Nigerian Lamb Curry Stew

I have been looking at Nigerian recipes recently and have been finding it hard to locate Nigerian curries. There are some, but I thought there would be more. It seems that lamb stew is the more popular. 

Here I have cooked a typical local dish of a lamb stew - the thyme and the seasoning cubes are always used in their dishes. I have added curry powder and coconut milk to make a creamy curry, with the spice from the scotch bonnets. The dish is slow cooked so that the lamb is fall apart tender and the flavours combine beautifully.

300g lamb leg steaks, trimmed of fat and cubed
1 vegetable seasoning cube
salt & pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch piece ginger, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 scotch bonnet chillies (1 chopped, 1 left whole and pierced)
1 cup coconut milk (200ml)
1 cup water
200g tinned chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp. curry powder

Put the lamb into a bowl and sprinkle over the seasoning cube, salt & pepper. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, thyme and the chopped scotch bonnet chilli in a hand blender and blend to a paste. Add the paste to the lamb and stir well. Leave in the fridge to marinade for at least an hour.

In a sauce pan, add the coconut milk, water, tomatoes and curry powder and bring to the boil. Add the lamb and its marinade along with the whole scotch bonnet. Stir well, cover and turn the heat to low. Cook gently for about 2 hours. For the last 15 minutes, take the lid off the pan and turn up the heat to reduce the sauce until its thickened.

Serve with rice and fried plantain. A delicious warming curry - that is surprisingly not that hot! It is, however, delicious!