On the heat. Hot

Ingredients

• 2.5 kg leg of lamb, bone in
• — GREEN MASALA
• 6 green chillies
• 1 large bunch coriander, stalks and all
• 10 cloves garlic, 5 cm ginger
• 2 tsp cumin seed, 1 tsp fennel
• 1 tbsp garam masala · 1 tsp turmeric
• Juice of 2 lemons · 3 tbsp oil
• 2 tsp salt
• — THE TRAY
• 3 onions, thickly sliced · 250 ml stock

Method

1. Blend the masala to a coarse paste. It should be spoonable, not runny.
2. Score the leg to the bone in a diamond pattern, cuts about 3 cm apart. Push the masala into the cuts with your fingers, not just over the surface.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, ideally 24. Bring it out an hour before it goes in the oven.
4. Onions in the tray, leg on top, stock poured around. 220 °C for 20 minutes, then down to 160 °C.
5. Roast 20 minutes per 500 g for pink, 25 for well done. Baste every 30 minutes with the tray juices. Cover with foil if the masala darkens too fast.
6. Rest 25 minutes under foil before carving. The onions and juices in the tray are the gravy — crush them with a fork and serve as is.

Cook's note. Scoring to the bone is the whole recipe. A masala rubbed on the outside of a leg seasons the crust only. Cut deep and it seasons every slice.

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