PULLED MADRAS SHOULDER OF LAMB

- METHOD -

To make the shoulder of lamb:

Fry the onions over low heat in the vegetable oil until soft. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute. Remove from the heat, allow onions to cool to room temperature, then stir in the Cape Herb & Spice Madras Curry powder and the yoghurt. While the onion mix is cooling, trim off all visible fat on the shoulder of lamb. Spread the onion and yoghurt mix over the trimmed lamb and allow it to marinate for an hour.

Place the lamb in a large ovenproof casserole dish with lid and add the lamb stock, tomatoes and chillies. Cover and roast the shoulder of lamb for 3-4 hours in a cool 160 ˚C oven until the lamb is fall-of-the-bone soft. (Cook’s note: If you do not have a casserole with a lid and want to roast the lamb in a deep roasting tray, simply double seal it with two layers of tinfoil crimped tightly around the edges.)

Once the meat is soft, lift out the shoulder of lamb. Use two forks to pull the meat off the bone. Lamb is quite fatty, so even though you trimmed off any visible fat, the resultant cooking liquid will still contain some fat. Simply use a large spoon to gently scoop most of the fat off the cooking liquid. Place it back on the heat and stir in the cornflour slurry. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce starts to thicken a bit. Stir the sauce through the pulled lamb and it’s time to serve!

To make the raita and sambal:

Simply add all the ingredients for the raita together and do the same with the sambal.

Serve lamb up on a large platter in the middle of the table along with the raita, sambal, chutney and plenty of warm buttery rotis and let everybody help themselves.

Recipe concept & photography by Lizet Hartley.

Lizet Hartley is a freelance stills and reel food stylist, food photographer and recipe developer. In her spare time she – rather predictably – cooks. Get more of her recipes on her blog at http://www.melkkos-merlot.co.za