Followers

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Leg of Lamb

Its the festival of Eid ul Adha aka Bakrid, the time to pay allegiance to Allah by sacrificing a Sheep following in our Prophet Ebrahims footsteps, its the time of meat,meat and more meat...As children,we would wait behind closed windows and doors and await the preparation of biryani,liver fry and so many other delicious preparations my mother would churn out in our kitchen. After the Biryanis and the Kormas it was always the time to make the dried Kebabs....This was always the laborious  process of cutting the meat into long strips,pounding them a bit ,marinating in spices,stringing them and then allowing them to dry...This post however is not about Kebabs,but about a leg of Lamb recipe which i often make post Bakrid..

Ingredients :
1 leg of Lamb kept whole,make gashes against the grain to allow masalas to seep in (i used the front leg approximately weighing 1 1/2 kg)
2 heaped tbsp raw papaya paste
Juice of 4 large lemon
Salt to taste
Apply all the above mentioned to the leg of lamb and allow an hour of marination
Next take
2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste (2:1) ratio or whole ginger and garlic equivalent to 2 tbsp of paste 
10 Red chillies whole
2 tsp Peppercorns
2 inch stick cinnamon
8 cloves
6 pods cardamom
2 tsp coriander powder or 4 tsp whole coriander
2 tsp cumin powder or 3 tsp whole cumin
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chillie powder
1 large bunch coriander leaves,cleaned and washed well or 1 1/2 heaped cup coriander leaves
1/2 cup  mint leaves
3 green chillies
a bit of salt
Grind the above ingredients to a paste adding very little water,till you get a smooth consistency,add 1/2 cup olive oil to the marinade and apply thoroughly to the leg of lamb...seal well with aluminium foil and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours ... keep turning the leg every 6 hours....Remove an hour ahead of grilling and bring to room temperature...
Fire a grill up and place the leg without removing the foil,turning often,till you feel the semi liquid has dried inside.....remove the foil baste generously with melted butter and grill to desired consistency..serve hot with wedges of lime and walnut chutney...



Tips :Remove some of the masala from the leg before putting it on the grill,keep aside and use it later when you remove the foil,basting alternatively with butter and masala...Always grill the leg with the foil on first so as to seal in the flavours...once you feel the meat is cooked and there is no liquid remaining,remove the foil and allow the leg to grill to perfection,baste generously with melted butter.

A leg of lamb should be a little on the spicy side though not overly so,it should have a good amalgamation of spicy and sour in equal proportions...please do try this,its delicious to taste..
  Walnut chutney is very simple,take a handful of walnuts,add 4 almonds,a cup of coriander leaves,1/2 cup mint leaves,2 green chillies and salt to taste..grind carefully with little water,remove .mix in 1/2 cup well beaten curd and you're good to go....

Hope you liked this recipe...do share your food and don't forget to serve with love and kindness





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