Chin Chin's slow-roasted lamb marinated in curry leaf and stir-fried chickpeas recipe
Getting out of town doesn’t have to mean resorting to takeaway food and roadside meat pies. With a bit of preparation, Chin Chin chef Benjamin Cooper says, a meal of slowroasted lamb and chickpeas can be enjoyed on a weekend getaway.
Slow-roasted lamb marinated in curry leaf
It’s as Aussie as pie and sauce. Roast lamb is just about everyone’s favourite but add curry and a splash of beer and it’s the meaty ticket for a boys’ own weekend.
100g (10 punnets) curry leaf 2 heads garlic, peeled 5 scud chillies 5 tbs mustard seeds 3 tbs coriander seeds 1.8-2kg lamb leg, bone in ¼ cup vegetable oil 2 potatoes, scrubbed, cut into thick slices 3 onions, peeled, cut into thick slices ½ can beer (whatever you’re drinking)
On the day before the trip, roughly pound curry leaf, garlic, chillies and mustard and coriander seeds in a large mortar and pestle. Rub the mixture all over the lamb leg, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Once you arrive at your destination, preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan-forced. Heat oil in a large, heavy based pan and sear the lamb on all sides until golden brown.
Arrange the potatoes and onions on the bottom of a roasting pan and place the lamb leg on top (so the veggies act as a trivet). Pour beer into the bottom of the pan.
Roast the lamb, basting every 15 minutes or so with the pan juices, for between 4 hours 30 minutes and 5 hours. The meat should be falling off the bone.
Remove lamb from the oven and loosely cover with foil for 10 minutes. Slice the lamb, place on a tray (or put it back in the roasting pan) and serve.
Stir-fried chickpeas with gai lan
Give the most boring of legumes a much-needed chilli whack. This is a great dish for midweek meals too.
4 cloves garlic, bruised ¼ cup vegetable oil 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained 2 tbs soy sauce 1 tbs caster sugar 2 bunches gai lan, cut into 3cm pieces ½ cup bang bang relish, plus extra to serve (see below) ½ cup coconut water2 large red chillies, roll cut (see below)
In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir-fry garlic in oil for 2 minutes. Add chickpeas, soy sauce and sugar, and stir-fry until they’re dry.
Add the gai lan, bang bang relish (if you’ve got vegetarian mates you can leave this out and just serve it on the side), coconut water and chillies, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes to heat and combine (you don’t want the gai lan to be overcooked).
Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Transfer to a serving bowl. Put the extra bang bang relish on the side, so guests can add it at will.
Bang Bang Relish
makes about 500g60g dried large red chillies 60g belachan 125g chilli jam (see left) 250g roasted peanuts, crushed 30ml tamarind water (see below) 80g palm sugar
In a frypan over high heat, dryroast the chillies until they’re just burnt. Allow to cool and lightly blitz with the remaining ingredients to a relish-like consistency. The flavour should be smoky, spicy and savoury.
Chilli jam
makes about 1kg
10 red bird’s-eye chillies 8 red banana chillies 2 red capsicums 6 red onions 1 lemongrass stalk (pale
part only) 2 tbs chopped ginger 5 cloves garlic, peeled 1 cup vegetable oil 250g palm sugar ¼ cup tamarind water (see below) ½ cup fish sauce
Blend chillies, capsicum, onion, lemongrass, ginger and garlic to a fine paste. Heat oil in a wok or heavy based pan, add paste and fry until fragrant. Add palm sugar and caramelise. Add tamarind water and fish sauce gradually, tasting as you go (you may not need the whole measure to get it to your own tastes). If you’re vegetarian, replace fish sauce with soy sauce. Again, taste as you add to ensure it doesn’t become too salty.
Tamarind water
makes 1 cupMix 3 tbsp tamarind pulp (available as “bricks” in Asian grocers) with 1 cup hot water and let it soak for about 30 minutes. Work the pulp with your fingers to help it dissolve. Strain, forcing through as much pulp as you can with a spoon. Discard leftover solids. Freeze extra in ice cube trays, then defrost and use as necessary.
Roll cut vegetables
This sounds way more fancy pants than it really is. Use it on long veggies – silken or Lebanese eggplant, carrots, zucchini, big chillies – to increase the surface area when you’re stir-frying. It looks pretty cool too.
Get your carrot or whatever. Make a diagonal cut through the carrot. Roll the carrot about 180º away from you. Make another diagonal cut. Keep going until the carrot is all cut up. Easy!
This is an edited extract from Chin Chin’s Feed Me ($49.95). Next week: Ben’s recipe for sticky date with red date caramel sauce.