Recipe for Roasted leg of tandoori masala Lamb, pickled onions and minted yogurt sauce, serves 6-8 people
My family and I love a good Sunday roast, it's one of those traditions which feels pretty unique to us here on the Islands. And while we enjoy the simplicity of roasting a joint of lamb or a whole chicken, I can't help but to elevate it with some of the flavours I grew up with.
So here is make take on this classic, using my very own Handcrafted Tandoori Masala (which you can also purchase through the online Store).
Ingredients
Lamb and Marinade
1.3kg Leg of lamb deboned and rolled
1/2 large bulb of garlic
equal amount of Ginger
5 green Birdseye chillies
1 Tbsp of Handcrafted Tandoori Masala
2 tsp of Malden Salt
1 Tbsp avocado or vegetable oil
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp of Greek yogurt
Butchers string (from your butcher)
Bunch of fresh coriander for garnish
Pickled Onions
1 large red onion
50g fresh coriander
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp of Malden salt
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Minted Yogurt Sauce
300ml Greek yogurt
40 fresh mint leaves
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
Preparation
Make the marinade
Mince the garlic, ginger and chilli using an electric chopper / mini food processor or mortar and pestle; we’re targeting the consistency of a paste. Then mix in all the other marinade ingredients - not the coriander, save that for the garnish. Taste and adjust the salt to bring out the marinade flavours.
Marinate your Lamb
Cut off all the string from your rolled leg of lamb, we will use some fresh string to re-wrap it (note: if you’ve not tied up a leg of lamb before, take a photo of how the string is tied by the butcher before cutting it off). Laying it skin side down, lather the marinade over the meat getting into all the little crevices. You should use up 90% of your marinade here. Get your fresh string ready and roll the meat back up to its original form, tying it in the same manner as you received it. Lastly, baste the remaining marinade all over the outside of your rolled-up joint. Place it in an airtight container or zip lock bag and leave in the fridge overnight.
Cook your lamb
Remove your lamb from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking and let it rest at room temperature. In the meantime, pre-heat your fan oven to 180C / 350F.
If you’ve got a temperature probe insert it into the lamb, if not don’t worry. For a 1.3kg boneless and rolled leg of Lamb, we’ll be targeting a cook time of 1hr 10 mins or until the juices begin to run clear. This will yield a medium cook temperature of 62C / 143F. Once the time/temperature has been reached remove the lamb from the oven and leave to rest on your carving board for 10minutes.
While the lamb is cooking, we can prep the garnish, starting with the pickled onions
Peel and cut the onion in half from top to bottom so you cut through the root. Thinly slice each half into strips of onions like in the photo above. Transfer the onions in to a mixing bowl and work in the salt, vinegar and lemon juice with your hands, coating each of the onion slices. Leave in the fridge to pickle until ready to serve, then sprinkle with the freshly chopped coriander - be sure to use the stems as well as the leaves.
For the minted yogurt sauce, take 50ml of the yogurt and blend in a Nutribullet (or similar) with the mint, cumin and salt until the mint is fully incorporated into the yogurt. Then fold this in to the remaining yogurt to retain the thick creamy texture while infusing it with the mint sauce.
To serve, remove the string from the lamb, slice the lamb into 1cm slices, sprinkle with the pickled onions, drizzle over the minted yogurt sauce and finally throw on some freshly chopped coriander
Enjoy with your normal roast trimmings - no gravy needed!
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