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How To Make British Indian Restaurant (BIR) Style Lamb Bhuna

February 21, 2012 By Dan Toombs 35 Comments

This restaurant style lamb bhuna will get you great restaurant style results.

I have made a lot of beef and lamb bhuna curries over the past year. The authentic Indian bhunas are quite a lot harder to make than this restaurant style bhuna.

Bhuna cooking is a style of cooking in India where hot oil is used to release the flavours of a long list of spices before adding raw meat – often cut into small pieces on the bone.

Once the meat is added, stock or water is sprinkled into the pan in small amounts which is then cooked into the meat.

This process is repeated for an hour or more until the meat becomes fall off the bone tender and the flavour in the resulting dry curry is out of this world.

lamb bhuna curry

Delicious with a thick gravy that is perfect picked up with a naan or chapati.

How is curry house style lamb bhuna different?

Authentic bhuna cooking as mentioned above would not be possible in a busy Indian curry house so the recipe has been changed.

BIR lamb bhuna is still a dry curry with a rich thick gravy but it is made in a fraction of the time as cooked meat is used instead of slow cooking raw meat.

Also, at curry houses, a base curry sauce is used which becomes the sauce for the curry. This too is a time saver but it also gives the lamb bhuna its unique curry house flavour and texture.

Many Indian restaurants add a drop or two of red food colouring to this dish which gives the meat an attractive pink glow. I didn’t do this but you can if you wish. 

The food colouring adds no flavour but it does look good. 

Forward Planning

As with most of my British Indian restaurant style curries, you will want to pre cook your meat and make a base sauce first. Once this is done, you can literally cook this lamb bhuna curry in under 10 minutes.

It is always a good ideas to prepare your ingredients before starting cooking.

You don’t want to have to start looking for ingredients when that pan is hot.

Ingredients for lamb bhuna

Curry Sauce

I have written a large and small version of my curry sauce recipe which will need to me made before cooking this recipe.

The large version is made just like they do in the best curry houses. Make a large batch for best results. It keeps in the fridge for three days and freezes well.

The small batch version works well too though it’s not as authentic.

PRE-COOKED MEAT

I pre-cook meat in two ways. Most restaurants slow cook their meat in a spicy sauce such as this one for this recipe. They usually swirl in a little of the cooking juices too for extra flavour.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you might like to add tandoori lamb tikka instead.

There is another option too if you’re in a rush. Simmer the meat in your base sauce until it is really tender. 

Don’t rush this! Simmering the meat in the base sauce will also give the sauce a delicious meaty flavour. 

Following are some step by step photos I took of the cooking process.

Frying onions, peppers and chillies

Heat the oil over medium-high heat and fry the onion, bell pepper and and chillies for about 5 minutes

Adding garlic and ginger paste to the pan

Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and let it fry for about 30 seconds.

stirring in the tomato puree

Stir in the tomato puree and bring to a bubbling simmer.

Adding base curry sauce to the pan

Stir in a ladle or two of the base sauce. This is a dry curry but you can add more from time to time if the curry is looking too dry.

adding meat to the pan

Add the pre-cooked lamb to the pan. You can add more base sauce if needed. Only stir if the sauce is sticking to the pan.

Simmering lamb bhuna

As the curry simmers, the base sauce with caramelise to the side of the pan. Scrape this in for more flavour. Season with salt to taste to serve.

 

Here are more curry house curry favourites you might like to try!

Chicken Korma
Chicken Madras
Chicken Dhansak
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb Vindaloo
Chicken Chilli Garlic
Chicken Patia

Special Fourpure Beer Offer!

Restaurant style lamb bhuna is perfect paired with a cold beer from The Fourpure Brewing Company!

If you would like to try some, you can order here. Use the discount code thecurryguy20 to receive a 20% discount through the end of March 2021.

Yield: 2

How To Make British Indian Restaurant (BIR) Style Lamb Bhuna

lamb bhuna curry
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp ghee or rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1/2 onion - finely chopped
  • 1/4 red bell pepper - diced
  • 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 2 tbsp coriander (cilantro) stalks - finely chopped
  • 70ml (1/4 cup) tomato puree
  • 1 tbsp mixed powder
  • 1 tbsp tandoori masala
  • 250ml (1 cup) base sauce
  • 300g (11oz) pre-cooked lamb
  • 1 tbsp natural plain yogurt
  • 2 tbsp coriander (cilantro) leaves - finely chopped
  • Juice of one lime
  • 1 red spur chilli - cut into thin rings
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. When visibly hot, add the chopped onion and bell pepper and fry them for about four minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
  2. Stir in the garlic and ginger paste along with the coriander stalks and fry for a further 30 seconds
  3. Stir in the tomato puree and when it begins to simmer, stir in the mixed powder and tandoori masala, followed by about half of the base sauce.
  4. Bring this to a simmer and let it bubble for a couple of minutes, only stirring if the sauce is sticking to the pan. As it simmers, the sauce will caramelise to the side of the pan. Stir this into the sauce for additional flavour.
  5. Stir in the pre-cooked lamb and stir to coat with the sauce. Simmer for a couple of minutes.
  6. Increase the heat to high and add the remaining base sauce. Continue simmering until you have a really thick sauce.
  7. To finish, reduce the heat to medium and whisk in the yoghurt. Check for seasoning and add salt to taste. Top with the fresh coriander and serve with a good squeeze of lime juice and garnish with the spur chilli rings.

