This wonderfully rich Indian leg of lamb is deeply aromatic, incredibly tender, and not overly spicy.
And if one or more of your guests is not a lamb person, take a boneless, skinless chicken breast follow the same instructions as you would with the lamb.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons scraped, finely chopped fresh ginger root
- 6 medium -sized cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped.
- the seeds of 2 cardamom pods or 1/8 teaspoon of cardamon seeds
- 1 inch piece of stick cinnamon, coarsely crushed with a rolling pin or mallet
- 8 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 4 teaspoons of salt
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 5-6 pound bone in leg of lamb, trimmed of all fell (parchmentlike outer covering) and any excess fat
- 1/2 cup unsalted, unroasted pistachios
- 1/2 cup seedless raisins
- 3 1/2 ounces (100 grams) of whole blanched almonds
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1 container of unflavoured yoghurt
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 2 oz butter
- 3 tablespoons boiling water
Method
Combine the ginger, garlic, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, salt and lemon juice in a blender. Blend at high speed for 30 seconds, then turn off the machine and scrape down the sides of blender with a spoon. Blend again until the mixture becomes a smooth purée.
With a small, sharp knife, make a dozen slashes 1 inch long and 2 inches deep on each side of the leg of lamb. Rub the spice purée over the entire outer surface of the lamb, pressing it as deeply as possible into the slashes of the lamb. Put the lamb in a heavy casserole large enough to hold it comfortably and set it aside to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat and add the almonds. Cook until golden brown stirring occasionally. You should hear the almonds pop as they release their oils.
Purée the pistachios, raisins, almonds and yoghurt in the same blender you used for the first purée. Spread the mixture evenly over the lamb. Drip the honey over the lamb, cover the casserole tightly and marinate the lamb in the fridge for 24-48 hours. This gives the yoghurt time to cure the lamb.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drop the saffron threads into a small bowl, add 3 tablespooons of boiling water, and let them soak for 15 minutes. Pour the saffron and the water over the leg of lamb.
Put the lamb in the oven and cook until it begins to boil. Then cover tightly and bake the lamb for 1 1/2 hours (if you want your lamb slightly more well done, increase the time to 2 hours). Then reduce the temperature to 250 degrees and bake another 30 minutes longer, or until the lamb is tender and shows no resistance with pierced with the point of a small, sharp knife.
Remove the casserole from the oven, uncover it and let stand for 30 minutes.
