Lamb Curry

This dish takes all day to make. It is a curry recipe given to my husband from a friend who lived in India when he was younger, so it is spicy. When we first made this dish, we didn't see "Curry" listed as one of the spices and we could not figure out how curry could be made without curry powder, so we added some curry powder, and boy, was it hot! It wasn't until later we found out that curry powder is a combination of spices -the combination that is in this recipe!

8 Tab. oil

3 lbs. lamb (you can use beef instead), cut into 1 inch cubes
4 cups finely chopped onions
4 tea. finely chopped garlic
3 Tab. finely chopped ginger root
1 Tab. ground cumin
2 1/2 tea. turmeric
3/4 tea. red pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped canned tomatoes (or 2 cups fresh)
1 Tab. salt
2 Tab. ground coriander
4 med. potatoes, peeled and cubed

Heat 4 Tab. oil over high heat in a large heavy-bottomed pan. When oil is hot, brown meat in the pan. Remove meat when it is brown and add the remaining oil to the pan. Reduce heat and fry onions until they turn dark brown -about 2o minutes, stirring constantly. Add garlic, cumin, turmeric and red pepper and continue frying for about 10-15 minutes. Return meat to the pan, along with the tomatoes with their juice and salt. (You may need to add additional water -check ever so often to make sure there is enough liquid for it not to stick.) Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Add potatoes and continue simmering covered until potatoes are tender (about 30 minutes.) Turn off heat and let it sit for at least 30 minutes -preferably 2 hours. When ready to serve, simmer until heated through. Serve over rice.