Categories: cooking-and-recipes
Date: 03 August 2008 18:55:57
Or, what to cook when you get to the supermarket fifteen minutes before it closes (I know, shopping on a Sunday, bad me), and discover that they have no lamb shanks. This should be lamb shank rogan josh.
Serves 4
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
3g/½ tsp ground ginger
3g/½ tsp salt
pinch nutmeg
4 lamb shanks (about 500g/1lb each). Or, if you get to the supermarket and find no lamb, about 2kg of oxtail.
2 tbsp oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
290ml/½ pint Greek yoghurt
450ml/¾pt hot lamb stock
The seeds from 4 cardamom pods
1 pinch saffron strands (or use turmeric, if the thought of saffron makes your bank manager go all wibbly)
4 tomatoes, cut into quarters
Mix together the flour, chilli powder, coriander, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Dust the lamb shanks in flour, reserving any excess. The easiest way of doing this is to mix all the flour and spices together in a plastic bag, and then add the meat. Making sure the bag is well sealed, give it a shake.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Pour the oil into a large pan and place over a high heat. Cook the lamb shanks for 10 minutes, turning until well browned, then transfer to a large plate and set aside. If you're doing this with oxtail, you my need to brown the meat in batches, unless you have the sort of pan that's large enough to render down corpses.
Add the onion to the pan and cook for 10 minutes until golden brown. Add the reserved spiced flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Stir in the yoghurt and stock.
Return the lamb to the pan. Add the cardamom and saffron and bring to the boil. Cover tightly and cook for 1½ hours. Add the tomato quarters and a splash m ore water if it's looking dry and cook for a further hour until the lamb is almost falling away from the bone.