Time for a little indulgence. Although January is a month of light eating, the desire for something more substantial and velvety arises on cold, rainy evenings. Then we take comfort in slow cooking meat meals with a voluptuous sauce, where we sit back and lick our fingers and sweep the sauce from our plates with fresh chunky bread. This is a recipe from Mariëtte Crafford’s book, Sonskynkafee(Sunshine café), a delicious book filled with stories and great recipes.
Lamb-shanks with a curry sultana sauce
- 6 small lamb-shanks with the bone cleaned and a nice helping of meat
- olive oil
- 500 ml organic chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 3 bay leaves
- a chopped onion
- a few open cardamom pods
- 3 tablespoons masala
- 5 t cumin seeds
- 5 t white mustard seeds
- 5 t black mustard seeds
- 2 garlic cloves, leaned and crushed
- a piece of ginger root, grated
- 4 tablespoons of water
- 150 ml yogurt
- 250 ml sultana raisins
- salt and pepper
- 150ml cream
- 125 ml flaked almonds
- fresh coriander/parsley leaves
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Sauté the lamb-shanks in oil in a heavy based casserole until nicely browned, cover with the stock, add the lemon juice, cinnamon and bay leaves and cook uncovered until the lams begins to soften.
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Sauté the onion and add to the lamb.
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Mix all the spices with the 4 tablespoons of water and add to the lamb.
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Season to taste.
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Stir in the yogurt and add the sultana raisins. Simmer gently until the lamb is very tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened.
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Stir in the cream and leave for 10 minutes to heat through.
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Serve with rice in bowls, pour over some sauce and finish off with a sprinkling of flaked almonds and fresh coriander/parsley leaves.
Serves six
Myfrenchkitchen 