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: British/Indian / Category: Restaurant Style Curries

 I hope you enjoy this lamb bhuna recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

Filed Under: Favourites, Restaurant Style Curries Tagged With: bhoona, bhuna, BIR Curry Recipes, Indian food recipes

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Comments

  1. Gillian says

    August 26, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    Ooh, first to review this recipe! I absolutely adore bhoona but was always put off by recipes that described it as a dry curry as here in Scotland it tends to come with a healthy dose of rich, spicy sauce. By adding a little bit extra of your sauce when cooking, it made it into the perfect, Scottish Indian bhoona. In fact, I think it was better! So tasty, with the perfect amount of spicy heat, doubt I’ll be back for a takeaway for some time! Thanks Dan 🙂

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      August 27, 2012 at 9:14 am

      Thank you very much Gillian for trying the recipe and for leaving a comment. Comments like that make all the blogging worthwhile! I’m really glad you liked it.

      Dan

      Reply
      • Derek says

        August 24, 2020 at 7:47 am

        Hi dan is there any brand of tandoori power you recommend

        Reply
        • Dan Toombs says

          August 24, 2020 at 12:16 pm

          Hi Derek
          There is not one I particularly recommend as I usually make my own:

          https://greatcurryrecipes.net/2012/02/17/how-to-make-tandoori-masala/

          You can also buy my tandoori powder from Spice Kitchen UK

          https://www.spicekitchenuk.com/search?q=tandoori+masala

          Thanks
          Dan

          Reply
    • Calogero Mira says

      December 15, 2012 at 6:31 pm

      And congrats for your Scottish Indian lamb bhoona!

      Reply
  2. Dan Maddocks says

    May 23, 2013 at 6:49 pm

    i have made the curry sauce. will be making bhuna tomorrow night, can’t wait.

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      May 25, 2013 at 2:49 pm

      Great to hear Dan. Good luck with the curry cooking.

      Dan

      Reply
  3. Roberto says

    September 8, 2013 at 8:53 am

    Made this over the summer hols for my dad coming over. It was spot on! Thanks very much 😀

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      September 16, 2013 at 5:19 pm

      Great to hear. Thanks for that.

      Reply
  4. dean says

    January 22, 2015 at 1:27 am

    hi dan love the site some great recipes that I will be attacking this weekend just 1 little question
    chicken tikka bhuna is my fave curry ever can I use this recipe just exchanging cooked chicken tikka for the lamb or is there anything you suggest I change when turning it into a chicken tikka bhuna
    thanks
    dean

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      January 27, 2015 at 8:55 am

      Hi Dean

      You can but be sure to either precook your lamb or cook for longer. Lamb takes about an hour to get tender.

      Good luck.
      Dan

      Reply
  5. steph says

    October 7, 2015 at 9:00 am

    hi i have made a large batch of your base sauce ….i wish to make a bhuna would i just times 4 the mix to add to the base sauce ?????

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      October 28, 2015 at 7:47 am

      Hi Steph

      I’m not sure I understand your question. This recipe calls for 400ml of the base sauce. Please let me know if you have a question about it.

      Thanks
      Dan

      Reply
  6. Jon says

    December 22, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    Hi Dan,

    Great recipe, and fantastic website:
    I made a couple of changes as I didn’t have all the ingredients;

    First i used beef instead of lamb.

    Secondly didn’t have the tandoori powder, (or the ingredients to make your mix), so used 2 tablespoons of Balti Curry Powder, a teaspoon of Tikka spices, and 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder instead.

    The resulting curry was fantastic, and the first curry I’ve cooked that my wife actually liked.

    keep up the good work

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      December 29, 2015 at 8:48 pm

      Thanks Jon. Glad you were able to find alternative ingredients. 🙂

      Dan

      Reply
  7. amzy says

    January 14, 2016 at 10:31 am

    hi
    i made this curry and it was a hugggeee hit at my house i have just forgotten weather i used boneless meat or not? boneless is what is used yes?
    also by pre cooking i would just boil it right?
    terrible memory
    thanks

    Reply
  8. Lee Cooper says

    July 16, 2016 at 10:57 am

    No meat in this house, so it was catfish that went into the bhuna.

