Lamb Pasanda – a rich, creamy and delicious curry with tender chunks of lamb cooked with spices, cream and ground almonds. Make it in your slow cooker or the hob and serve with pilau rice and my two ingredient flatbreads.
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This Lamb Pasanda is the perfect comfort meal when curry cravings have you itching to order ALL the dishes on your food delivery app.
I say put the phone away and make this easy curry yourself instead – it’s fakeaway night! If you aren’t a fan of lamb you can use beef instead.
I love cooking curries in my crockpot as they need minimal prep and are always super yummy! You don’t even need to brown the meat or fry the onions – this is practically a dump it all in, set and forget curry recipe.
Pasanda Curry
According to my research, “pasanda” means favourite. My ancient curry cookbook claims “passanda”, spelled slightly differently, means thin slice of meat.
Either way this mildly spiced creamy curry, similar to a Korma, is definitely a favourite in our house! Traditionally it is made with lamb, mutton or beef but prawn and chicken versions are also popular.
I decided to use diced lamb leg steaks in this Lamb Pasanda recipe as they are both tender and lean. Feel free to use lamb neck, or diced shoulder of lamb.
I have simplified and given my own spin to this pasanda curry – it tastes incredibly rich, mild and comforting.
Here’s what you will need
- Onion, garlic, ginger, ground almonds, spices and fresh tomatoes make up our curry base
- Lamb leg steaks or braising beef steak
- Cream or soya cream – use single cream or double cream
- Yogurt – most recipes include both cream and yogurt. I left it out because I realised I didn’t have any and my pasanda ended up a bit more spicy as a result!
- Toasted flaked almonds to garnish
- Chopped coriander, chilli and red onion to garnish
HOW TO MAKE SLOW COOKER LAMB PASANDA
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
Put all the ingredients for the curry base in a mini food chopper or a food processor and blitz until you have a thick paste and all the ingredients are blended.
Add this to your slow cooker then stir in the meat until it’s coated. Cook on LOW setting for eight hours or the HIGH setting for four.
Stir in the cream and yogurt and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.
Serve over rice or cauliflower rice, garnished with flaked toasted almonds and coriander.
Pasanda Curry On the Hob
Make the curry base in a food processor. Heat the ghee in a large pan and brown the lamb for a few minutes.
Stir in the curry paste and hot stock and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the meat is tender (60-90 minutes). Stir in the cream and yogurt and heat through before serving.
Pasanda Tips and Variations
- The recipe as written is suitable for a keto diet when served with cauliflower rice. To be honest it’s rich enough to be served on its own!
- My lamb pasanda is also, surprisingly, suitable for the Slimming World plan if you use low fat yogurt and omit the cream. The ground almonds do add a few syns but can be part of your healthy extras 🙂
- Use single soya cream or coconut cream for a dairy-free version leaving out the yogurt of course.
- Replace the lamb with braising steak to make beef pasanda following the same method. If you would like to make chicken pasanda then use skinless and boneless chicken thighs and reduce the cooking time on the hob version to about 30 minutes.
Storing and freezing
Curries ALWAYS taste even better the day after you make them! Make a big batch and keep in the fridge for up to three days.
You can also freeze this lamb pasanda in portions for up to three months. Remember to use full fat yogurt and double cream (heavy cream) as they are less likely to split when reheated.
More Delicious Curry Recipes
I’ve got loads of different curry recipes on Supergolden Bakes, here are some of the most popular!
HAVE YOU MADE MY PASANDA RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Slow Cooker Lamb Pasanda
Ingredients
Curry Paste
- 2 large tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 onion , peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp ground almonds (or almond flour)
- 3 garlic cloves , peeled
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- Small piece fresh ginger , peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp garam masala or mild curry powder
- ½ tsp mild chilli powder , increase if you like it spicy
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp brown sugar or Sukrin Gold
For the curry
- 2 tbsp ghee hob version only
- 480 ml hot chicken stock hob version only
- 900 g (2 pounds) diced lamb or beef
- 240 ml (1 cup) full fat yogurt (optional / see notes)
- 60 ml (¼ cup) cream single or double
To serve
- 3 tbsp toasted almond flakes
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander (cilantro)
- 1 red chilli thinly sliced, optional
- Thinly sliced red onion optional
Instructions
In a slow cooker
- Put all the ingredients for the curry base in a mini food chopper or a food processor and blitz until you have a thick paste and all the ingredients are blended.
- Add this to your slow cooker then stir in the meat until it’s coated. Cook on LOW setting for eight hours or the HIGH setting for four.
- Stir in the cream and yogurt and check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve over rice or cauliflower rice, garnished with flaked toasted almonds and coriander.
On the hob
- Make the curry base in a food processor.
- Heat some the ghee oil in a large pan and brown the meat for a few minutes over high heat.
- Stir in the curry paste and stock and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the meat is tender.
- Stir in the cream and yogurt and heat through before serving.
Video
Notes
- The recipe as written is suitable for a keto diet when served with cauliflower rice. To be honest it’s rich enough to be served on its own!
- Suitable for the Slimming World plan if you use low fat yogurt and omit the cream. The ground almonds do add a few syns but can be part of your healthy extras 🙂
- Use single soya cream or coconut cream for a dairy-free version leaving out the yogurt of course.
- Replace the lamb with braising steak to make beef pasanda following the same method. If you would like to make chicken pasanda then use skinless and boneless chicken thighs and reduce the cooking time on the hob version to about 30 minutes.
- Curries ALWAYS taste even better the day after you make them! Make a big batch and keep in the fridge for up to three days.
- You can also freeze this curry, in portions, for up to three months. Remember to use full fat yogurt and double cream (heavy cream) as they are less likely to split when reheated.
Sana says
Awesome and easy recipe! The only thing I added was a generous handful of fried onions in the masala mixture. And I adjusted the dry powdered spices to my taste (garam masala, dhania/zeera, red chili).
Also, I left out cream, but added the yogurt. I mixed it first with a tiny bit of warm water and added it to the curry slowly so it didn’t split.
Thomas Rochford says
Loved this as did the rest of my family. I used leftover leg of lamb which had been roasted two days before. It was pretty tough when the leftovers came out of the fridge but I rubbed it with the curry paste and then warmed it through in the chicken stock, without allowing it to boil, for three or four hours. I then added some reduced fat crème fraiche instead of the yogurt and cream. It was applauded by my wife and 26yr old son and his older sister, who were spending some time with us.
Lucy Parissi says
So glad you enjoyed it
Rosemary says
Hello, how much chopped tomato and tomato paste? Can’t see it in the recipe. Thanks.
Lucy Parissi says
Apologies Rosemary have updated