A household photograph of Diane Richardson and her brother Gary Kirchherr. Later in life, when her brother visited at Christmastime, Richardson would make the lamb curry recipe their mom discovered when the household lived in Nigeria.
Diane Richardson/Collage by NPR
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Diane Richardson/Collage by NPR
A household photograph of Diane Richardson and her brother Gary Kirchherr. Later in life, when her brother visited at Christmastime, Richardson would make the lamb curry recipe their mom discovered when the household lived in Nigeria.
Diane Richardson/Collage by NPR
All Issues We’re Cooking is a sequence that includes household recipes from you, our readers and listeners, and the particular tales behind them. We’ll proceed to share extra of your kitchen gems all through the vacations.
A turkey, ham or roast surrounded by aspect dishes could be what involves thoughts while you consider a standard Christmas dinner. However for greater than 35 years and counting, Christmas dinner in Diane Richardson’s home has been a big pot of lamb curry.
Richardson lives in Kirkwood, Mo., simply outdoors St. Louis, however she grew up in Kalamazoo, Mich., the place her father was a geography professor. Her dad’s job took the household to Nigeria for a yr at a college, the place they lived on the campus with many different visiting households within the early Seventies. It was right here that Richardson’s mom met a Lebanese girl who first made this dish and gave her mom the recipe.
The recipe turned a household favourite, although they did not have it too typically given the then-limited availability of lamb and the price of the meat, Richardson mentioned.
“It was all the time an actual deal with when she would make the curry and all the time introduced again reminiscences of our time and our associates that we had whereas dwelling in Nigeria,” she mentioned, including that her mother saved in contact with many associates from their time overseas.
After her mother died within the early Nineties, Richardson turned the one to make the curry.
“When my brother was single and I used to be married and he would come down for Christmas, I might make the curry as a result of it was the one time he was capable of get it,” Richardson mentioned.
From then on, it turned a Christmas custom that even the prolonged household appeared ahead to.
“My cousin and his spouse and their two daughters have come over for many years and eaten it with us,” Richardson mentioned.
The daughters are of their 30s now, she mentioned, however once they have been youthful, “They thought everyone had curry for Christmas.”
Everybody often begins their bowl with a scoop of rice and a scoop of curry earlier than shifting on to the toppings and customization. Citrus, coconut, raisins, pineapple, dried cranberries, peanuts, and sliced bananas and plantains are only a sampling of what goes nicely with the curry, Richardson mentioned.
“Abruptly you have received all these toppings and you have this huge quantity of meals in your plate,” Richardson mentioned. “That is a part of the enjoyable, too.”
The custom continues in the present day with Richardson and her three grownup youngsters, who’ve put their very own twist on the curry, subbing in rooster or tofu for the lamb. The convenience and flexibility of the dish are just a few points of the curry that Richardson enjoys.
“I actually like the distinctiveness of it. I like the best way it binds our household collectively as a result of everyone likes it they usually know the historical past behind it,” she mentioned. “So it is one thing that is actually gotten handed on that is actual particular.”
Lamb Curry
Recipe submitted by Diane Richardson
Kirkwood, Mo.
Substances
- 2 kilos lamb stew meat
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/4 cup onion, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose white flour
- 3 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3 3/4 teaspoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon floor ginger
- 1 cup rooster broth
- 1 cup milk (use complete milk or cream)
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- Non-compulsory toppings: banana, coconut, plantain, raisins, almonds, peanuts, tomatoes, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, avocado, onion, boiled eggs
Instructions
Place lamb in a microwave-safe dish and microwave on excessive, stirring each minute till now not pink — about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain and discard any liquid that accumulates. Put aside lamb.
Soften the butter over low warmth in a big saucepan. Saute onion with curry powder in melted butter till smooth.
Sprinkle flour, salt, sugar and ginger over onions. Prepare dinner over low warmth, stirring till the combination is easy and bubbly. Take away from warmth, stir in broth and milk. Return to warmth and convey to a boil, stirring continually. Let boil for 1 minute, nonetheless stirring. Stir in lamb and lemon juice and prepare dinner till lamb is scorching.
Serve over rice. Place condiments in small bowls on the desk or on a lazy Susan. High the curry with small parts of your alternative of condiments.
Serve with banana, coconut, plantain, raisins, almonds, peanuts, tomatoes, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, avocado, onion and/or boiled eggs.
