach and cashews.  Allow to simmer for around 1.5 - 2 hours until the lamb is nice and tender. 15 min before taking the pot off, add the cream and mix well.

Serve with rice or naan and pompadoms.
Enjoy

Oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