Matar Gosht Shorba - Meat & Pea Curry
Comfort food at its finest. This broth-based Pakistani curry is a traditional family favourite and one which is well suited to day-to-day family meals as well as for guests.
- Prep time
- 25 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1/3 cup oil (or according to preference)
- 1 1/2 onion (chopped well)
- 1 1/2 tomatoes (chopped well)
- 6 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 lb lamb, bone in
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)
- 0.25 tsp turmeric
- 1 cup frozen peas
- water (as needed)
- 1 bunch coriander
Instructions
- 1
In a deep pot, heat the oil. Once well heated, add the onions and fry until translucent and slightly browning
- 2
Add the tomatoes, spices and chopped garlic
- 3
Add a gulp of water to the pot and immediately cover. Cook on high heat and occasionally lift up the lid and give the mixture a spin. Use your spoon to smash the mixture with an up-down motion
- 4
Once almost all the water has dried out, remove the lid. Saute this mixture whilst continuously stirring and smashing the onions and tomatoes to help break them down. This is essential
- 5
Once all the water has dried out and you can see the onions and tomatoes have to a large extent broken down, add the lamb. Begin to saute this too, stirring continuously until the lamb no longer remains pink
- 6
Add 1 cup (250ml) of water and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat to low, allowing this mixture to cook for 1.5hrs.
- 7
Check occasionally to ensure the water hasn't dried out. If needed, add a gulp of water. By the end, this is how my lamb was looking (I didn't need to add any water). At this point, my lamb was cooked through and my onion/tomato masala was completely broken down into a smooth paste-like consistency
- 8
Add in the frozen peas and 1.5 cups of water (again, you can use kettle water). Cover again and allow this to cook for a further 10 minutes
- 9
Uncover your shorba and see if you are happy with the consistency of the broth. For me, these measurements work perfectly and I do not need to add more water or reduce the broth further. Should you need to add more water you may do so. Alternatively, should you want less shorba, turn the heat to high and cook the shorba until it is at your desired consistency
- 10
Add chopped coriander and serve hot.