Spicy Sunday Lunch
Spicy Sunday Lunch
I love a roast as much as the next man but sometimes I just fancy something a bit different. On Sunday I had invited my mother and a few friends around for lunch and I thought I’d try a different take on a roast that would also require me spending minimum time in the kitchen.
After thinking a while I settled on Slow Roasted Indian Lamb Shoulder, served with Tarka Barley ( using barley was inspiration from a friend).
I used a fairly standard technique for marinating the Lamb. Mixing spices with natural yoghurt and leaving for 24 hours to marinate. You can use any combination of spices you have but I used Garam Massala, Cumin, Corriander, Mustard Seeds, Nigella Seeds, Chilli and Mustard Seeds and dry roasted them before grinding and adding to the yoghurt. I also added a squeeze of Lemon, Garlic, Coriander and Ginger.
Then I rubbed it into the Lamb, which I had scored to allow the flavours to penetrate and put it into a vacuum bag for 24 hours.
The next day I took the lamb out of the bags, placed in a roasting tray with a glass of water in the base and covered the tray tightly with foil. Then it was into the oven at 130 c for five hours. After five hours I removed the foil and turned the oven up to 170 c for around 45 mins until the meat was browned.
As the Lamb was roasting I cooked the Barley. After rinsing the grains I placed in a pan with some chicken stock and turmeric with a pinch of Garam Massala. The barley simmered away for around an hour ( treat it in much the same way as you would a risotto, keeping the water topped up so the grains don’t dry and burn).
When the grains were cooked but still with a bit of bite in i prepared a Tarka. Tarka are spices that are cooked in oil then added to a dish just before serving whist still sizzling. I used dried chilli, cumin Seeds, nigella seeds, curry leaves and garlic.
The result was a really low effort lunch ( I just stir fried some curly kale as well) . The lamb was beautifully flavoured and so tender it could be pulled apart with a fork and the barley worked really well with just the right amount of heat.
Definitely a recipe I’ll be doing again!
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Rowanwood Kitchen 