Pot roasted lamb and turnip curry

I’ve got really into pot roasting lately and had been thinking about making this dish for ages. I wanted to experiment with the combination of robust curry spicing and the technique of browning off a choice hunk of flesh before leaving to languidly blip away in the oven for hours with a bit of stock and some vegetables, then maybe stirring in a touch of dairy to enrich matters. Ultimately you’re left with a supper that satisfyingly disintegrates at the merest suggestion of a spoon.

The results are mind blowingly good. Mouthful after mouthful of unrelenting deliciousness sort of good. The shanks provide the vertebrae of flavour while the roots become melting and sweet, with kicks of heat from the spice, then finally the whole lot is mellowed with thick cream…scooped up with some blistered chappatis I can think of no finer way to herald the colder months.

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion, diced

2 lamb shanks

1 dsp mustard oil

1 dsp vegetable oil

2 bay leaves

7 green cardamoms

2 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp each of crushed garlic and finely chopped ginger

6 cloves

2 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp asafoetida

I tsp each of salt and black peppercorns

1 tsp dried fenugreek

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 heaped tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

2-3 green chillies, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 small turnip peeled and diced

A dozen new potatoes

¾ pint stock (I used chicken)

3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 heaped tbsps of double cream

METHOD

• Heat the oils in an ovenproof casserole dish and add the onion. Gently brown over a low heat.
• Grind the cloves, coriander seeds, asafoetida, salt, black peppercorns, methi leaves and fennel seeds to a powder.
• Add this powder, the ginger and garlic to the caramelised onions and mix in the chilli powder, along with the fresh green chillies.
• Turn the heat up, add the lamb shanks and brown all over. Add the carrots, turnip and potatoes and stir well.
• Pour in the stock and add the tomatoes. Stir again and cover the pan with a  close fitting lid.
• Place in the oven at 160C/320F/Gas mark 3 for about two and a half hours or until the lamb is meltingly tender.
• Uncover and place over a high heat on the hob to reduce the liquid slightly. Stir in the cream and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• Sprinkle with fresh coriander before serving with hot chappatis to scoop up all that delectable sauce