Slow Cooker Beef or Lamb Dopiaza Recipe
A mild, onion-rich Dopiaza with one Dopiaza kit. Half the onion goes into the base sauce; the second onion is fried as petals at the end for contrast.
How this recipe works
These curries start with browning and building the sauce in a pan, then cook low and slow until the meat is tender. You finish with a short simmer on the hob so the sauce and finishing spices come together — the slow cooker cannot do that final step on its own.
Ingredients
To buy
- 1 complete Dopiaza Curry Club Kit (Sachets 1 and 2, plus optional Sachet 3 Kashmiri chilli)
- 400–500g beef chuck or boneless lamb shoulder
- 2 large onions
- 400g chopped tomatoes
- Optional: fresh coriander
- Rice and/or naan to serve
From home
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 50ml water in total, including any water used with the spices
In the Dopiaza kit
- Spice Pouch 1: Base Curry Spice Blend
- Spice Pouch 2: Dopiaza Finishing Spice Blend
- Optional Extra Kick: Whole Dried Kashmiri Chilli
Equipment
- Slow cooker
- Large frying pan or wok
- Saucepan for reducing the sauce if needed
Before you start
- Use fully thawed meat and start cooking promptly.
- Cook on LOW or HIGH, not the WARM setting.
- Keep the lid on during the main slow cook.
- Choose a cooker suited to the batch and follow its required fill level and minimum-liquid instructions.
- Beef: use chuck or another cut sold for long braising, trimmed of hard fat, cut into roughly 3–4 cm pieces.
- Lamb: use boneless shoulder, trimmed of excess surface fat, cut into roughly 3–4 cm pieces.
| Meat | LOW | HIGH |
|---|---|---|
| Beef chuck | 7–9 hours | 4–5 hours |
| Lamb shoulder | 6–8 hours | 3½–5 hours |
Cook until the meat yields easily to a fork. Actual time depends on your cooker, cut and batch size — extend cooking if the meat is still tough.
Method
Prepare the onions
- Finely slice onion 1 for the base. Keep onion 2 for the finish.
Brown the meat
- Brown the meat with 1 tbsp oil and transfer to the slow cooker.
Base sauce on the hob
- Use 1 tbsp oil to cook onion 1 for 10–12 minutes until soft and golden.
- Lower the heat, add 'Sachet 1: Base Spice Blend', and stir for 30 seconds. Add a little of the measured water if it starts to catch.
- Add the tomatoes and reduce for 5–8 minutes. Add the remaining measured water and transfer to the slow cooker.
Slow-cook
- Cover and slow-cook until the meat is tender: beef LOW 7–9 hours or HIGH 4–5 hours; lamb shoulder LOW 6–8 hours or HIGH 3½–5 hours. Keep the lid on. Towards the end, skim excess surface fat if needed.
Fry the second onion
- Shortly before serving, cut onion 2 into chunky petals. Fry in the remaining 1 tbsp oil for about 4–6 minutes, until lightly charred at the edges and softened but still holding its shape.
Finish on the hob
- If the sauce is watery, lift out the tender meat and reduce the sauce in a saucepan, stirring regularly. Return the meat. If the sauce is already thick enough, finish meat and sauce together in the pan.
- Add 'Sachet 2: Finishing Spice Blend', the freshly fried onion petals and, if wanted, half or all of the optional Kashmiri chilli, crushed or finely sliced as on the printed card.
- Simmer gently for 3–5 minutes and serve.
Larger batches
To cook more, multiply all ingredients and kits in proportion, not just the meat or water. Use an appliance suited to the batch size.
About Dopiaza
A savoury onion-rich curry with gentle warmth and a rich onion-led sauce in classic British Indian restaurant style.
Make it with Curry Club
The Dopiaza kit contains the spice blends used in this slow cooker recipe.