Will and Steve’s - Lamb Shank Curry, Spiced Potatoes and Coconut Cucumber Salad

STEVE I grew up with Indian cuisine being the go-to takeaway, equally as

popular as fish and chips and far more dominant than Chinese and Thai. You

can’t have a cookbook by two English guys and not include an Anglicised curry.

WILL So what kind of curry is this?

STEVE  This curry is loosely based on the ingredients used in a tikka masala.

Claims that England has adopted the curry as a national dish are unconfirmed but we love the idea of that.

Lamb Shank Curry, Spiced Potatoes and Coconut Cucumber Salad.

  Prep and Cook Time: 2 hours  Serves: 4

Lamb Curry:

3 tablespoons of olive oil

4 lamb shanks, French trimmed

2 onions, diced

6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3 long green chillies

2 long red chillies

3cm piece of fresh ginger, grated

8 large tomatoes (weighing about 1kg), roughly chopped

1⁄2 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1⁄2 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground

3 cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick

1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1⁄4 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup coconut cream

10 curry leaves, whole

1 cup veal stock

1⁄2 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

Cucumber Salad:

1 continental cucumber, deseeded and diced

1⁄2 cup unsalted peanuts, toasted and coarsely crushed

1⁄2 cup desiccated coconut, toasted

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1⁄4 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

1⁄2 teaspoon black mustard seeds

6 curry leaves

1 long green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

Spiced Potatoes:

5 large desiree potatoes

1 tablespoon of butter

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

2 tablespoons curry powder

freshly ground black pepper

1 long green chilli, thinly sliced

4 spring onions, finely sliced

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C.

2. To start on the potatoes, wrap each potato separately in foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour until tender. Unwrap the potatoes and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool.

3. To make the lamb curry, heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker on medium–high heat, add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides, then remove. Add the onion and garlic and

fry for 3–5 minutes until translucent. Stir in the chillies and ginger and sauté for another

2 minutes. Add the tomato, ground cumin and coriander, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick,

turmeric, desiccated coconut, 1⁄2 cup of coconut cream, the stock, chopped coriander and

curry leaves. Mix thoroughly, return the lamb to the cooker, spoon the tomato mixture over

the top and seal with the lid. Bring the cooker up to pressure, then reduce the heat to low

and cook for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat, release the pressure on the cooker and

allow the contents to rest in the cooker with the lid on for 5 minutes.

Note: If you do not have a pressure cooker, use a stockpot in its place and cook the lamb curry on a low heat, simmering for 2–3 hours.

4. To make the salad, combine the cucumber, peanuts, coconut, lemon juice and coriander in a large bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small frying pan, add the mustard seeds and fry until they crackle. Stir in the curry leaves and fry for a further 30 seconds. While hot, pour the oil, mustard seeds and curry leaves onto the cucumber mix, toss to combine and transfer to a serving bowl. Set aside.

5. Remove the cooled potatoes from the fridge and cut into large dice. Heat a drizzle of oil and the butter in a large frying pan over high heat, add the potato and sauté for 2 minutes, before adding the mustard seeds, curry powder and a large pinch of salt and pepper.

Continue frying for another 5 minutes, tossing regularly. Finally, add the chilli and spring onion, toss to combine and transfer to a serving bowl.

6. Remove the lid from the pressure cooker, carefully take out the lamb shanks, keeping the bone intact. Set aside while you finish the sauce.

7. Using a slotted spoon, fish out the cinnamon stick, curry leaves and cardamom pods from the curry sauce. Add the remaining coconut cream and blitz with a stick blender until smooth. Season with salt.

8. Set out four large serving bowls, place a lamb shank in each and evenly cover with the curry sauce. Serve with the potatoes, coconut cucumber salad and mango chutney.