This is one of my husband’s favourite dishes. It’s really easy, at least the version here is. Most of the recipes on my blog use some forms of convenience foods because I’m looking for easy, tasty cooking that doesn’t require a Masterchef Masterclass and that doesn’t look like doll’s food on the plate but rather like a real meal.
Ingredients
4 lamb shanks
1 tbsp Patak’s Balti Paste
1 squirt Gourmet Garden Garlic
1 squirt Gourmet Garden Mild Chili
1 squirt Gourmet Garden Ginger
2 medium potatoes
1 sweet potato
2tsp Massel’s Beef Style stock powder
Water
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
(For variation: 1 cup red lentils)
Method
Make sure the lamb shanks don’t have too much fat on them. They need a little but you don’t want heaps. Cut off any excess, wash the shanks and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a non-stick saucepan and add the lamb shanks.
Cook on medium to high heat until they are nice brown. Remove the shanks from the pan. (If you are doing the lentil variation then wash and drain the lentils three times and add the lentils to the fat/juices and stir on medium heat for a minute or two). Then add the Balti paste, garlic, chili and ginger and just fry off for a minute.
Put the shanks back in the pan and cover with boiling water. Stir well, add the stock powder and bring to the boil. Then turn down, cover and allow to simmer.
Peel and chop the potato and sweet potato into chunks and then add to the simmering pot.
Add a little more water to cover and put the lid back on. Cook on low heat for 2 hours or until the meat is ready to fall off the bone. Adjust the seasoning and enjoy!
If you make the lentil version the gravy will be thicker. However, we just had this for dinner served with roti (soft tortillas) and it was yummy. In fact my husband’s pronouncement was “Superb! I really enjoyed that!”. I hope you do too.
Bless you for posting this recipe. I’ve been looking for a lamb shank one that’s not tomato based. I love the one pot meals, this will be for tomorrow night for sure.
I hope you enjoy it Janet. I prefer it with lentils as it’s a bit thicker but I didn’t have any in the cupboard last night.
Munaiba
How funny, Munaiba, I made something very similar to this just a couple of days ago! You gave me your recipe a while back and mine is a sort of variation on it. No potato in mine, since it seems to disgree with me, but sweet potato, now I’v emanaged to convince David how nice it is! I still have to not mention the ginger though…
I’d forgotten about that. I actually have lost that recipe and had to make it up again as I went along. Glad David liked it too.
Munaiba
Love your shank recipe, or rather my dh will. But what is Balti Paste?
I would have to look for something similar in Australia. Is it a sort of curry powder or perhaps a moroccan type of paste. Can you advise.
Helen I’m in Australia too. It’s Patak’s Balti Paste (not the cook in sauce) and you can buy it at Coles. Cheers Munaiba