Name: Air Fryer Lamb Achari Curry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 300g Lamb Tikka; FOR THE SAUCE; 3 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil (optional) or oil spray; 2 medium onions (approx. 250g/9oz), thinly sliced; 3 green finger chillies, sliced lengthwise in half; 1 red bell pepper, cut in half, seeks and membrane removed; ½ tsp salt; 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste; 1 tbsp mixed powder or curry powder; ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder; ½ tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp ground coriander; 1 ½ tbsp paprika; 5 cashews; 150ml (1/2 cup) passata; 1 tbsp lime pickle or 1 ½ tsp each lime pickle and mango chutney; 250ml (1 ½ cups) warm meat stock, stock cube stock is fine; FOR THE TEMPERING; 1 small red onion, thinly sliced; 1 ½ tsp panch poran; 2 dried Kashmiri chillies; TO FINISH; 2 tbsp plain natural yoghurt; ½ tsp garam masala; ½ tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves); Salt to taste; Juice of one lemon or lime; 2 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely chopped

Jump to Recipe

This restaurant style lamb achari can be cooked completely in your air fryer!

You are going to love this air fryer lamb achari curry recipe! You probably already know that air fryers are becoming very popular these days. There is so much more you can do with them than just air fry your favourite fried foods.

Recently I set myself a challenge of cooking all of my most popular curries completely in an air fryer. This air fryer lamb achari curry is proof that you can cook a curry in them. However, you will need a small cake tin or another metal pot that fits into the cooking chamber of your air fryer.

About this air fryer lamb achari recipe.

You might have wondered if you can cook a curry in an air fryer. Most people would not even consider it as these small ovens were designed for ‘frying’ things and not stewing.

With a little experimentation, I found that you really can cook an amazing curry in them and it’s really easy too. I wasn’t sure at first if a curry that requires whole spices to be fried in oil would work, but this air fryer lamb achari came out deliciously well.

The information you find below will demonstrate how you can use your eco friendly air fryer to make this amazing lamb achari completely in your air fryer. What’s more, it tastes just like it would if it were cooked in a hot pan on the stove.

Are you ready to make an air fryer lamb achari that’s right up there with the best of them? Read on and enjoy!

Working ahead.

You can prepare this air fryer lamb achari up to 3 days before serving. As it sits in the fridge, the flavours will develop and it will be even better when you serve it.

You can also air fry the curry in stages if that’s more convenient for you. For example, you could air fry the onions, bell pepper and garlic and ginger paste and place it in the fridge until you are ready to complete the curry.

Other things you might like to do is blend the sauce or precook the lamb. Air fryers make it easy to work in a way that is convenient for you.

Do you have to use lamb in this recipe?

Absolutely not! You can use the protein of your choice. The sauce is so good with beef, chicken, paneer or whatever you like.

Do you have to use air fryer tandoori lamb for this recipe?

Not at all. It does add another layer of flavour though so I hope you do.

When cooking red meat like lamb or beef, it is important that it be cooked and tender before adding it to the curry. Otherwise the cooking time could be substantially longer.

If you want, you could just season some lamb tikka with salt and pepper and air fry at about 200°C/400°F for about 15 to 20 minutes. I prefer the meat to be air fried for 20 minutes as it has more char and it’s more tender.

You could also use leftover lamb for your air fryer lamb achari.

Can this lamb achari be made in any air fryer?

Yes. I have personally tried three different air fryers and each worked fine.

You might need to adjust cooking time but you probably won’t need to. You might also need to adjust how you lay the ingredients in the basket as sizes do vary so cook in batches if necessary.

If you have an air fryer with two cooking chambers, you can often reduce the cooking time by cooking two things at once.

Important safety notice.

Air fryers were not developed to cook curries, soups and stews. You should never heat only water or stock in an air fryer.

As the liquid comes to a simmer, it can splatter and also steam. This can ruin your air fryer and/or make a mess. It can also be a fire hazard.

This air fryer lamb achari recipe was developed with this in mind. You don’t need a lot of sauce for a curry that serves 1 to 2 people.

Heat the sauce for 10 minutes. It will probably still not be boiling hot and spitting. Keep a close eye on it though as you continue to cook. If the curry begins to steam heavily or spit, cover it tightly with foil or a lid to finish cooking.

How long can you store this air fryer lamb achari in the fridge?

You shouldn’t have any problem storing it, covered in the fridge for up to 3 or even 4 days.

If you have a reheat option on your air fryer, you can reheat the curry that way. You could also simply air fry again at about 200°C/400°F until hot. That or throw it in your microwave.

Can you freeze this curry?

Your air fryer lamb achari will freeze well for up to 6 months.

To reheat it, just let it defrost and reheat as you would the refrigerated curry above.

Step by step photographs.

Get all of your ingredients together and prepared before you start cooking.

The onions, bell pepper, salt and chillies in a mixing bowl with oil.

Mix the sliced onions, bell pepper, chillies and salt with 2 tbsp oil. If you are on a reduced calorie diet, spray it to coat with cooking oil instead.

Air frying the onions, bell pepper and garlic and ginger paste.

Preheat your air fryer to 200°C/400°F. Fry the onions, chillies and bell pepper for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. The spread the garlic and ginger paste on top for the last minute.

