• Two lamb shanks
• Chicken stock
• Tomato puree
• An onion, peeled and roughly diced
• Two celery stalks, roughly diced
• A big handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped, stalks and all
• One carrot, roughly diced
• One pear, roughly diced
• Five cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• A two or three inch long piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 1 tsp dried lime
• Four cloves
• A star anise
• 10 cardamom pods, cracked in the pestle and mortar

Set the oven to 160c. Season the lamb liberally with salt and pepper. In the formerly white pot, sear the lamb shanks all over until they’ve got a good brown crust. Remove from the pan and set to one side. In the same pot, cook the onion, celery, carrot, pear, ginger, coriander and garlic until slightly browned and aromatic. Add the spices and cook for two or three minutes before stirring in about 1 tbsp of tomato puree. Cook again for a couple of minutes, always stirring, before add the shanks back to the pot and topping up with chicken stock until well covered. Bring to a simmer, put the lid on and put in the oven.

Cook for two hours, turning the shanks after one hour to ensure even coverage. Remove the pot from the oven, take the shanks out and blend the braising liquid to a smooth sauce. Place the shanks back in the sauce and return to the oven uncovered to cook for another thirty minutes, during which time you can make your rice and other accoutrements. Serve, liberally sauced, with rice, plenty of fresh coriander and crispy shallots.