For when you have a little more time and are looking for a punching dinner.
As I love practical options, I have used my slow-cooker - this dish can however also be done in the oven.
Whilst I love spending time in the kitchen, during the week I am often too tired to cook a laborious dinner, so I really focus on healthy, simple and quick recipes. However, since, as many of you, I am not able to work at the moment, this gives me a little more time to spend on prepping for a more elaborate yummy, midweek dinner. For this one I have used our loyal slow-cooker - I was originally against the idea of a slow-cooker, but since Michael bought one, I really can't resist using it.
I find it is just perfect for cooking meats in a tender, less fatty way. And again, I love the practical side of loading it and walking away to do other tasks or enjoy a good book. Being Italian I did not grow up exposed to many other cuisines, so once I moved to the UK and discovered Indian food, a while new world of spices and flavours was open to me. Indian food is one of my favourite and my ideal honeymoon is literally a face-stuffing adventure to India.
Ingredients:
For the spice rub:
- 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds
- 2 1/2 teaspoons of garam masala
- 1 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of fine salt
For the Slow Cooker:
- rolled lamb breast (about 600-700g)- you can also use a leg of lamb but be sure to measure it as it might not fit in your slow cooker!
- 8-9 cloves of garlic
- 3 cm piece of root ginger (approx.)
- 1 bay leaf
- 16 peppercorns (whole)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 9 cardamom pods
- 75ml of malt vinegar
For serving:
- 30g butter (unsalted)
- half a lime
- any leftover spice rub
Method:
Place the fennel and caraway seeds in a mortar of a bowl and grind. Add the rest of the rub spices and combine. Place the lamb in a bowl and rub the spice mix evenly, using your hands. Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a wax sheet and place it in the fridge to rest for 30 mins.
Whilst the lamb is resting, peel the ginger and finely grind (I use my grater for this). Do the same with the garlic. Combine garlic and ginger in a bowl. Once the 30 mins is up, remove the lamb from the fridge and rub the garlic ginger paste all over the meat. Replace the clingfilm and return the bowl to the fridge. Let the meat rest again for as long as you can manage - I removed mine after 1 hour, however the best idea would be to prep the night before and leave overnight in the fridge.
Once you remove the lamb from the fridge, give it at least 30 mins at room temperature before you start cooking.
Place the lamb in the dish of your slow cooker, add the bay leaf, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods. Add the vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil (optional). Pour 300ml of water into the slow-cooker dish (depending on the size of your slow cooker you might need more or less water - you are looking for the liquid to cover the bottom half of the meat joint). Turn on the slow cooker and be prepared to smell some amazing spices soon. I cooked mine for 5 hours on high, but ideal timings will depend on your type and model of slow-cooker, you will know best.
Once the slow cooker is about 10 mins from done, pre-heat the grill - we will use this to get a little crush on the exterior of the meat joint. Once the slow-cooker is finished, remove the lamb and place in an ovenproof dish - this will need to be placed under the grill for 4-5 mins turning it halfway. For extra flavour you can sieve 120ml of the cooking juice, add the butter and some lime. This can be used to serve. If you have some leftover spice rub, this can be added to the juice or served in a small bowl for optional sprinkling.
Some extra tips
You can serve some chapati or naan bread on the side as they can be quite helpful for soaking up the cooking juices and spices.
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