John Lamb shanks provide a relatively sweet meat that is a favourite in many restaurants. They are often served with a traditional gravy type sauce. This dish provides a really spectacular variation from the traditional sauce. For this version a Thai based mild massaman curry makes this a truly special dish.
The sweet lamb shanks are slow cooked to a melt in your mouth tenderness. Baked in a mild massaman based curry sauce provides an amazing depth of flavour. Served with rice or potato mash to soak up the beautiful sauce. A wonderful winter warming dish.
Our favourite is to serve the lamb shanks on mashed potato (rather than rice). The mash soaks up the lovely sauce and provides a beautiful burst of flavour on it’s own – even without the shanks.
This dish does take a while to cook in the oven but the result is definitely worth every minute.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 205 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 4 tbsp Peanut Oil
- 6 Lamb Shanks French-trimmed, about 400g each
- 1 bunch Spring Onions trimmed and cut to about 2-3 cm lengths
- 2 1/2 cups Chicken Stock
- 1/3 cup Brown Sugar firmly packed
- 6 Cardamom Pods crushed
- 5 Bay Leaves
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 1/3 cup Pineapple Juice
- 2 tbsp Tamarind Puree
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- Coconut Cream to drizzle over lamb shanks
- 1 Long Red Chilli thinly sliced
- Coriander Leaves to garnish
- Mashed Potato optional to serve
- Steamed Rice optional to serve
- 2 tsp Coriander Seeds
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 5 Cloves
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
- 4 tbsp Massaman Curry Paste
Ingredients
Massaman Based Curry Paste
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- In a small frying pan over medium high heat, add coriander seeds, cumin & cloves. Cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer to a small food processor.
- Add peanuts to food processor and process to a coarse powder.
- Add massaman curry paste and continue processing until smooth. Remove from food processor and store in refrigerator until ready to use.
- Pre-heat a fan forced oven to 160°C (320°F).
- Heat 2 tbsp peanut oil in a large oven proof frying pan or casserole dish over medium high heat.
- Add lamb shanks to dish and cook until browned on all sides (about 7-8 minutes). Cook in batches as required. Remove from dish, keep warm and set aside.
- Add remaining 2 tbsp peanut oil to dish then add spring onion. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Reduce heat to low, then add massaman curry paste to dish and cook while stirring for about 2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Increase heat to high and add chicken stock, brown sugar, cardamom pods, bay leaves & cinnamon stick. Stir to mix through.
- Add lamb shanks and spring onion back to dish and bring to boil.
- Remove from heat cover dish and cook in oven for 3 hours.
- Remove from oven, remove lamb shanks & spring onion from dish, set aside and keep warm.
- Place dish on stove and simmer for about 10 minutes to allow massaman sauce to reduce and thicken.
- Add pineapple juice, tamarind puree & fish sauce and stir to mix through.
- Add lamb shanks & spring onion back to dish and simmer for a further minute to warm the lamb shanks. Remover from heat.
- Serve on a bed of mashed potato or with rice. Top with massaman sauce, drizzle with coconut cream and garnish with coriander and chilli.
