Chef John's Awesome Lamb Vindaloo

I was lucky enough to find the recipe for this via Google the other day. I'd removed a couple of lamb shanks from the freezer the night before, intending to slow cook them in caramelized red onion and red wine sauce with feta.

Right at the last moment, I realised there was no red wine and went rooting for a recipe to rescue my poor lamb shanks. Chef John's recipe did just that. His original recipe is available on his amazing blog at Food Wishes. I tweaked it a little to make it compatible with the contents of my fridge and kitchen cupboard as below. I've put it on my blog for my reference as I know I'll make this again and again...

To Serve Two

Marinade

1/4 cup of cider vinegar

2 tablespoons of sunflower oil

2 tsp Tamarind paste

1 tablespoon garam masala 

1 teaspoon of salt.

Mix ingredients well and put in a bag with the lamb shanks to marinade overnight.

For the sauce base, liquidise the following

1 chopped onion

300g tomatoes

1/2 a cup of water

6 cloves of garlic

Spices

1.1/2 tablespoons of ground ginger

1 tsp of cinnamon

2 tsp whole mustard seed

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1.1/2 tsp cayenne

1 tablespoon of paprika

Shove the lamb shanks in a very hot oven for approx 20 mins to colour.

Brown a chopped onion until very brown (verging towards burnt !) in a couple of tablespoons of clarified butter. Add the spices and toast for a minute or two until mustard seeds are popping. Add the wet mixture and stir well. 

Add the lamb shanks to the pot and simmer on a low heat for about 2.1/2 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

I served this with mixed wild rice with some raw chopped yellow pepper mixed through