Serves 4
Ingredients
Coconut braise:
400ml coconut milk
1 pinch of salt
500g lamb shoulder or leg
Curry:
2 tablespoons light flavoured oil
70g curry paste
2 tablespoons shaved palm sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 cups vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces
To serve:
Steamed jasmine rice
Lime wedges
Deep fried shallots (available in the Asian section of supermarkets), optional
Method
Place lamb in a saucepan with coconut milk and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover with a lid and braise for 2 hours.
Remove from the heat and rest for 30 minutes. Then strain the lamb and reserve the cooking liquid.
Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan. ‘Cook out’ the curry paste on a medium heat constantly stirring (‘cooking out’ out the paste means frying it until it no longer tastes raw). The paste should smell fragrant.
Add the shaved palm sugar and stir until it starts to dissolve.
Add the reserved cooking liquid and 2 tbsp of fish sauce.
Add the vegetables and simmer until cooked.
Return the lamb to the pot. Taste the curry. It should be sweet, salty and rich.
Serve with steamed jasmine rice and a generous squeeze of lime juice.
Author
Bridget Francis
Hawthorn