Roasted Lamb

I remember how my mom always used to tell me that mutton (Goat) is better than Lamb because Lamb is strong smelling meat and the stench doesn't go away even after cooking. This is a general impression of my people since we don't get very good quality Lamb in our region.

New Zealand Lamb however, is a completely different league of lamb! I buy the frozen lamb meat imported from New Zealand and every time I wonder what the fresh version would taste like!

So for roasting a boneless shoulder piece, I cleaned up most of the fat off from the meat.

For the marinade I toasted some cumin and coriander seeds and ground them in the good old coffee grinder (which is used less for my hubby's coffee and more for my spices!) and made a wet rub of yogurt, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, ground cumin/coriander seeds, juice of half a lemon (approx 2 tbspn), fresh ginger and garlic paste, and some garam masala.

Add the marinade to the meat and rub well, occasionally poking with a knife. Wrap up the meat in a stretch cooking band, cover with foil and bake at 300 F for 3-4 hours. Towards the end, remove the foil and increase the temperature to 350 F to make the outsides crispy.

You could bake without the stretch band but that way you might get crispy meat all over. This way when you cut open the band, the meat falls out with crispy sides on the outside and very nice and tender lamb meat in the centre.

Great for eating with brown rice, potatoes and some Tzatziki. Leftovers best for wraps and sandwiches!