Aromatic Lamb Shanks

Ingredients:

100ml vegetable oil
8 lamb shanks
2 Onions
4 garlic cloves
2ml sea salt
15ml turmeric
5ml ground ginger
5ml chilli flakes
10ml ground cinnamon
2ml freshly ground nutmeg
5ml freshly ground black pepper
50ml honey
15ml soy sauce
50ml medium sherry
100ml red lentils
50ml chopped blanched almonds to garnish

Method:
Put 50ml of the oil into a very large, wide, heavy-bottomed pan and warm over medium heat. Brown the lamb shanks, in batches, in the pan and then remove to a roasting tin or whatever else you've got to hand to sit them in.
Peel the onions and garlic and process in a food processor or chop them finely by hand.
Add the remaining oil to the pan, and fry the onion-garlic mush until soft, sprinkling salt over to stop it catching.
Stir in the turmeric, ground ginger, chilli, cinnamon and nutmeg, and season with some freshly ground pepper. Stir again, adding the honey, soy sauce and Sherry.
Put the shanks back in the pan, add cold water almost to cover, bring to the boil then put a lid on the pan, lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 to 1 and a half hours or until the meat is tender.
Add the red lentils and cook for about 20 minutes longer without a lid, until the lentils have softened into the sauce, and the juices have reduced and thickened slightly. Check for seasoning.
Toast the nuts by heating them for a few minutes in a dry frying pan, and sprinkle onto the lamb as you serve it.