Lamb Shank Madras

At the moment I have so much to say that I'm struggling to say anything at all. I'm avoiding the news as I'm up and down enough without all of that, but I'm not sure it's a good tactic, I keep joking that COVID-19 was probably over weeks ago and we'll never know.

When I get up at 5am, instead of having a coffee and catching up on Facebook, I'm doing  around 6000 steps and catching up on some of the series I've been recording and not watching. First off was the fantastic final series of Spiral (Engrenages), a French police / legal drama that I recorded in November from the BBC Four Saturday night Foreign Drama slot. I'm going to catch up on the 5 series I never saw on Amazon Prime. I love the French attitude, they are all anxious as hell, but smoking over crime scenes and snogging in the surveillance vans as they apply the law and legal system in a highly charged and slightly dubious way. I enjoy series like this where right and wrong are blurred so you don't know whose side you are supposed to be on.

Next, was Wisting a Norwegian drama again from BBC Four in February and still on i-player for  months. I love Nordic drama, the scenery is amazing, they take police work very seriously, the family aspects are always great drama, the cold weather, bleak landscapes and remoteness throw out some hidden secrets and resentments. I love how engrossed I get with the surroundings (my favourite is Trapped set in Iceland, I can barely breathe it's so claustrophobic and I'm constantly freezing while I'm watching - immersive TV). The story is in 2 parts, the first starring Carrie Ann Moss, which was surprising. She plays an FBI agent helping on the case of a serial killer, so the story is delivered in a mix or English and Norwegian. I love languages that mix both (like Welsh), there is one point where a policeman knocks on someones door, speaks in Norwegian and then for no reason in English suddenly asks "can I come in?" and then carries on in Norwegian. The second story is about a kidnapping, but the two stories are intertwined and full of twists.

Finally and I finished it this morning, I had recorded Noughts and Crosses without really fancying it, but then I saw Mallory Blackman on the Great British Menu 2020 and decided to give it a go. The drama tells of a history in which Africans (Crosses) colonised Albion (Britain) at a point in history, making the indigenous Noughts  their slaves. The series is set in 21st-century Albion when slavery has been abolished but segregation continues to allow the Crosses control of the Noughts. Globally, including in mother nation Africa, countries are encouraging integrating and progression but Albion is stuck in the past leading to violence and unrest. The story is told from the view of Callum and Sephy who's experiences are intertwined despite their different lives. I think it was very apt that I watched it this week, even hiding from the news I am not immune to what has happened in the States and I think if you really still need to understand why the situation is wrong, this turns the tables and forcing you see the injustice and the futility of the mind set. Above all it was a good story, lots of twist and emotional ups and downs. I looked at the books today, it's actually a series of six stories so there could be more to come. At the end, I wanted to know more about how everything turned out and what happened next. I though it was interesting that the message of the story was clear without the word "racism" being used in it's telling.

So, food. When I was in the butchers I noticed a pile of superb looking Lamb Shanks. We don't eat lamb very often, but just lately I have been wanting to use it more. I found a recipe for Tom Kerridge's Lamb Shank Madras on the BBC Good Food site. There's no need for me to re-write the recipe just use it from here.

I followed it pretty well, except I didn't have whole chilies, so I used chili flakes and I didn't have lime pickle so I used mango chutney, I only had the shavings at the bottom of the jar of curry leaves and I used ground cardamom and not pods (I don't like finding a pod in a mouthful of curry).

I tell you this so you know, a recipe is a guide only. If you don't like it, leave it out or substitute if for something you do like. Don;t not try something because you haven't got 1 ingredient out of a list of 20.

I was a bit worried that the lamb shanks were quite pricey and I might stuff it up, but I needn't have worried, they cooked low and slow and turned soft and unctuous. I've been to restaurants where they stick the whole shank in the middle of your plate but I opted to take the meat off the bone, as I thought each one had too much meat for 1 person and I was right.

Ferreting around in the freezer I managed to find a couple of shop bought garlic naans, not great quality but quick and easy and I served the curry with half and half broccoli rice. I whiz the broccoli in the food processor and put it in the sieve, then drain the rice over it to warm it through, before mixing it all together. You can steam the broccoli in the sieve/colander over the rice as it cooks if you prefer it with less bite. We had a dollop of my mum's tomato and courgette chutney on the side to finish it off. It was warming and rich and delicious and I would heartily recommend it and have already bought some more lamb to make it again. It's so different to roast lamb and to our normal chicken curry, a real treat. Very low effort but feels like a restaurant dish.

The next day, we had a whole portion left over, but there are 3 of us!

I decided to visit an old blog Tomato, Lentil and Spinach Soup from 2015, a family favourite and when serving I added a dollop of the Madras in the centre, topped with Greek yoghurt, some grated cheese (probably overkill) and crumbled walnuts and served with my Speedy Flat Breads and half a Swedish Tea Cake which I've not told you about yet. Packed full of flavour and goodness (and it used up the lentils which were 6 months out of date!) and deceptively filling.