For me, a decent curry-spiced dish takes time. You can get great flavours quickly, there are great spice pastes out there for a fast evening meal. This dish, however, benefits from time and love. You need to build the flavours at each stage, take your time, and make sure you don‘t rush. Treat yourself to an afternoon in the kitchen.

This recipe is inspired by the great chef Madhur Jaffrey from a well-thumbed book handed down to me.

Do Piaza means two onions. In this recipe, they are cooked in two different ways and added in two stages giving a rich, sweet, spicy onion sauce that is enriched with yoghurt. Take your time to get the deep colour on the onions, it’s where the goodness is at.

Step 1 - Crispy onions

Take three of the onions, cut the top off, but leave the root intact
Slice in half, then slice into thin rounds
Heat the oil in a large heavy pan over a medium-high heat
Tip in the onions when the oil is hot
Fry, stirring occasionally until they are a deep reddish-brown colour
When they are ready, use a slotted spoon to lift out of the pan
Top tip: Squeeze the onions against the side of the pan to leave as much oil behind - it has all of the flavours of the onion
Tip the onions on to kitchen paper and spread out to drain and cool, they will crisp up beautifully

Step 2 - Fry the meat

The oil in the pan has a fantastic deep flavour of fried onions, perfect for your meat
Now add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and cloves to get more flavour
Fry for about 10 seconds then add some cubes of meat
Brown in small batches, if you overcrowd the pan the meat will steam and not fry, remember - take your time!
Once deep brown on one side - flip and fry the other
Transfer to a bowl and continue with your next batch until all the meat is well browned
Don’t worry about the dark sticky bits in the pan - it’s all flavour!

Step 3 - Make the sauce

In a small processor, or liquidizer (or by hand if you want a workout!) add the garlic, roughly chopped ginger and 100ml water
Blitz to a smooth paste
Finely chop the last onion
Scoop the cloves, pods and cinnamon out of the oil - their job is done!
Tip in the onions and fry, stirring occasionally, until the edges go brown
Top tip: the onions will release liquid as they cook, use this to deglaze the pan and pick up all those sticky meaty bits
Add the garlic/ginger paste baing careful as the water may make the fat spit
Stir and cook down until the liquid evaporates and you start to see oil again
Add the ground coriander and cumin and fry off for about 30 seconds to release the flavours
Add a tablespoon of yoghurt and stir well
Once incorporated add another, and another until it is all combined, cooking and bringing back to temperature after each spoonful

Step 4 - Assemble

Tip all of the meat, and any juices, into the sauce
Add the remaining water, cayenne pepper and salt
Give it a good stir and bring to the boil
Turn down to a low simmer, cover and cook for at least 45 minutes, or until the lamb is tender
When ready stir in your favourite garam masala for that last flavour hit and take off the heat
Like most stews, this is better the next day, or after a couple of hours of sitting and resting
Top tip: when cooling or cold the fat will rise to the top, skim off a couple of times to leave behind a rich sticky sauce