Indian roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric

Name: Indian roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric
Prep time: 1 h 20 min
Cook time: 3 h 30 min
Total time: 4 h 50 min
Yield: Serves 4-6
Cuisine: Indian recipes
Ingredients: 6 dried Kashmiri red chilies; 75g ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped; 15g turmeric root, peeled and roughly chopped; 4 tbsp sunflower oil; Juice of 2 limes; 2 tsp coarsely ground black peppercorns; 2 tsp sea-salt flakes; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp roasted and ground cumin seeds; 2 tsp caster sugar; 1kg onions, thickly sliced; 1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and peeled; 4 Indian bay leaves (tej patta) or 3cm cinnamon stick; 1kg bone-in lamb shoulder; 200ml chicken stock or water

Portion size: Serves 4-6
Prep time 20 min, plus 1 hour soaking. Cook time 3 hours 30 min
Difficulty: easy

Dairy-free

Gluten-free

Recipe by: Roopa Gulati

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This irresistible roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric by food writer Roopa Gulati hails from northeast India.

Flavour-packed lamb: Smothered with fragrant aromatics, it’s a wonderful recipe for a special occasion or way to ring the changes for Sunday lunch.
Hero ingredient: It’s well worth seeking out fresh turmeric for this dish – it makes all the difference. “Fresh turmeric is the keynote spice here – it isn’t as astringent as dried and ground turmeric and has a bright orange hue and citrussy flavour,” says Roopa.
Slow-cooked taste: “Ovens are a relatively new addition to many Indian kitchens – in Calcutta, this lamb shoulder would originally have been pot-roasted on the stove or cooked in a big pressure cooker.” Here it gets a luxurious few hours to cook in the oven, resulting in tender, falling-apart meat.

Recipe taken from Indian Kitchens by Roopa Gulati (Bloomsbury £26). Looking for ideas with lamb shoulder? Try our slow-cooked orange wine lamb.

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Ingredients

6 dried Kashmiri red chilies
75g ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped
15g turmeric root, peeled and roughly chopped
4 tbsp sunflower oil
Juice of 2 limes
2 tsp coarsely ground black peppercorns
2 tsp sea-salt flakes
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp roasted and ground cumin seeds
2 tsp caster sugar
1kg onions, thickly sliced
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and peeled
4 Indian bay leaves (tej patta) or 3cm cinnamon stick
1kg bone-in lamb shoulder
200ml chicken stock or water

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Method

Snip the tops off the chillies with scissors, shake out and discard most of the seeds, and soak the chillies in enough hot water to cover for 1 hour. Drain, reserving 4 tablespoons of the soaking water. Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.
Put the ginger, turmeric and drained red chillies in a food processor and add the reserved soaking water, oil and lime juice. Process until smooth. (You can alternatively use a stick blender and a bowl for this.) Stir in the pepper, salt, coriander, cumin and sugar.
In a roasting tin large enough to hold the lamb, mix the onions, peeled garlic cloves and the bay leaves (or cinnamon) with a quarter of the spice paste. Put the lamb on top of the onion mixture and spread the remaining spice paste over the shoulder. It’s a good idea to wear disposable gloves for this.
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Roast, uncovered, in the oven for 30 minutes. Pour over the chicken stock or water, cover the tin with foil and lower the heat to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 3. Continue cooking for 3 hours, until the lamb is so tender that it’s almost falling off the bone.