All of the sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Pour these veggies into a mixing bowl and add the remaining sauce ingredients.

Blending the achari sauce ingredients in a blender.

Blend the sauce until smooth. You can use a countertop blender or stick blender for this.

Tempering the whole spices in oil in a pan in the air fryer.

Heat two tbsp oil in the pan for 2 minutes. Then stir in the dried chillies, panch poran to infuse for a minute.

Add the sliced onion and stir it in to coat with the seasoned oil. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes or until soft.

Pour the prepared curry sauce into the pan and add the lamb. Cook for 10 minutes.

The curry sauce after 10 minutes cooking.

After 10 minutes, the sauce will be quite hot because of the oil used. Scrape any caramelised bits from the side of the pan into the sauce for additional flavour.

Stirring in the yoghurt, garam masala and kasoori methi.

Stir in the yoghurt, garam masala and kasoori methi. Continue cooking for about 2 to 5 minutes or until hot enough to serve.

Season with salt to taste. Enjoy!

Lamb achari served in a takeaway container.

This is a good one for the freezer. If it makes it that far.

If you like this air fryer lamb achari curry recipe, you might like to try some of these air fryer recipes too.

Air Fryer Shrimp

Air Fryer Whole Tandoori Chicken

Samosa

Air Fryer Chicken Shawarma

Bang Bang Chicken

Air Fryer Chicken Tikka

Air Fryer Onion Bhajis

Have you tried this Air Fryer lamb achari recipe?

If yes, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I’m sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.

If you are not already doing so, please follow The Curry Guy on Instagram and Facebook for all our latest recipes.

What do you serve with air fryer lamb achari?

I have two new side dishes for you that you have to try in your air fryer. Give air fryer Basmati rice and/or air fryer naans a try!

Yield: 1 to 2

Air Fryer Lamb Achari Curry

This air fryer lamb achari recipe will get you amazing results. It really does taste like a traditional pan cooked achari curry but without all the oil splatter and mess. This recipe cooks everything from scratch but you will need to make tandoori lamb tikka first. That or cook lamb from raw or another protein such as chicken or beef. You will need a metal pan like this air fryer cake tin <-- Affiliate Link, or another metal pan that fits into your air fryer basket.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

300g Lamb Tikka
FOR THE SAUCE
3 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil (optional) or oil spray
2 medium onions (approx. 250g/9oz), thinly sliced
3 green finger chillies, sliced lengthwise in half
1 red bell pepper, cut in half, seeks and membrane removed
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
1 tbsp mixed powder or curry powder
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
1 ½ tbsp paprika
5 cashews
150ml (1/2 cup) passata
1 tbsp lime pickle or 1 ½ tsp each lime pickle and mango chutney
250ml (1 ½ cups) warm meat stock, stock cube stock is fine
FOR THE TEMPERING
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ tsp panch poran
2 dried Kashmiri chillies
TO FINISH
2 tbsp plain natural yoghurt
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Salt to taste
Juice of one lemon or lime
2 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely chopped

Instructions

Preheat your air fryer to 200°C/400°F. Place the sliced onions, bell pepper, 1 tbsp of the oil and salt into a mixing bowl. If you are on a reduced calorie diet, spray with cooking oil to coat and mix it all up well.
Pour it all into the cooking basket to fry for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Carefully spread the garlic and ginger paste over the veggies and cook for a further minute and then pour it all back into your mixing bowl.
Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the bowl and then blend with a stick blender or countertop blender until smooth and set aside.
Now pour 2 tbsp of the oil into a cake tin or another suitable metal pan that fits into your air fryer. Let it heat for 3 minutes and then add the panch poran and dried chillies. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes and then stir in the sliced onion and let this fry for 3 minutes or until the onion is soft. If you are on a reduced calorie diet, you could spoon out some of the oil at this stage but it’s better left in.
Pour the blended sauce and stir in the cooked lamb tikka. Air fry for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the sauce will be warm but not really hot. Stir in the precooked lamb tikka and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, by which time the sauce should be pretty hot. If the sauce is spitting or steaming a lot, cover the pan with a lid or foil for the remainder of the cook. At this stage you might see some caramelisation around the edges of the sauce. Stir that in for additional flavour.
Stir in the yoghurt, kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) and garam masala. Continue air frying for another 2 to 5 minutes or until the curry is hot enough to serve. Season with salt to taste and and stir in the lemon or lime juice. Garnish with the chopped coriander (cilantro) to serve.

Notes

Cooking Sauces in an Air Fryer Safely.

Air fryers were designed as a substitute to cook crispy food that is similar to deep fried food. They were not designed to make sauces or soups.

The first few times you cook a curry like this in your air fryer, it is important to ensure that the sauce is not spitting or that there is too much steam. This could get messy and the water droplets could also be a fire hazard.

This is the reason why I developed this recipe to serve 1 to 2 people as the pan is usually less than half full. I have cooked at least a hundred curries this way in my air fryer without any issues. It takes at least 10 minutes for the sauce to heat up so spitting and steam is not an issue. If you find that it is with your air fryer, be sure to covered the pan tightly with a lid or foil which will sove that issue. You might need to cook a little longer for it to heat up but it's better safe than sorry.