Punjabi Chha Gosht Spiced Yogurt Lamb Doaba

Method

1. 1

   Marinate lamb in yogurt: Combine lamb with all marinade ingredients including the full 2 cups yogurt. Marinate 4 hours or overnight.

2. 2

   Heat ghee: Heat 3 tbsp ghee on medium-high. Add all whole spices — both cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon. Bloom 20 seconds.

3. 3

   Cook onions until golden: Add sliced onions. Cook 12 minutes until golden.

4. 4

   Add ginger-garlic paste: Cook 2 minutes.

5. 5

   Add the marinated lamb with all yogurt: Add the lamb with the entire yogurt marinade. The quantity of yogurt seems large — this is intentional.

6. 6

   Cook on high heat initially: Cook on medium-high stirring every 3 minutes for 15 minutes as the yogurt reduces rapidly. The mixture will look curdled initially — keep stirring.

7. 7

   Continue reducing: The yogurt will eventually smooth out and begin to coat the lamb as it reduces. Keep stirring every 5 minutes.

8. 8

   After 20 minutes add 1 cup water: The yogurt will have reduced considerably. Add 1 cup water and salt. Cover.

9. 9

   Slow cook: Reduce to medium-low. Cook 45 to 50 minutes until lamb is completely tender.

10. 10

    Finish: Uncover. Reduce slightly if gravy is too thin. Add garam masala. Garnish with coriander and ginger. The chha gosht should have a thick, slightly grainy yogurt-based gravy.

11. 11

    Note: Chha Gosht (chha = yogurt in some Punjabi dialects, gosht = meat) is the Doaba style of cooking meat in a large quantity of yogurt — the Doaba belt between the Beas and Sutlej rivers is a major dairy-farming region where yogurt is made daily from local buffalo milk. The preparation uses proportionally more yogurt than a standard curry — producing a distinctive gravy that has a characteristic slight graininess from the cooked and reduced yogurt.