Cooking Indian Style Lamb

I’m often asked if I ever cook the recipes anymore out of my book Eating Royally and the answer is always yes…  though I don’t always follow the recipe because I am constantly trying to better it. Last night I cooked Lamb Raan (p167) because I have to admit that Indian food is my all time favorite cuisine.

Those of you that read my blogs know how much I enjoy my new Sous-Vide machine and so I thought rather than cooking the lamb the conventional way I would try it in the water bath. The Lamb Raan recipe in Eating Royally is one of the most popular in the book when cooked conventionally, so no pressure on the Sous-Vide machine.

If I was cooking a butterfly leg of lamb in the water bath and wanted it medium rare then I would be looking at 132 degrees F for around 4 hours. I wanted this lamb to fall apart (imagine pulled pork) so that I could arrange pieces into Naan bread and drizzle the sauce over the top. This meant I had to cook the lamb at 175 degrees F for 10 hours. And well worth the wait it was too. Delicious. Here’s the pic of the finished dish and the conventional recipe I have added below… just in case you don’t have a Sous-Vide machine… or worse my book LOL

                                                                     Lamb Raan

Makes 6 portions

3 ½ – 4lb leg of lamb, bone removed

For the marinade;

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

2 Tbs mustard oil

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp salt

½ cup cashew nuts, ground

1 Tbs garam masala

1 Tbs fresh ginger, chopped

2 Tbs red chili paste

½ tsp cumin

½ cup fresh mint, chopped

1) Mix all of the ingredients together for the marinade and place into a large zip lock bag.

2) Score the lamb, cutting ½ inch deep into the skin about 6-8 times and place into the zip lock. Rub the marinade into the lamb, especially into the cut areas. Refrigerate for at least two hours and up to two days.

3) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the lamb from the zip lock onto a roasting dish and pour the marinade over the top. Bake for about two hours or until the Lamb is tender. Baste with the juices several times during cooking.

4) Remove the lamb from the roasting dish and allow to rest for about 15 minutes. Reduce the remaining meat juices/marinade to a sauce consistency. Slice the lamb into ½ inch thick slices, pour over the sauce and garnish with the chopped mint.