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Slow Roasted Madras Lamb Shoulder


All Recipes Lamb Meat

With a rich roasted onion and garlic spiced lamb sauce

by Justina Sullivan
Perfectly cooked lamb shoulder on a plate with meat falling off the bone
Perfectly cooked lamb shoulder on a plate with meat falling off the bone

Perfectly roasted shoulder of lamb with an Indian Madras spice rub

This beautiful piece of lamb on the bone is seasoned with an Indian Madras curry spice rub with the addition of fennel and cumin. Roasted over onions, garlic and a little water, the spices not only season the meat but also infuse the pan juices to create a delicious sauce. It’s packed with flavour and not only tastes amazing, but requires minimal effort to achieve its rich flavour.

How to cook lamb shoulder in the oven

Lamb is a tough meat and needs a low and slow cooking time to release its juices. After a few hours in the oven, it will be soft and succulent and should be easy to pull apart. This recipe is for a 1.5kg cut of lamb and the cooking time has been adjusted accordingly. For larger cuts of lamb, refer to the recipe notes and apply the according cooking time.

Madras Curry Powder Blend

Madras Spice Mix

Madras curry powder is an Indian spice blend commonly used to flavour curries, meat, vegetable, and grain dishes. It contains coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper, turmeric, fenugreek seeds, cassia bark (cinnamon), cloves, cardamom pods, curry leaves and Kashmiri chillies. It’s one of the most popular spice blends used today in India and internationally and pairs perfectly with lamb. You can buy pre-mixed in stores or online or make your own blend using this recipe here.

Step-by-step instructions for cooking the perfect Madras Lamb Shoulder

Place the onions and garlic in the centre of a large, high roasting tin. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt.

Spice Rubbed Lamb Shoulder

Rub the lamb generously with the spice mixture, making sure that every corner is covered. Marinate for 30 minutes. (For maximum flavour, the lamb can be rubbed up to 12 hours beforehand and marinated in the fridge.) When ready to cook, place the lamb on top of the onions and garlic.

Roast lamb gravy from pan juices

No slow-roasted meat is complete without a delicious gravy. To make a rich, flavoursome sauce, remove the lamb from the oven after 2 hours roasting and pour water around the bottom of the tray. The liquid will combine with the onion, garlic, fat, juices and spices from the lamb to form a sauce.

How long does it take to cook a shoulder of lamb?

This recipe is for a 1.5kg piece of lamb, roasted to perfection in 3.5 hours. The oven temperature is set at 150°C fan assisted. The result is juicy, tender meat that pulls apart easily. Refer to the notes on the recipe card and adjust the cooking temperatures for different types of oven.

Perfectly cooked lamb shoulder on a plate with meat falling off the bone

How to cook roast lamb gravy from pan juices

Normally, a meat sauce is made by combining pan juices with extra stock, herbs and a thickening agent such as cornflour. But with this clever method, no extra work is needed to make a delicious sauce – all you need is a blender. Put the onion, garlic and pan juices into a blender and blend. A rich sauce flavoured with Madras spices, lamb fat and juices, naturally thickened by the roasted onions and garlic, it couldn’t be more perfect.

Perfectly roasted lamb shoulder

Because meat loses its moisture during cooking, it’s important to allow it to rest at room temperature after removal from the oven. Resting allows the meat to relax, redistribute fat and juices and become wonderfully tender. Using two forks, the meat should fall easily from the bone and be easy to shred.

Perfectly cooked lamb shoulder on a plate with meat falling off the bone

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Slow Roasted Madras Lamb Shoulder

Perfectly cooked lamb shoulder on a plate with meat falling off the bone
Print Recipe

Perfectly roasted lamb shoulder rubbed with an Indian Madras spice blend. Roasted onions and garlic and rich pan juices make for a delicious accompanying sauce.

  • Author: Flaevor
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes + 30 minutes resting time
  • Cook Time: 3.5 hours
  • Total Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 – 6 1x
  • Category: Lamb
  • Method: Oven Roasting
  • Cuisine: Modern Fusion

Ingredients

Scale

Instructions

  1. Remove the shoulder from the fridge 1 hour before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature.
  2. Heat a fan-forced oven to 150°C  (See recipe notes below for temperature conversions)
  3. Using a non-stick frying pan, dry-roast fennel and cumin seeds for 10 – 30 seconds or until fragrant. Do not burn or all flavour will be lost. Grind seeds into a powder along with sea salt flakes. Combine with Madras curry powder.
  4. Rub meat deeply and generously with the spice mix, making sure to reach every corner until it’s completely coated. Leave for 30 minutes to absorb the flavour. (For maximum flavour this can be done earlier and left to marinade anywhere from 30 minutes – 12 hours).
  5. Peel onions and slice into wedges approximately 2cm thick. Separate garlic cloves from the bulb but leave the skin on. Drizzle and coat the onion wedges and garlic evenly with oil.
  6. Place onions and garlic into the middle of a large and high roasting tray.
  7. Place the lamb on top of the onions and garlic, making sure they sit evenly and nicely under the meat.
  8. Cover tightly with aluminium foil and carefully transfer to the middle shelf of the oven (don’t move too fast or the meat will slide off the onions and garlic).
  9. Roast for 2 hours. At this point, remove the tray from the oven, carefully remove the foil and pour 375ml of water around the bottom of the tray, but not over the meat. This will be your sauce.
  10. Cover again tightly with foil and return to the oven. Roast for a further 1.5 hours.
  11. When done, remove the tray and leave it to rest, still covered, for 20 – 30 minutes. This will allow the lamb to become soft and juicy again.
  12. Peel away foil and transfer lamb to a large plate or serving board. Remove skins from garlic cloves and discard. Transfer onions, garlic and pan juices to a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and season with salt if needed.
  13. When ready to serve, quickly reheat the lamb sauce until it’s nice and hot. Serve with the Madras lamb shoulder.

Notes

Temperature conversions for ovens

Conventional oven 170°C

Gas Mark 3

Fahrenheit Oven 325°F 

Keywords: best roast lamb recipe, perfect roasted lamb shoulder, madras lamb, indian lamb recipes

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