Anglo Indian Burgundy Lamb Stew with Garam Marsala

A tomato with blue eyes, a kitty cat and an Indian went on a forest walk about on Christmas Eve morning. No this is not a bad joke. The tomato is me (As my face was wind burned) Carly our pup was the kitty cat (As she comes when I say kitty kitty) and my boyfriend is the Indian.

This is a typical day in my mountain life. My boyfriend and I decided to ignore the hideous crowds of snow players that were taking over our mountain the morning of Christmas Eve and go as far out into the wilderness as we could and still get back in time to celebrate with friends and have time for him to prepare us an amazing rustic venison curry.

It was a fantastic day of hiking for more than ten miles through a foot of snow to reach one of the highest summits in Big Bear, Butler’s Peak.

Butler’s Peak is one of my absolute favorite places in all of the Big Bear Valley. The views from the top of the fire lookout tower are just phenomenal. I always seem to make it up to Butler’s Peak on a slightly stormy day and that just makes the view of the valley, Glory Ridge to the south and Big Bear Lake to the east that much more beautiful.

Today we once again took our little doggie Carly on the adventure. She just loves so much running and playing in the snow especially on a day like today when she got to chase three deer through the forest! She will be dreaming about those deer for a long, long time to come.

Carly has been to the top of Butler’s Peak at least two times and never had a problem getting up the rickety stairs, but I guess the windy day in the freezing cold temperatures probably in the twenties was enough to frighten her, because she almost wouldn’t go up the ladder to get to the lookout tower at all. When she got up she absolutely would not come down. My boyfriend had to physically carry her back down the icy stairs like a baby.

The winds were absolutely howling above 7000 feet as we enjoyed the amazing views on all sides of the peak from big bear to the east to Lake arrowhead to the west. It was such a fantastically beautiful day high above the Big Bear Valley.

My only wish is that we would’ve stayed for the sunset because it would have been absolutely phenomenal, but even hurrying as much as we could down the old dirt roads it took us two hours to hike/run back to the truck. Sunset at Butler’s Peak will just have to wait for another day.

We had to hurry home to devour this Anglo Indian inspired curry that had been simmering in the crock pot all day.

Anglo Indian Burgundy Lamb Stew with Garam Masala

1 pound lamb tips

1 yellow onion, cut into bite size strips

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

1 carrot, cut into bite size pieces

1 stalk celery, cut into bite size pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup bulgur wheat or wheat berries

1 cup red wine

2 teaspoons garam masala powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups water

2 tablespoons ghee

Put the water in a crockpot with the lamb tips. Turn the heat to high and when the lamb and water is simmering turn it back down to low.

Heat the ghee and fry the onions in it. When they are almost fried (about a minute to go) add the garam masala. Scoop out the fried onion pieces with a slotted spoon and add them to the crockpot. Add the carrots and celery to the garam masala/ghee. Add the garlic after one minute. Cook one more minute. Put the cooked carrots, garlic and celery in a nutria bullet or blender and blend until smooth. Add this to the crockpot.

Fry the potatoes salted in what ever ghee is left (Add more if you have to) and set the potatoes in the fridge.

Use water from the crock pot to deglaze the pan with the left over Garam masala in it and add these drippings to the crockpot. Let the lamb simmer on low for two hours. Add the red wine. Let the lamb simmer one to two more hours. (Or longer)

Add the potatoes. Let simmer one hour at least. Add the bulgur wheat wheat berries according to directions. They usually need about forty five minutes to cook in hot liquid.

When the bulgur is cooked the stew is ready to serve.