The new year is here and whilst sitting at my computer wondering which of my Thermomix discoveries to wax lyrical about at the start of 2017, this lovely pea greeting popped up from my friend Sangita Sharma.So it is the perfect moment to share her inspiration and my recipe of the month adapted from a recipe by one of my long term culinary gurus, Wendy Hutton.

Annadana Soil and Seed Savers was founded in Auroville in 2001 by like minded people. Inspired, Sangita took the plunge and relocated from her corporate job in Dubai, and took Annadana to Ishana Farms in Bengaluru. It is a self-sustaining organic farm with the aim of preserving traditional varieties of crops and educating and empowering local farmers to cultivate them without becoming  cripplingly indebted to seed companies with their expensive seeds and chemical fertilisers and pesticides.  I am in awe of this woman’s drive, courage and phenomenal achievement against all the odds.  She continues to fight hard,  not just for farmers’ rights but every human being’s right to safe food. The organisation runs internship programs so if anyone wants to spend time with other like minded people from all over the world do get in touch!

I introduced Sangi  to the TM5 when I first got mine and was thrilled that she saw in this machine what I did; to be able to grind home grown pulses and grain into flour from scratch in minutes, roast and grind spices all in one container so easily and efficiently and cook farm grown vegetables to perfection at exactly the right temperature so the flavour remains pure, had her sounding as passionate as I do about it!

And now my recipe.    I have been making Wendy Hutton’s Mysore Lamb since the 1970s.  The unusual inclusion of soy sauce in this Singapore Food recipe tenderises the meat beautifully.  If your lamb is particularly fatty then I have found the use of the Oxo fat separator to be invaluable before you start reducing the jus.  And one more tip: if you can’t be bothered to go through the reduction process then sprinkle corn starch on the marinated meat and mix well just  before cooking!  The recipe is in PDF form as it will be included in my very own Thermomix recipe book as a sort of 2nd edition to my first (pre-Thermomix) book Curry Base using Blurb.  One day…..

I had a little peek in the Curry Base Ebook after a long time and it is quite amusing as before I owned a Thermomix I used my pestle and mortar for my version of the original Mysore Lamb. There is a video in which I religiously pound my herbs and pound and pound and pound. I can’t wait to do a video with my TM5 where it takes seconds to blitz the herbs and garlic!  Not only that, I roast the Kashmiri chillies and cumin and grind them and cook in my own homemade ghee, weigh in all the ingredients without the need of teaspoons and – this is the best bit – with the blade on reverse I chuck the meat into the bowl with the marinade and mix it all before putting it in a ziplock bag.  Quick and easy, no mess and super delicious because I use organic spices from Annadana!