Georgia Dixon

Slow-roasted tikka lamb with cucumber salsa

Roasting this lamb for 5 hours will ensure that the meat is beautifully tender and falls off the bone, and that the tikka paste gets absorbed into the meat.

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 2kg lamb shoulder, bone-in
• 4 heaped tablespoons tikka paste (see below)
• 2 long red chillies, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2-3 mint sprigs, leaves picked
• Olive oil, for cooking
• 500ml chicken stock

Tikka paste

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 garlic cloves
• Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (concentrated puree)
• 2 red chillies
• 80 g coriander leaves and stems
• 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
• 1 cucumber, peeled
• 4 French shallots, thinly sliced
• 30g coriander leaves
• 1 small red chilli, seeded and sliced
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. To make the tikka paste, put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Lightly score the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife, then stab it a few times and use your fingers to make little holes. Spread the tikka pate over the lamb and into the holes, and then stuff the holes with slices of chilli and garlic and the mint leaves. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
3. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 170°C. Take the marinated lamb out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Put the lamb in a deep roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and add the stock. Cover with a sheet of baking paper and a sheet of foil.
4. Roast the lamb, basting it occasionally, for 4-5 hours, or until the coating is dark and the meat is beautifully tender. Remove the lamb from the tin and leave to rest. When ready to serve, tear the lamb into pieces with two forks.
5. Meanwhile, to make the cucumber salsa, use a vegetable peeler to cut long ribbons from the cucumber. Discard the seeds and squeeze any excess moisture out of the cucumber strips. Put them in a bowl, along with the shallots, coriander and chilli. Add the lime juice and olive oil and season to taste. Serve the lamb on a large platter with the cucumber salsa alongside it.

This is an edited extract from Harvest, illustrated by Emilie Guelpa published by Hardie Grant [RRP $29.99] available in stores nationally.

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Related links:

Pesto-crusted lamb, greens and feta

Maggie Beer’s classic shoulder of lamb

Garam masala lamb with lemon quinoa pilaf

Tags:

lamb, recipe, roasted, slow, tikka