so I'm working through this british cookbook I picked up and this is the latest thing that I have made. I love curry but I always look at recipes and I'm like oh geez I need to buy a dozen spices it's gonna be so expensive oh no. luckily the entire mccormick spice rack at safeway is half off this month and this particular recipe doesn't take a huge number of them

anyway this isn't a super-spicy curry or anything, it's pretty nice and everyone can probably enjoy it!

1 tablespoon ghee or oil
2 pounds beef or lamb, cubed
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 green chiles, chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
½-1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 cup coconut milk

Heat the ghee or oil in a large pan and brown the meat in small batches. Remove from the pan. Cook the onion, stirring, until soft. Add the garlic, chiles, ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander, and chili powder. Stir till heated through

Return the meat to the pan and stir until it's well coated with the spices.

Stir in the salt and tomatoes. Simmer covered for an hour to an hour and a half, or until the meat is tender.

Stir in the coconut milk and simmer uncovered for another five minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.

Serve over rice or with warm naan bread. In the picture it's over rice! Also in the picture is some stuff from my trip to stumptown comics fest.

TIPS AND TRICKS

* Ghee is a kind of clarified butter used in Indian food, you might be able to find it in the supermarket or you could probably look up how to make your own somewhere. Or just use oil!

* Depending on where you live and the availability of a proper butcher, you might have some trouble finding lamb. I'd advise giving it a shot though, as beef isn't a super-common curry ingredient. It's not gonna kill the dish or anything, so don't worry too much.

* Grating ginger is kind of a pain. If you grate the whole root at once though, you can freeze the rest and it'll be easier to use in future recipes.

* You can garnish this with some fresh cilantro leaves or a few raw cashews! I recommend the cashews, they add some crunch and taste pretty nice.