This slow cooker lamb curry is pretty much a dump and cook kinda dinner. You can add everything to your slow cooker and come home to your house smelling of curry and a delicious dinner ready to eat by evening!
This recipe is a must make if you own a slow cooker and love lamb. I've been experimenting with a lot of curries in my slow cooker lately because OMG so convenient. My first success was the slow cooker chicken curry that is one of the most popular recipes on the site! And for good reason. Indian food can be time consuming and can involve some stirring and grinding spices etc. But my slow cooker curries are really dump and go. And the results are fantastic! No boring, dumbed down flavors here. These are packed with flavor and you won't believe how little effort goes into them.
The only pre-cooking I ask you to do for this slow cooker lamb curry is sautรฉing onions, garlic and ginger. This helps get rid of the raw flavor that sometimes doesn't go away completely in the slow cooker and helps you start off with aromas that help cook the lamb along the way.
Table Of Contents: Slow Cooker Lamb Curry
Note: Our go to meat of choice in India is goat, which is why this one is a slow cooker mutton curry. But whatever you use - sheep or goat meat, this recipe is a winner!
Best cut for lamb curry
Because this curry is slow cooker, the cut of meat you use doesn't matter as much. But I really love using shoulder to make lamb curry. It has some fat, tender meat and enough bones to give this curry what it needs. And yes, don't get rid of the bones. They stew and add to the curry so totally worth keeping some.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mutton has a lot more fat content making it ideal for slow cooking. The fat keeps the meat juicy and tender throughout the long cooking process, making it ideal for stews and curries. However, with proper cooking time and adding enough liquid, you can easily cook lamb in the slow cooker to achieve similar results as mutton.
This lamb curry takes 6-8 hours on high in the slow cooker. But depending on the quality of meat you have, you can add or subtract an hour.
Top tips for making lamb curry in a slow cooker
- You can use any cut of meat, though we recommend shoulder. Ask your butcher to cut it up for you
- Don't add any more liquid than what's specified in the recipe. Many slow cooker recipes will turn out watery with way too much gravy that dilutes the flavor. You really don't need a lot of liquid here. The meat leaves some liquid as it cooks, and because the slow cooker doesn't let a lot of steam escape, the food cooks in its own liquid.
- Even though this recipe takes 6 hours to cook, I would recommend taking it as the base and then checking from there. Since its lamb, even if you leave it for a little longer, it'll stay just as tender!
I really love serving this with some plain steamed rice because the curry already has so much flavor. Sliced onions help cut through the rich fatty curry and a squirt of lime really takes it to the next level!
Watch how to make slow cooker lamb curry recipe video
Slow Cooker Lamb Curry
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 kg Lamb Shoulder cut into pieces
- ยฝ cup Yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 4 tablespoon Oil
- ยฝ cup Onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon Garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger chopped
- 2 Green Chillies / Serrano Peppers finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Meat Masala store bought meat curry powder
- 1 tablespoon Red Chilli Powder
- 2 tablespoons Coriander Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon Fennel Saunf
- ยฝ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ยฝ cups Tomato Puree Tomato Passata
- ยพ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Coriander / cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Marinate the lamb in yogurt, turmeric and salt and set aside for half an hour.
- In a pan, heat a tablespoon of oil and saute onions, garlic and ginger till the onions are soft and light golden brown.
- In a slow cooker, add the marinated lamb, cooked onion mixture, three tablespoons oil, green chillies, meat masala, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, fennel, salt, tomato puree and water. Mix well and cook on high for 6-8 hours till the lamb is fork tender. Top with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rice/ parathas/ naan.
Gabrielle Andersen says
Awesome best curry ever restaurant quality. I went a bit lighter on the chilli personal taste and used Greek yoghurt to thicken.
Richa says
Sounds great! Thanks for trying it out
Nisha says
Which meat masala do you use please?
Richa says
I really love Lala's or Shaan's meat masala but Everest is also a good option
Zeda says
Hi Richa! Thank you for the recipe.
I haven't made it yet, but I know it will
be amazing. Question- Is red chili powder the same as Kashmiri powder?
Richa says
Similar but Kashmiri chilli powder has a brighter colour and less heat
Del says
The best Lamb curry I've ever had the pleasure to make and enjoy with friends. I couldn't find a Meat Masala spice so used TRS Tandoori Masala bbq spice blend (I'm in the UK). Many thanks for the recipe, definitely a keeper.
Joy says
I didn't have the "meat curry" so I used curry pwdr and less than 1/2 the recipe but this is delicious! bThank you!
Terry seerey says
This is the second time I have made this,even my neighbor's could smell it.
It absolutely delicious.
thank you.
Richa says
Yaaay that's a really good sign. Sooo happy you enjoyed it!