Railway Lamb Curry & Biryani

The railway lamb curry has a real history in the British Raj. On the stations, the cantonment stations of what is today Karachi, there used to be this common man food that was sold to people coming on the trains and it was this thick, gorgeous, usually mutton based curry that was filled with loads of spices and tamarind and some beautiful curry leaves that added this fragrance that would carry into the first class carriages of the British that would be travelling and of course, the British would be having their gorgeous English food while the common Indian man, Pakistani person would be having this gorgeous curry that would definitely tantalise the taste buds of the British. And soon they wanted to try this dish so they asked their little behraa’s to go down and get them a bowl of this curry and of course they find it very hot and spicy. So when the railway curry guys the chef's got to know about the interest of the British in this dish, they asked if they could dumb it down a little bit. Now when I say dumb it down, I don't mean in flavour but in spice and heat. And so, they added a little bit of coconut milk to give it that creamy sweetness, as well as sometimes a tiny bit of sugar which I haven't added in this dish. However, this became a real popularity in the first-class cabins of the British Raj and then it stayed in our part of the world. Now one of the special ingredients in this dish is tamarind and you might find it a bit odd to find tamarind in a dish like this but there's a reason why it's there. And the reason is that when in those days there was no refrigeration, they would add tamarind as a preservative and the beauty of tamarind is it actually has the ability to preserve things. So this is why tamarind found its way but it also added a really gorgeous tangy flavour to it which gave it a real flavour sensation of mixture of sweet sour and a little bit of spiciness as well. So enjoy this dish with my favourite biryani of all time the Dhania Gajar Biryani which is coriander carrot biryani and I honestly I came up with this recipe on my own because it was one of those biryani based dishes that is so gorgeous and quick to make. And it's steeped in history in its way of cooking so I hope you enjoy this dish. It's also one of my favourite combinations to serve everyday and on a celebration as well.