When the Hampshire Chronicle's cookery expert Venika Kingsland prepares a picnic, her guests are in for a treat.

Not for her dried out, curly edged, boring sandwiches IWAS invited to a picnic last week, and this made me look around for something different from the usual picnic fare.

A quick look in the freezer yielded some excellent local lamb, enough to create a Bhuna dish, just the right filling for chapattis.

Ingredients

500g ripe tomatoes, blanched and peeled

6 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 inch piece of ginger

750g lean diced lamb

4 bay leaves

tsp crushed red chillies (optional)

1 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Sliced onions and lemon for garnish

Method

1. In a food processor, grind together the tomatoes (a can of tomatoes may be substituted), garlic and ginger.

2. Mix with the lamb and add the bay leaves and chillies if used. Marinade for a couple of hours.

3. Pour into a heavy, stainless steel saucepan and bring to the boil on a high temperature. Cover, lower the temperature and simmer for abut one hour, checking regularly that it is not catching at the bottom of the pan. Add a tiny amount of water if it is.

4. When the mixture begins to dry add four tablespoons of ghee (or sunflower oil), garam masala, salt to taste and one tablespoon of coriander.

5. Keep stirring until the mixture and the ghee starts to separate. Test the lamb for tenderness. It should be fairly dry

Garnish with sliced onions dressed with lemon juice and coriander

Can be served on its own or stuffed into parathas or pitta bread

Venika Kingsland