What I Ate Today

Another Sunday, another Roast. Last Tuesday I woke up with the idea of making a very slow roasted joint of lamb marinaded in yoghurt, mint and garlic. By Friday though, unable to find any similar recipes I decided to make something up. Inspired by the Lamb Mechoui I made a few weeks ago, the roast took on a slightly spicier direction.  It turned out to be a fusion of North African, Arabic and Indian. Some of the flavours are influenced by North African cookery but the approach lends from Indian Tandoori. I was aiming towards a taste similar to a lamb dish a friend of mine from Dubai made for me once. The meat turned out mildly spiced and extremely tender. We served the lamb with a North African spiced chickpea mash and steamed Pak Choi.

Ingredients

Roast Lamb + Marinade

• 45 oz / 1.2 kg lamb shoulder
• 400 ml plain yoghurt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cardamom seeds
• tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced

Chickpea Mash

• 400 g tinned chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

NOTE: Make sure to start this a long time in advance, the meat needs at least a day to marinade and also a few hours to slowly cook.

1. Score tiny holes into the lamb and stuff with slices of garlic.
2. Mix up the marinade ingredients for the marinade and thickly baste the lamb shoulder in a large bowl. Leave in fridge for 24-48 hours, turning and re-basting sporadically. We want the lamb to be infused rather than coated.
3. Preheat oven at 200 C.
4. Scrape the majority of the marinade off back into the bowl, leaving a thin coating. Place lamb onto a baking tray.
5. ‘Sizzle’ in oven for 15 mins. Meanwhile, dilute the marinade in the bowl with a little water.
6. After sizzle, let oven cool and reduce heat to 140C.
7. Pour some of the diluted marinade into the tray, no more than 1 cm deep. Use a spoon to use some of the liquid to moisten the lamb. Cover with foil. Leave to cook for 2.5 hours, checking and rebasting every 30mins.
8. 10 mins before the end of the cooking start on the chickpea mash. In a small saucepan heat the olive oil. Once warm, add the garlic and cook until almost golden.
9. Add the spices for a few seconds, making sure not the burn. Once the cloves are coated in a spicy paste add the chickpeas. Cook for 5 mins, adding a touch of water if things begin drying out. Mash.

The meat was pretty tender but turned out slightly pink and probably might have benefitted from 30mins (on top of the 2.5 hours) more for most people. Despite being pink it wasn’t bloody. The spices added an extra edge to the meat but didn’t dominate the taste of the lamb. The chickpea mash added a little bit more spice and soaked up any juices. I left Jenny in charge of any other veg to go with the dish, she opted for some steamed Pak Choi, which I probably wouldn’t have done but I think she was spot on. The Pak Choi had enough flavour to be happily eaten by itself but not add too much of another strong taste to the dish.