After a Sunday of gorging on chocolate, it’s no surprise we end up with leftovers from our huge Easter Sunday lamb roasts.
Rather than letting it go to waste or worse, forcing yourself to eat another roast Monday evening, why not try your hand at my braised lamb shank massaman curry?
Aromatic, fruity, sweet and sour, with savoury notes of salt and spice throughout, this massaman curry is an absolute banger.
When preparing your roast lamb this Easter, make sure to keep the trim so you can skip the cooking of the lamb shank and just add the sliced lamb leftovers to your massaman curry at the end before serving.
Braised lamb shank massaman curry with pineapple, raisins, peanuts and Thai basil
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1 lamb shank, bone in
50ml kecap manis
1 tsp sea salt
100ml coconut oil (vegetable oil can be used instead)
1 100g pot massaman curry paste
20g unsalted roasted peanuts, plus 5g chopped to garnish
30ml tamarind water
2 tbsp fish sauce
1L vegetable stock
400ml coconut cream
150g new potatoes, cut in half
50g baby sweetcorn, chopped lengthways in half
50g pineapple, peeled and roughly chopped into bite sized pieces
30g raisins
50g green beans, topped and tailed and cut in half
10g Thai basil
10g picked and washed coriander leaves
Cooked jasmine rice to serve
Method:
Firstly, season the lamb shank. Using your hands, coat the lamb in the sea salt and the kecap manis, making sure to give the whole joint a thorough covering. Leave for 1 hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge for the flavours to get to know the lamb.
Next, pour the coconut oil into a large, non-stick pan and place over a medium to high heat. Use tongs and be carful for hot oil splashes. Sear the outside of the lamb joint in the hot coconut oil, using the tongs to keep moving the meat every minute or so until the whole outer layer of the joint has been crisped and started to brown. When ready, remove from the pan and put to one side for a moment.
In the same pan add the massaman curry paste and fry in the residual coconut and lamb fat. Add a touch more coconut fat (or vegetable oil) if needed. Make sure to keep stirring and scraping regularly, to prevent the paste sticking to the bottom of the pan. After a few minutes, add the peanuts and continue to fry for a further 3-5 minutes or so, until the paste starts to darken and the mixture smells fragrant.
At this stage, add the fish sauce, vegetable stock and half the coconut cream and lower the heat to allow the curry to simmer and the flavours to infuse. When simmering, add the lamb shank back into the curry – it needs to be submerged so you may need to add more stock, depending on the size of the pan. Place a lid on the pot or cover with tin foil and then simmer for 1 hour 45 minutes, undisturbed. Check after 1 hour as you may need to top up with a little more veg stock or water. When ready, the lamb will be tender and easily penetrated with a tablespoon.
When you are happy that the lamb is cooked to your liking, add the potatoes and raisins and allow to gently simmer in the curry for about 10 minutes, then add the baby corn, pineapple and green beans and continue to simmer for a further 8-10 minutes until all the vegetables have reached the desired softness. Finish by throwing in the Thai basil, tamarind water and the rest of the coconut cream just before serving. The curry should be sweet, aromatic and savoury. If it’s too sweet, add a little more fish sauce to balance.
Serve the curry in bowls and loosely shred the lamb, discarding the bones. The meat should be falling off the bone. Top with more crushed peanuts, coriander leaves and a sprig of Thai basil. Eat accompanied by steamed jasmine rice.
Top tip: I garnish mine with some sesame rice crackers, crispy shallots, sliced Thai shallots and beansprouts but you can just use some more peanuts, coriander and a sprig of Thai basil.
