Meat was a tough, got it in Halal shop.

glanman

I bought shoulder of lamb in a Halal shop and used in in a lamb curry. The meat was cleaned and diced in front of me and was very good meat.

I browned the meat then cooked it with the spices, onions etc and then added some stock and cream, brought to bubble and cooked for 2 and a half hours on a good bubble.

I have cooked this many times before and meat was always tender but this time I used Halal meat and it was pretty tough. Is it a case that Halal meat just needs to be cooked longer? I had left the curry to others to finish as I had to go out. I would have left it cook for longer to become tender. Is that all that was needed?

The Hill Billy

I often do curry with shoulder of lamb, but would simmer very gently after it comes to the boil.

Cooking stews and curries on a high heat tends to lead to tougher meat.

Gentle simmering breaks the fibres down better and makes the meat more tender.

Sparks

Yeah, you want to almost braise rather than boil. Otherwise the collagen won't convert to gelatin and you get a workout for your jaw muscles.

tfak85

i find halal meat really tender, i prefer it to "regular/abattoir " meat... perhaps just turn down the heat and cook for waaaay longer...

glanman

Ok maybe I just had it on a tad bit high, never had that problem before. Just need to take more care and time... I would def recommend the Halal meat based on its quality and the way it is prepared, the butchering was just excellent! Thanks

milly4ever

cook it in a pressure cooker for a while to make it really tender.