Bengali lamb and chickpea curry

Ingredients
400g dried chickpeas
50ml mustard oil
2 bay leaves
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspooon cumin seeds
1 large onion, finely chopped
1kg boneless lamb (from the leg) cut into 2.5cm chunks
2 tsps minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsps chopped fresh coriander

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. The next day, change the water, bring to a boil, skim off any scum from the surface, and simmer covered for 1.5 hours. Drain, and reserve the cooking liquid for later.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the bay leaves, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, fry gently for 30 seconds or so, add the cumin seeds. When the pop, add the onion and fry gently until golden.
3. Add the lamb pieces, turn heat back up to maximum and brown.
4. Add the garlic and the ginger, cook for 3 minutes, then add the turmeric, ground coriander, chilli powder, ground cumin and salt. Fry for another 30 seconds or so, stirring well, then add the chopped tomatoes and enough of the reserved cooking liquid from the chickpeas so that the lamb is covered by about 1 cm of water.
5. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook on minimum for 1 hour, unitl the lamb is tender.
6. Add the cooked chickpeas and more liquid if required to cover them, and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.
7. Serve, sprinkling each bowl with a little garam masala and chopped coriander.