Turmeric is just so hot right now and these Turmeric Lamb Shanks won’t disappoint!
Smothered and cooked in a yoghurt-based sauce, this Turmeric Lamb Shanks dish is packed with flavour, health benefits and just all-round comfort-food-goodness.
Turmeric comes from the turmeric root, and has been used for centuries for its medicinal, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.
It is part of the ginger family.
Apart from all its health benefits, it really livens up a dish and also gives great flavour.
Slightly peppery, turmeric works really well in spicy dishes {it’s a common ingredient in most curries}.
This dish, however, isn’t spice at all, just really fragrant and full of flavour.
To activate turmeric’s health benefits, you need to heat it, use it with some form of fat and a pinch of black pepper.
These turmeric lamb shanks are not like your usual curry…
The flavours are fresh and bold and the turmeric really shines. { ;) excuse the pun…}
Turmeric Lamb Shanks
Ingredients
- 1 tsp cumin seeds {toasted}
- 1 tsp coriander seeds {toasted}
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger
- 2 thumb-sized piece fresh turmeric
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 2 lamb shanks
- 2 cups double cream plain yoghurt
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
Instructions
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Make a paste with the cumin seeds, coriander, garlic, ginger & turmeric. I like to use a mortar & pestle for a mini arm-workout...
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Mix the spice paste with the yoghurt, salt & pepper.
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Place the lamb shanks in a plastic bag, add the marinade and seal tightly so all the meat is covered and airtight. Marinade for an hour at least, or ideally, overnight.
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When you're ready to cook it, heat the oven to 160C.
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Place the lamb shanks, along with all the marinade, in a suitable size cast iron pot with a lid. Add the white wine, place the lid on and cook for 2 hours.
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After 2 hours, remove the lid, switch on your oven's grill setting and grill for 10-15 minutes to give the shanks a golden brown colour.
I like to serve this with coleslaw, it really works so well together.
Although you could use powdered turmeric {use 1 tsp powdered turmeric in this recipe}, I really recommend that you try and get the fresh root. It just adds a more authentic flavour and gives a very slight crunch to the sauce.
You could make this quite a few days in advance and just reheat and grill when you need it. Or, the longer you leave it to marinate, the more intense the flavours become.
I really recommend marinating it overnight…
Turmeric Lamb Shanks make an ideal Sunday lunch – just add a crunchy, creamy coleslaw and maybe some roasted sweet potatoes.
As I’m writing this, it is Sunday, and I guess I should have posted this recipe earlier, to give you enough time to prep and make this dish…
Oh well, you can now earmark this for next Sunday, get all your ducks in a row, and look forward to trying out a new recipe!
You’re very welcome ;)
P.S. Hubby gave this dish a double-thumbs-up! We eat a lot of lamb, so this means he really, really loved it!
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