My wife’s out of town and tomorrow I’ve decided I’m going to cook some curried lamb. I have my recipe almost nailed, but what cut of lamb should I be looking for?
I have never bought lamb before in my life, although I’ve eaten it perhaps 50 or 60 times.
I personally would use shoulder, cut it up into cubes, and let it cook down for a few hours, until it’s soft. Any kind of stew, I look for shoulder. It’s usually one of the most flavorful cuts of any animal, but it does require longer, slow cooking. Curry is perfect for this.
I should add, leg will work well, too. I prefer shoulder, but leg is often easier to find (though usually a good bit more expensive.) If you live anywhere with a Middle Eastern or South Asian population, check out their meat markets and you might find all the cuts you want at amazing prices. The Halal meat market in my neighborhood has lamb carcasses hanging in the refrigerated area, and shoulder is something like $2-$3/lb.
Thanks pulykamell; good to know.
The easiest thing to get is a boneless leg. Lamb stew meat usually comes from the shoulder. I’ve found cross cut sections of the whole leg work well in dishes cooked in liquid, though I don’t know if that’s an East Asian style.
Good info! Thanks.
I don’t cook Indian food but often accompany my friend when he buys it at the Halal place. His mother makes by far the best goat curry I’ve ever had in my life. He always asks for the “back leg”.
ETA: confused goat with lamb. My bad.
If you can cheap lamb shanks and cook them whole in the curry for hours on a low heat then the meat will fall off the bone at the end. Yum!
I’ll have to try that. A few months ago, I was thinking about making a lamb curry, but the lamb in the supermarket was really expensive for that sort of dish.
Update: Couldn’t make the recipe tonight, too busy chauffeuring kids. I see one store has leg of lamb on at $7 a pound. Sounds expensive, but I will only need a pound for the amount I’m making. If I cube this up it should be good, no?
I’ve done leg, but I’m going to toss a vote in for shoulder. Last “curry” I made I bought shoulder chops and cut them up, and simmered them bones and all.
Yep. Should be fine. $7/lb for lamb leg is not crazy expensive for a regular store. I think Costco is usually around $6/lb boneless.