Cookbook challenge, week 36: Sausages and mash with red wine, cumin and onion gravy

The theme for week 36: comfort. The other half requested curried sausages and although I couldn't find a recipe for this in my cookbooks, I did find an interesting recipe in Nigella's How To Eat (this cookbook is getting a lot of use lately!). It's in the Weekend Lunch section of the book, and the recipe for the gravy is provided with suggestions to cook it with the sausages and mash.

Ingredients:
30g oil (or beef dripping)
225g onions, very finely diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 scant tbs of sugar
2 scant tbs of flour
500mL beef stock
150mL red wine

Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed large saucepan and add the onions.
Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the ground cumin and cook another 5 minutes or so.
Turn up the heat and add the sugar, and let the onions caramelise slightly for 3-4 minutes, then add the flour, stirring constantly.
Cook for another 2 minutes then add the stock and wine.
Mix well then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I cooked the sausages in the gravy, adding them when it had about 20 minutes to go - this works for devilled and curried sausages so I figured it would be ok with this recipe too. Served with mashed potatoes and some peas, it was very much comfort food. I think the gravy could do with another element, perhaps some fresh thyme to give it a boost, but it was still delicious as is.

Was it worth the 50+ minutes of cooking time? I'm undecided.

As you can see, I like my mashed potatoes lumpy, with skins still on!