WOOD FIRED TANDOORI CLAY POT LAMB SHANK CURRY

ONE POT COOKING

I absolutely love my wood fired oven even more so because I built it myself, it has so many uses and this cooking clay pot I got from the coal pot company, hand made and left to dry out in the sun from the Caribbean, it really makes such a difference to the tenderness of the meat you cook in it.  This is a rich aromatic curry that will leave you wanting more, in fact I can’t help mopping up all the extra sauce with wood fired flat breads as another meal just divine!   

The lime leaves and cardamom give a fragrant undertone in the masala while all the flavour from the lamb shanks and bone marrow renders down slowly in the clay pot that ensures the most succulent fall of the bone lamb infused madras masala curry.

Hands on time 20 minutes / Cooking time 3 hrs

Ingredients 

 

The Curry Masala Powder

(makes enough for 4 recipes)

 

2 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tbsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp cumin 

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

 5 whole cloves

1 tsp black pepper

First gently toast all the seeds not the turmeric in a dry pan until warm, then place all the spices in a pestle and mortar and grind to a powder, using the pestle and mortar preserves the flavour of the spices.

 

Lamb Masala Curry 

(serves 4 people)

 

4 large lamb shanks

2 onions 

1" ginger

2 red chilli

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp ghee

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

12 kaffir lime leaves

500ml beef stock

10 green cardamom pods slightly crushed

1 stick of cinnamon

2 fresh bay leaves

2 tsp tamarind pulp

salt and pepper

3 tbsp fresh coriander to garnish

1 tbsp garam masala

(homemade recipe below)

Wood Fired Flatbreads Recipe Below

 

In a shallow non stick pan heat the ghee and brown off  all the sides of the lamb shanks, remove to your clay pot or casserole dish and leave to rest.  In a blender blitz the onions, ginger, chilli, and garlic and then in the same pan add the ghee and gently cook the onions for 5 minutes, add 2 tbsp of your curry masala powder stir in, add your bashed cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bay, lime leaves and tamarind pulp, stir well, then add the tomatoes and beef stock and pour your sauce over the resting lamb shanks and pop on a snug lid.

 

Cook in your wood fired oven at around 150 degrees or pop in your oven for 3 to 4 hrs.  The curry is ready when the meat is ready to fall off the bone.  I like my sauce to be medium thick, therefore I often take the lid of for the last 30 minutes of cooking time to help reduce the sauce.  

To finish the curry stir in the garam masala, taste and season with salt and pepper if needed and sprinkle over the chopped coriander.

Home Made Garam Masala 

1 tsp whole cloves

20 cardamom seeds only

tsp black peppercorns

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp corinader seeds

1 whole nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 inch cinnamon bark

Place all the whole seeds ingredients, not the nutmeg or cinnamon in a dry pan and gently heat until they are toasty warm, remove and place in a coffee grinder or pestal and mortar and grind to a powder.  Surprisingly the nutmeg is easy to bash into small pieces with the end of a rolling pin then grind to a powder and add to the rest of the powdered spice mix. That's it use as your recipes require, keep in a ball mason jar and use within three months ensure the freshest flavours.

 

Wood Fired Flatbreads 

(makes 6-8)

500g 00 caputo Italian flour

10g Himalayan sea salt 

50g extra virgin olive oil 

15g yeast

320g water

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and either by hand or by machine with a dough hook mix for seven minutes, then dust a little flour over the dough mix and gently form into a ball, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm area to prove for 1-2 hours until doubled in size if you want to use immediately, then other options are leave to prove slowly in the fridge for 24hrs, this is what I do as it gives me much more control over time and usage, this will keep for 48hrs in the fridge ready to go when you are, you can also freeze any left over dough at this stage, then when ready to use remove from the freezer defrost and once up to room temperature use as you would fresh.

 Take a oversized golf ball piece of dough, dust your work top with a little 00 flour, roll into a ball and roll out a large disk no bigger than your skillet if your not cooking in a wood fired oven, heat a dry pan hot, place the flat bread in the pan and cook for one and a half minutes on each side, keep warm wrapped in a tea towel, any left overs are almost as good to use the following day, just dip the flat breads in water and pop in a pre heated oven for 3-5 minutes and Ta-Da almost as good as fresh.