Winter favourites
While in the West, summer is the ideal time to take the barbecues out, in India it’s the opposite. Family picnics in the warm afternoon sun with char-grilled meat or a chilly winter’s evening next to the barbecue or tandoor is what dreams are made of.
Lucknowi
Raan – Barbecued whole leg of lamb
Tenderising the meat is very important. While meat tenderisers are available at supermarkets, a bit of grated raw papaya works wonders. Get the hind leg of the goat or sheep as the front leg can be a bit stringy at times.
Ingredients
2 kg leg of a smallish goat or lamb
2 tbsp grated raw papaya (without skin) mixed with half cup yogurt
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp khuskhus or poppy seeds
2½ tbsp gram flour or besan
1 nutmeg, crushed with the back of a knife
2 inch cinnamon stick
9 pods of green cardamom
2 pods of black cardamom (only seeds)
2 tbsp white pepper powder
8 cloves
1½ - 2 tsp mace (javitri)
10 whole dried red chillies
Salt to taste
2 cups yogurt
1½ tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
2/3 cups oil or ghee
Method
With a knife, make deep slits in the meat and smear the raw papaya-yogurt paste all over, sliding it into the slits. Leave aside for an hour.
Heat a heavy-bottomed pan and add the dry whole masalas and roast till they give off a nice aroma and slightly changes colour. Remove and grind finely in a coffee grinder.
Roast the chick pea flour on the same pan till it turns light brown and mix with the ground masalas along with the white pepper, chilli powder and salt.
Mix the masalas with the yogurt to prepare the marinade. Spread the marinade liberally over the leg of lamb taking care to stuff as much as possible in the gashes made earlier.Cover and leave for four hours.
Light the barbecue and when the charcoals have almost burnt down, place a wire rack around six inches above the fire and place the raan. Let the leg cook for around 20 minutes as you turn it regularly and baste with the ghee or oil.
Remove and wrap the entire leg with aluminium foil and return over the dying embers to cook for another hour and a half, flipping it every 15 minutes or so.
Unwrap the foil just before serving.
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