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

By: Roopa Gulati

Published: 3 Apr 25
Updated: 26 May 25

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.

Serves 4-6
Prep time 20 min, plus 1 hour soaking. Cook time 3 hours 30 min

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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

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.
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.

Recipe from Online only 2025 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 480kcals
Fat: 33g (12g saturated)
Protein: 26g
Carbohydrates: 17g (12g sugars)
Fibre: 4.3g
Salt: 1.8g

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