Ingredients

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 lamb shanks
• 20g/¾oz coriander seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamom pods
• crushed and seeds removed
• 1 star anise
• 1 large onion
• sliced
• 3 garlic cloves
• chopped
• 3 red chillies
• seeds removed and chopped
• 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
• peeled and chopped
• 1 lemongrass stalks
• pounded
• 1 bay leaf
• 50g/1¾oz tamarind paste
• 1 x 400g/14oz tin coconut milk
• 250ml/9oz warm beef stock
• 200g/7oz basmati rice
• 1 tbsp coriander leaves
• 1 lime
• juice only

Directions

• For the lamb rendang
• heat a large casserole or ovenproof pan and add two tablespoons of oil. Fry the lamb shanks to seal them all over and set aside.
• In a dry frying pan
• gently toast the coriander seeds
• cumin seeds
• turmeric
• cinnamon stick
• cardamom seeds and the star anise until fragrant. Tip into a spice grinder and grind to a powder (alternatively place in a mortar and pound with a pestle until the spices are as fine as possible).
• In a large pan heat the remaining oil and
• once hot
• add the onion
• garlic
• chillies
• ginger and pounded lemongrass. Cook gently until the onions have softened and the mixture starts to smell fragrant.
• Add the ground spices and the bay leaf and fry for a few minutes more until the mixture is really bursting with aroma.
• Add the lamb shanks
• increase the heat and stir to brown the meat and completely coat it in the spices – this will take a few minutes.
• Add the tamarind paste and coconut milk
• bring to the boil and then add the warm stock.
• Increase the heat to high and continue cooking to reduce the volume of liquid in the pan. Stir occasionally until the sauce has reduced to a thick paste
• then reduce the heat to low and keep cooking and stirring until the sauce is really thick and coats the meat – approximately 2½ hours.
• For the coriander rice
• place the rice in a pan with 365ml/12fl oz salted water. Cook over a low heat until the water has evaporated
• then remove from the heat
• cover with a lid and leave to steam for 10 minutes.
• When the rice is cooked
• stir through the coriander leaves and lime juice.
• To serve
• pile the rice onto serving plates and place a lamb shank on top and spoon over the rendang sauce.