Sit back with a glass of your favourite and absorb the aroma of the food cooking. The house is filled with the perfume of cloves and cardamom and cinnamon. Onions give off their wonderful scent as they caramelise. The whole spices are dry fried lightly until they crackle, then the lamb shanks are sautéed in ghee with ginger and garlic and garam masala until they are sealed.

Into the slow pot they go to spend the day becoming so tender and gelatinous you could chew them only with your lips and tongue as the sticky gravy coats the meat and runs down your chin through your fingers.

This dish is too good to eat with cutlery. Clean hands and hot naan bread are all you need. Smell the spices as they blend and compliment each other. Watch the colour deepen as the Kashmiri chillies give up their secrets. I challenge you not to keep opening the pot to savour the heady allure of the feast to come.

Served with a rich Dal and a good strong Czech Pilsner outdoors under Capricorn and it doesn’t come much closer to heaven than this…sigh…

My spice rack is from Malaysia and is 1.2 metres tall and the same wide. It has 64 drawers in it and is filled with everything from ajwan to zedoary. I have three marble and granite mortars of various sizes, the smallest of which I broke the pestle so now I use a suitably shaped river stone I found. (Works better than the small marble original!) I have some friends who keep asking me where the batteries go in my largest pestle,they are culinary heathens and have no class.

I’ve been asked a few times now, so here is the recipe, this is one of my favourites….

Gosht Kareli

1 kg lamb shanks
2 bay leaves
4 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
3 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp ginger paste
10 green cardamom pods
2/3 tsp corn flour
4 tbsp oil
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
A slack handful of rich red dried chillies (doesn’t have to be hot ones) Kashmiri are fabulous.

Method

1. Remove the white membranes from the shanks and prick all over with a fork down to the bone, thoroughly. This helps the marinade penetrate the meat.

2. Apply the ginger, garlic, chilli, corn flour and garam masala evenly over the shanks. Marinate for 2 hours, preferably overnight. (the longer the better)

3. Heat the oil in a pan and add all the whole spices. Sauté over medium heat until they begin to crackle. (remove from the pan and place on a plate while you sauté the lamb)

4. Arrange the shanks in the pan and sauté over medium heat for 10 – 15 mins until the meat changes colour and browns.

5. Add water to cover the shanks, add fried spices, stir and cover. Let the meat simmer gently until tender and gelatinous. Three hours plus is good, or use a slow cooker on low for 8 hours.

6. Carefully remove each shank piece with tongs, they will be inclined to fall apart if you have cooked them for long enough.

7. Strain the sauce (optional) and reduce further on low heat (or high if you watch it constantly) until it becomes a thick, sticky concentrate (about 200-300ml)

8. Add shanks back to sauce, coating each one evenly.

To Serve

Serve garnished with sliced cucumbers, onion rings, tomatoes and lemon wedges. Rice is a good option, but so are mashed potatoes. Enjoy.