Mahnke Family RecipesMadhur Jaffrey's Spiced Yogurt Leg of Lamb
Delicate, tender and delicious every time.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs / 1.5 kg leg of lamb3 lbs / 1.5 kg leg of lamb
- 4 large onions4 large onions
- 8 cloves garlic8 cloves garlic
- 4 thumbs ginger4 thumbs ginger
- 4 fresh green chillies4 fresh green chillies
- 18 ounces / 500 ml plain yogurt18 ounces / 500 ml plain yogurt
- 2 t ground cumin2 t ground cumin
- 4 t ground coriander4 t ground coriander
- 1⁄2 t cayenne pepper1⁄2 t cayenne pepper
- 1 t / 6 g salt1 t / 6 g salt
- 1⁄2 t garam masala1⁄2 t garam masala
- 5 T / 60 g vegetable oil5 T / 60 g vegetable oil
- 1⁄2 t whole cloves1⁄2 t whole cloves
- 16 pods cardamon16 pods cardamon
- 2 inches stick of cinnamon2 inches stick of cinnamon
- 10 black peppercorns10 black peppercorns
I have made this a dozen times over the years and it never fails to impress. Perhaps use a meat thermometer to make sure you don't overcook the meat.
Method
MARINADE
- Trim any skin off the lamb leg.
- Place the leg in a baking dish in a large dish.
- Blend the roughly chopped onions, garlic, ginger, chillies and 3 tablespoons of yogurt and blend together
- Mix with the remainder of the yogurt, add the blended paste, cumin, coriander and salt
- Slash the lamb and rub over the paste
- Refrigerate for 24 hours
COOKING
- Remove from the fridge and let the meat come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 200C
- Heat the oil and fry the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and peppercorns for a few seconds – until the cloves pop
- Pour the hot spiced oil over the lamb
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1.5 hours
- Then remove the foil and bake for a further 45 minutes
- Allow the meat to rest in the dish for 15 minutes
- Sieve the sauce and spoon off any fat
Note: Serve sliced with plenty of the sauce
Servings
5-6
Category
Prep time
30 minutes
Cooking time
3 hours