Debbie Quinn has a lifelong love of food and cooking, nurtured in her parents’ restaurants and in her own family’s kitchen. Every fortnight she shares her passion and expertise with our readers, bringing her best recipes, tips and tricks to the table.
The key to this dish is to make your own curry paste. It has a few steps, so it’s not the simplest recipe I use, but if you are prepared to take some time on one of these cold winter days, it is well worth it. When I ask the family what they would like for a special occasion, this is generally one of the top picks. Peter requested it for his birthday dinner a couple of weeks ago, and everybody loved it.
Ingredients
Yellow curry sauce
¼ cup vegetable oil
6 cups coconut milk
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp Massel chicken stock powder
½ cup palm sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
6 kaffir lime leaves
Coriander and mint leaves to serve
Lamb shanks and vegetables
Vegetable oil
12 lamb shanks, french trimmed
Sea salt
2 stems celery, leaves removed and roughly chopped
1 carrot roughly chopped
2 brown onions diced
Water to cover
Curry paste
6 dried mild red chillies, halved, deseeded and soaked in warm water until soft, squeeze dry (takes about 10 mins)
3 slices galangal, skin peeled and roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves sliced
3 French or Thai shallots or half a red onion sliced
2 tbsp sliced lemongrass (remove the tough outer layers and use the white parts to around halfway up the lemongrass stem)
6 coriander roots, sliced
1 tsp shrimp paste
Method
Lamb shanks
Season shanks by rubbing them all over with pepper and salt.
Heat a large frypan over medium-high heat and brown the shanks all over in a little vegetable oil. Remove the shanks from the pan and drain on kitchen paper towels.
In a large pot, put the prepared vegetables on the base, followed by the browned lamb shanks on top. Add enough water to just cover the shanks, bring to the boil and reduce heat until just simmering. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours or until tender and starting to fall away from the bone.
Curry paste
Pound all ingredients together in a mortar and pestle until a smooth paste forms (you can use a stick blender; sometimes, I use both).
Yellow sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and curry paste, and gently fry the curry paste until it is aromatic. Gradually add coconut milk and turmeric and stir through. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces by half. Add palm sugar and fish sauce to taste, kaffir lime leaves and simmer gently for a few minutes.
Check the shanks making sure they are tender, and meat is coming away from the bone. Transfer hot shanks to the curry sauce or spoon sauce over the warm shanks. Serve sprinkled with freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves.
Tip: If the sauce is a little too thick, you can add a little stock from the shanks, but not too much (1 or 2 tablespoons at the most).
Coconut rice
2 cups medium grain rice (you can use low GI rice or Jasmine rice)
1 cup coconut milk or cream
2 cups of water
2 tsp Massel chicken stock powder
1 tablespoon butter
I use the absorption method. First, rinse the rice under cold running water in a strainer until the water runs clear. Then, use a spoon to roll the rice around while rinsing.
In a medium-sized pot with a tight lid, add the rice, coconut milk/cream, water and chicken stock. Bring to just simmering, then cover with the lid and simmer as low as you can for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and let rest for 10 minutes. Add the butter and fluff the rice up with a fork, and it’s ready to serve with the shanks.
Deb’s tips
Shrimp paste
Shrimp paste can be purchased from Asian grocers and some supermarkets. It doesn’t have a great smell; however, it is essential to the curry paste and you won’t even know it is there.
Leftover stock from shanks
The stock left over from the shanks can be strained and put in the fridge overnight. The next day, scrape the excess fat off the top.
This then can be used as a beautiful stock for soups just by bringing it back to the boil and adding a few ingredients, such as ¾ cup barley, 1 or 2 diced onions, 1 diced carrot, 4 celery sticks diced, 1 parsnip diced, a small piece of pumpkin and a couple of tablespoons of Massel chicken stock powder.
Simmer until the barley is tender, and then add 1 diced or grated zucchini and/or a bunch of baby spinach. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. You can also freeze it as a stock in small containers and add it to your gravy when you are cooking a lamb roast.
Coconut rice
For the rice, if you have a rice cooker, just use that with the same recipe.