My favourite way to make lamb varuval is low and slow… 3 and a half hours over the smallest flame, with absolutely no water added. And you don’t need kicap to achieve that rich, dark colour! Lamb varuval Chop - Ginger: a lot Garlic: 2 whole Fresh red chillies: 10 Grind - Cumin: 1 tbs Fennel: 1 tbs Coriander: 1 tbs Lamb: 3 kg (local lamb back leg) Coconut oil Onions: 10 Chopped ingredients Curry leaves: a handful Tomato: 3 5 spice powder: 1 tsp Garam masala: 1 tsp Turmeric powder: 1 tsp Cumin powder: 1 tsp Fennel powder: 1 tsp Coriander powder: 1 tsp Plain chili powder: 2 tbs Salt: 2 tbs Vinegar: 50ml Salt: 2 tbs Garnish - Black pepper Curry leaves: a handful Dry chillies Fried potatoes Okay the key to making an amazing varuval is to keep your ingredients dry. So fry the onions, chillies, tomatoes etc until all the moisture is gone. This part alone takes 30 minutes. For years I only get my meats from @alessaminimart. This time I used 3kg local lamb back leg. I like that they send chunky pieces of lamb, usually 2 inch cuts. I honestly don’t like the kutti2 cuts of lamb in curries/peratals etc… Don’t feel the umph of eating meat, you know? I put in all the bigger cuts of bones for 1 hour first. Only then added the boneless meat cuts to cook for 1.5 hours hours coz it cooks faster. After 3 hours of slow cooking, the meat would be fully cooked through and tender. Then use max heat to fry up the lamb. This takes about 30 mins….At this point don’t stir too much otherwise the tender meat will start breaking up. The key is to let it brown on one side for 2-3 mins before stirring it to brown on another side. That’s how you get a rich dark colour without using kicap. Whatever you do in life, don’t add any water! If you really use the lowest flame, the lamb is going to release all its moisture and cook in its own juices without burning. Yesterday we hosted my family for an early Deepavali… I would have loved to add a whole bunch of coriander leaves but I would have given my brothers and sister-in-law a panic attack. - @jacobscornerrecipes