Roast Leg of Lamb, rich and tender

Introduction to the Roast Leg of Lamb Recipe

A roast leg of lamb is a show-stopping centrepiece that’s both elegant and easy to prepare. Whether for holidays or weekend dinners, this recipe delivers tender, flavourful results every time.

This roast leg of lamb is the ultimate fusion dish. It combines the classic British roast dinner with the rich, spicy South Asian cuisine flavour we all enjoy. Any lamb lover will adore this roast. The lamb is soft and tender after being slowly roasted for 3-4 hours. Each morsel of lamb is flavoursome and the accompanying gravy will mean there will be no talking when this meal is served, you will be too busy eating.

I do love making a roast, it really requires minimum effort, the oven does all the hard work. I always marinate a full lamb leg with this recipe, but you could just as easily do a shoulder or butterfly leg. Make sure whatever you use, you marinate the lamb overnight so you give the lamb as much time as possible to soak up the flavour of the marinade. I can’t bear to taste a bland leg of lamb where the only flavour is in the gravy and not the meat!

History of Roast Leg of Lamb

In our family, having a roast dinner of any form was not really something we ever had until we hit our teens. The introduction of a roast dinner was really brought into the family by our dad. He always loved to experiment and eat Western dishes. My sister and I were rather thrilled to have a few most Western dishes at home, as much as we enjoyed curry, we also loved our Western dishes.

We now always have a roast leg of lamb at mum and dad’s house every winter and it does tend to fall over the Christmas holidays when everyone is off from work. I have to say this would make a great twist on a Christmas roast dinner, if you want to do something more adventurous, definitely give this recipe a bash.

A roast dinner feel like a very classically English meal to have. However in true desi style, my dad has spiced up this slow lamb roast with an amazing flavoursome marinade. Lots of garlic, ginger and fresh coriander definitely pay a strong tribute to our South Asian roots.

My daughter has now requested a roast leg of lamb for her birthday party. I hope this easy lamb roast recipe will continue to be a family tradition as the generations go by.

How to Achieve the Juiciest Lamb Roast

If you are worried about the leg fitting into your oven, you can always ask your butcher to break the leg. This will help you manoeuvre the lamb leg into the tray comfortably. You could also use a butterfly leg of lamb instead. I actually did a a full leg of lamb and a butterfly leg of lamb for my daughter’s birthday party. My husband likes the lamb on the bone, however the butterfly leg was much easier to serve for the all the children, a quick carving for hungry kids.

Another thing to ask your butcher is to leave some of the fat on top of the leg. This will melt off whilst the lamb cooks in the oven, and it stops the lamb becoming so tough on the outer edge. This will give you a lovely tender roast lamb leg.

To streamline the time making the marinade, I would put all the marinade ingredients into a food blender and blitz until a paste forms. This will save you chopping each ingredient separately.

We like our roast leg of lamb well done, it’s not really a traditionally done thing to see a pink lamb roast in a Pakistani household. So cooking times are based on our preference. If you prefer the lamb to be pinker, take the leg out sooner, after 2 hours or so should be sufficient.

Adding water to the tray makes sure the lamb stays moist as it cooks slowly and that it does not burn. I have to say I do not like the outside of the lamb to be tough and a very dark brown. The water and basting helps to ensure more of a softer texture to the lamb meat.

Serving the Roast Leg of Lamb

For me a lamb roast needs to be served with roast potatoes. If you want to add some spicy potatoes to this dish, you could serve it with my masala potatoes. However, often lamb roast is served with a spiced rice. Matar pilau and a pomegranate chutney makes a beautiful backdrop to this roast lamb dish.

I have also given instructions on how to make a quick gravy to accompany the lamb roast, my kids need gravy, Yorkshire Puddings and stuffing to enjoy their roast dinner. And if the Yorkshire puddings do not rise sufficiently, mummy is in for it! Do not be tempted to miss out the gravy, the creamy spicy gravy really goes beautifully with the lamb, it makes that final indulgent finish to the roast.

Conclusion

This is essentially a really quick and easy recipe to prepare, the oven will do the hard work. even the marinade is so easy to make due to the use of Amina’s Wonder Spicy, Steak and Chops marinade. It’s a fail proof recipe requiring minimum effort with maximum result!

See my video on Youtube, Instagram or TikTok to see how to make this dish.

Step-by-Step Guide for Perfectly Roasted Lamb

Ingredients for the Roast Leg of Lamb

Preparation 7 Minutes

Marination 12 hours (overnight)

Cooking Time 3 hours and 15 minutes

Resting time 25-30 minutes

Marinade ingredients

• 1 heaped teaspoon of finely chopped garlic
• 1 heaped teaspoon of finely chopped ginger
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of fresh mint, finely cut
• 1 handful of fresh coriander, finely cut
• 4 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1tsp salt
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon of meat tenderiser
• 1/2 bottle of Amina’s Wonder Spicy, Steak and Chops marinade

Remaining ingredients

• Leg of lamb (or any other cut of lamb you prefer)
• 300ml water
• 2 tablespoons corn flour
• 200ml double cream (you can add less if you want the gravy to be not as rich in flavour)
• 0.25tsp black pepper

Method for making the Roast Leg of Lamb

• Mix all the marinade ingredients into a paste.

• If you haven’t asked your butcher to do so, cut slits into the lamb, this will allow the marinade to seep deeper into the lamb.

• Then rub the marinade into your leg of lamb. Cover with foil and put in the fridge to marinate overnight.

• When you are ready to cook the lamb, pour the water into the base of the tray. Then recover with the foil and try and make sure the foil is not touching the lamb, and that there is an air gap. This will stop the lamb burning where it meets the foil.
• Then put the lamb into 140 C fan assisted oven. After an hour and a half, baste the lamb with the juices forming in the base of the tray, (if possible turn the leg over, although this is not essential if you are basting it). Re cover with the foil and put it back in the oven.

• Turn the heat to 160 C fan assisted, and cook for an hour. Baste the lamb again after this hour.
• Then put the lamb back in the oven and for another hour, or until you are happy the lamb has cooked to your liking. We like our lamb well done so we cook it well over three hours in total.
• When the lamb has cooked, cover in foil and place on your worktop to rest. Let the lamb rest for at least 30 minutes.

• Whilst the lamb is resting, pour the juices from the tray into a saucepan, and gently heat on the hob. There should be enough liquid in the pan for a gravy, if not, add some more water to the pan.
• When the gravy in warm, stir in the cornflour and whisk into the gravy until there are no lumps.
• Then add the cream and black pepper, mix through and simmer for a few minutes, until the gravy has thickened.

• Pour into your gravy boat when ready to serve the lamb.