Nihari is a comforting curry of lamb cooked until tender, flavoured with fragrant, warming spices such as cinnamon, green cardamon, black cardamon and nutmeg. It’s traditionally served with fresh garnishes including ginger, coriander and lemon which really lift the rich flavours and it’s commonly eaten at breakfast time in Pakistan where it’s thought of as the national dish.                                     

For our second recipe we head to the highlands of Ecuador with pork cooked in annatto oil and spices served with a variety of traditional accompaniments: potato cakes called llapingachos, pickled onions, avocado and a spicy chilli and tomato sauce. Carne colorada translates as ‘red meat’ from Spanish due to the use of annatto seeds which are also used as a natural food colouring.                                   

WHOLE SPICES: Kashmiri chilli, black cardamon, green cardamon

GROUND SPICES: Kashmiri chilli, turmeric, cloves, green cardamon, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, nutmeg

GARAM MASALA: cumin, coriander, black cardamon, black pepper, green cardamon, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, mace, bay, nutmeg, coriander leaf

SABZI SPICES: coriander, cumin, garlic, black cumin, fenugreek, brown MUSTARD

ANNATTO SEEDS: annatto

PORK GROUND SPICES: cumin, black pepper, coriander leaf, Mexican oregano, garlic, panca chilli, onion

AJI BLEND: piquin chilli, red bell pepper

LLAPINGACHOS BLEND: chives, onion, black pepper

Lamb Nihari

• 300g diced lamb
• 1 small onion
• 1 carrot
• 100g peas or spinach (fresh or frozen)
• Fresh ginger (the fresher you can get the better) - finely chopped to make 1 tbsp
• 10g bunch of coriander - finely chopped
• ½ lemon
• 2 tsp tomato puree
• Rice and natural yogurt to serve                            

Ecuadorian Carne

• 300g diced pork or chicken (thighs are best)
• 500g floury potatoes
• 1 medium red onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 lime
• 1 avocado
• 1 tbsp flour (any type) plus extra for coating
• 60ml oil (sunflower or vegetable oil is best)
• 200ml lager or just use water