Cocoa Curry Lamb Shanks

I’m excited to share with you today’s recipe of curry lamb shanks. One of our goals of 2014 was to go out more often; Heather works in sales, and I work two jobs, so the majority of the time for the past two years, when we were home, we just wanted to do nothing. That is all well and good, but I decided we needed to resurrect the date night, especially after our engagement in December.

Our first date night of the year was at Old Ebbitt’s Grill, also the oldest restaurant in DC. I had the lamb shank, and it was absolutely amazing. The next time we went with friends, a few weeks later, Heather had the shank and felt the same way. Having been inspired by that dinner and our friend Russ’s new book The Ancestral Table (Did you get it yet? Here’s our review.) and it’s Lamb Tagine recipe, we crafted this lamb shank recipe. We think you’ll really enjoy it. Plus, my parents were cool enough to get us a tagine for Christmas, so it gave us a fun excuse to break it out. Don’t worry, if you’re without a tagine, a dutch oven will suffice.

Ingredients
2 lamb shanks, approximately 1 lb each
1 14oz can full-fat coconut milk
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 Tbsp 100% cacao powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1 white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed and halved
1 Tbsp coconut oil
4 cloves
2 cardamom seeds, crushed

Method

In your tagine or dutch oven, melt the coconut oil on medium heat. Sear the shanks on all sides, about 2-3 minutes a side until lightly browned. Set shanks aside.

Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Return shanks to the vessel, and pour in coconut milk, mixed with the curry, cacao, cayenne, cloves, and cardamom.

Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 45 minutes.

Flip and cook another 45 minutes, covered. You might stretch the time to 60-75 minutes per side, for insanely tender shanks; but we found 45 minutes was enough.