Spiced leg of lamb with cauliflower and coconut

By Tom Kerridge from Tom Kerridge’s Dopamine Diet

Serves 6

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 4-5hrs (+20minutes to 1hr resting time)

Ingredients:

1 leg of lamb (about 2kg), bone in

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the spice paste:

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp cracked black pepper

1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds

½ tbsp ground cumin

½ tbsp ground turmeric

½ tbsp table salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

150ml distilled malt vinegar

For the cauliflower:

Vegetable oil, for cooking

2 cauliflowers (about 700g each) cut into florets

75ml distilled malt vinegar

2 tbsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan until just fragrant

250ml coconut cream

For the coconut and apple salad:

½ young coconut, skinned and thinly sliced

1 Granny Smith apple, cut into thin batons

½ small bunch of coriander (about 10g), leaves picked from the stems

½ cucumber, halved lengthways, deseeded and sliced

1 red onion, halved and sliced

1 tbsp sesame oil

Finely grated zest and juice of ½ lime

Method:

1. For the spice paste, warm a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat, add all the spices and cook for a couple ofminutes, stirring once or twice, until they are toasted and fragrant; be careful not to burn them. Tip into a bowl, stir in the vinegar and leave to cool.

2. Make cuts all over the lamb and rub the spice paste all over the joint and into the cuts. Wrap in cling film and leave to marinate on a plate in the fridge for at least 8hrs or overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 140C/fan120C/Gas 1. Take the lamb from the fridge and remove the cling film. Place the lamb in a roasting tin and roast for 4-5hrs, until it is so tender you can prise the meat from the bone with a fork. Leave to rest for at least 20mins, up to an hour.

4. To prepare the cauliflower, warm some oil in a large sauté pan or frying pan and sauté the florets until golden brown all over; this should take 15-20mins. If your pan isn’t large enough, you may need to do this in batches. Once all the cauliflower is browned, return all of it to the pan, pour in the vinegar and let bubble to reduce down to a glaze.

5. Add the cumin seeds and then pour in the coconut cream. Bring to the boil and let the liquor reduce until the cauliflower florets are nicely coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

6. For the salad, toss all the ingredients together in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and leave to stand for 10minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

Carve the lamb and serve with the pan-fried cauliflower and coconut and apple salad!