Eastern Spice Crusted Lamb Shoulder

I absolutely love eating lamb whenever we can afford it. It’s quite pricey here in South Africa, even though we ‘grow’ our own in the Karoo. I lived in Wales for some time and it was run of the mill there, LOL. You could almost go out onto the moors and pick your own. One tip: make sure your lamb is grass fed, or even better, fed on the high moors – of Wales if you can get Welsh lamb. However, if you are not in Wales, buy your local lamb. I love lamb roasted, and if it’s spiced, even better! This recipe with Eastern spicing makes the meat so succulent and juicy, you have got to give it a try. The shoulder is one of the better cuts of lamb with the most meat for your money, and when you are done, there are bones for soup. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 fresh lamb shoulder, patted dry and scored with a knife.

50ml Madras curry powder (readily available in most Indian spice stores)

30ml Smoked paprika

5ml each of sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

15ml onion powder

15ml garlic powder

125ml red wine

Method:

Preheat the oven to 230˚C.

Mix the Madras curry powder, paprika, salt, pepper, onion and garlic together in a container.

Pour the red wine over the lamb shoulder in a roasting pan. Rub the spice mix into the fatty top side, be very generous with it. Rub it in, then put some more on, we want a nice crust of spice on this lamb. Don’t worry too much about the bottom; it’s mostly sinew and bone.

Pop this in the oven, and turn the heat down to150˚C. We started it at 230˚C to quickly sear the meat; then it’ll cool down and slow roast it until it’s tender and falling apart. Roast for 2 hours, or until meat can be easily pulled from the bone with a fork.