Ingredients
- ▢ 2kg lamb shoulder or butterflied lamb leg
SHAWARMA PASTE:
- ▢ 3 garlic cloves , minced
- ▢ 1 tbsp ground coriander
- ▢ 1 tbsp ground cumin
- ▢ 1 tbsp ground cardamon
- ▢ 1 tsp cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp = not spicy)
- ▢ 2 tsp smoked paprika (ordinary also ok)
- ▢ 1 1/2 tsp salt
- ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper
- ▢ 1/4 cup / 65 ml extra virgin olive oil
- ▢ 2 – 3 tbsp / 40 – 60 ml lemon juice
COOKING:
- 2 cups / 500 ml water
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan forced / convection).
- Place Paste ingredients in a bowl, starting with 2 tbsp lemon juice, and mix. It should be a wet paste that can be slathered onto the lamb (see video).
- Place lamb in a large roasting pan. Slather all over with paste. Optional: Marinate 24 hours (not mandatory, I usually skip).
- Position the lamb with the fat side up. Pour water around, cover tightly with foil.
- Roast 3 hours, removing from the oven 2 – 3 times to spoon over pan juices (ie baste).
- Remove foil. Meat should be tender – check with 2 forks.
- Baste again, then return to oven for 30 minutes to get a nice crust.
- Remove lamb from roasting pan – reserve juices.
SLOW COOKER: This would be terrific to do in a slow cooker as long as the lamb will fit (which mine would not!). Reduce water to 1 cup and slow cook for 10 hours on low, then transfer the lamb either to the oven (including juices in the slow cooker) or finish it on the BBQ. The Slow Cooker Roast Lamb Leg video shows how to do these steps (just the rub is different).