    2 portions of the base curry sauce were left, so one went into this.

    Made it exactly as the recipe stated, apart from the replacement of lamb with 2″ catfish fillet chunks.

    Extra lime drizzled over the final curry completed it and it was probably the best out of those we’ve made so far from the site.

    We’ll definitely be repeating this soon (after we’ve finished off the other half of the serving that’s in the freezer).

    Thanks again for these excellent recipes.

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      July 26, 2016 at 7:30 am

      Hi Lee

      Love it! Never tried catfish with this but will now.

      Thanks,
      Dan

      Reply
  9. Steve S says

    September 16, 2016 at 7:14 pm

    Hi Dan

    Made this tonight, quite possibley the best curry I’ve ever tasted.

    I made it with chuck steak, did a small batch of gravy in the pressure cooker then added the beef to the gravy in the pressure cooker and gave it another 20mins, then followed your recipe yet with some sliced green pepper (love it in curry).

    Dished up with your naan on the hob recipe….perfect.

    cheers

    Steve

    Reply
  10. Jason says

    May 8, 2017 at 10:39 am

    Hi Dan,
    Adore this recipe! I make it, and many of your others quite regularly and I took deliver of your book today, I grew up pre t’interweb so I thought it’d be nice to use a book again. Recipes are different though, what gives mate?
    Jay

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      May 13, 2017 at 5:28 pm

      Hi Jay

      Thank you for buying my book. The recipes are only slightly different. The recipes in my book are very authentic curry house as I have seen them made most often while researching for the book. Hope you like them too. Thanks, Dan

      Reply
  11. Paul Nutbrown says

    June 11, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    Love your book and the recipes. I am really glad to have discovered you. I have a question. I made a batch of Base Curry mix as per your book, and froze it. When I came to make a curry I found that I only needed about half the quantity that I had frozen. Can I refreeze the other half. I apologise if this is a stupid question, but I am loathe to throw it away. My curry was great by the way.
    Thanks a lot Paul

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      June 14, 2017 at 10:13 am

      Hi Paul

      Officially I’m supposed to say not to refreeze as many professionals advise against it. Would I refreeze it? You bet.

      Thanks and I’m really happy you are enjoying the book.

      Dan

      Reply
  12. Ashish says

    July 1, 2017 at 8:21 am

    Hi Dan,
    Your curry sauce recipe looks very good.
    Could you please put up some vegetarian recipies using your curry sauce?
    Or should i just use cottage cheese instead of the meat?
    Cheers
    Ashish

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      July 8, 2017 at 10:11 am

      Hi Ashish

      Thanks for getting in touch. I’ve been really busy lately and haven’t added many new recipes to my blog. I will add some more veggie recipes soon. Paneer would work really well though.

      Thanks,
      Dan

      Reply
  13. Angus says

    October 13, 2017 at 3:51 pm

    I love this book and love this recipe. As an expat Glaswegian it was great to prepare a meal that thoroughly impressed visiting family. I am so excited to make British restaurant quality food in Australia!

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      October 17, 2017 at 9:46 pm

      Hi Angus

      That’s great to hear. Thank you.
      Dan

      Reply
  14. Pam says

    November 15, 2017 at 6:58 am

    I love your book, Dan. You are awesome! I’ve been living in Canada for over 20 years and I finally have some authentic BIR recipes at my finger tips…love it!

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      February 5, 2018 at 7:02 pm

      Thank you so much Pam. I’m really happy you are enjoying my book.

      Much appreciated. 🙂

      Dan

      Reply
  15. Stu Morgan says

    November 29, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    Great taste Dan, loved it. We made ours with a bit more sauce too. Thumbs up.

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      February 5, 2018 at 7:28 pm

      Great to hear Stu. Thank you.
      Dan

      Reply
  16. James says

    July 1, 2018 at 9:27 pm

    Hi Dan

    Made this one tonight using prawns rather than lamb.
    It was a great success. Easy to make and delicious.

    Thanks James

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      January 14, 2019 at 10:24 pm

      Hi James

      Great to hear. I’m happy you like the recipe.

      Thanks,
      Dan

      Reply
  17. Robert Kennedy says

    October 6, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    I moved to America 7 years ago and I’m extremely glad I stumbled across this website. I just wanted to say I made this at the weekend and it tasted amazing, just like a proper English takeaway curry. I made a few changes just based on what I had lying around in the house but the end result was amazing. I hope to always have this website to hand, its such an invaluable resource living in America where the Indian food is sub par as a whole.

    Reply
    • Dan Toombs says

      October 18, 2020 at 9:56 am

      Great to hear, thanks very much.
      Dan

      Reply

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