How to cook lamb?

Cooking lams involves five basic steps Choosing Lamb Marinating Browning Braising and Resting

This method section applies equally to Mutton, Goat, Venison or Beef.

Choosing Lamb

In Indian Cuisine, combination of boneless meat and 'meat on bones' is used. Boneless meat is cut to about 1 to 1½" cubes. The hind and fore shanks are cut to about 2" long to get meat on bones.

The bones add gelatinized connective tissue for flavor, as well as the marrow is so good.

Tenderize or Not

In Indian cooking the lamb is tenderized with raw green papaya. How to use papaya to tenderize meats? The Papain in papaya helps break down connective tissue. It is a must in some dishes. However, for most of the curries, marinating is not needed.

Browning Lamb (Brown Lamb Mix)

Raw lamb is rather bland with the taste and aroma of the blood, it is not appetizing. When we heat the outer surface of the meat over 285º F, it creates so called Maillard reactions by breaking down proteins with sugar into smaller molecules full of aroma and taste. The visible effect is the brown surface color. You can not reach 285º F by boiling (boiling temperature is 212° F). Therefore, we heat ghee (or any cooking fat) to 300ºF to 350º F, add a few pieces of lamb at a time. You do not want to add a lot of meat to prevent Ghee temperature to go below 285º F. Cook meat till all the surfaces are browned. Remove the browned pieces from the heat to stop further cooking.

After the lamb has been browned, we can add fried Masala, water, tomato, yogurt. I call it Brown Lamb Mix.

The Maillard reaction only happens on the surface. Cutting the lamb into smaller cubes, increases the surface area, hence the flavor. Normally, the lamb is cut into 1" to 1½" cubes.

This process is also called searing. The purpose of searing is not to 'seal in the juices' as commonly implied. The purpose of searing is to add aroma and taste.

Braising

During this step we cook the Brown Lamb Mix at low heat till meat is tender. Technically, this is a variation of braising used in western cooking where a whole chunk of meat is partially immersed in water and cooked on low heat. Our braising is a combination of braising and poaching.

Meat is made up of muscle fibers and connective tissue. Connective tissue is basically collagen. When the internal temperature is raised to 140º F, heat breaks down the connective tissue and dissolves in to gelatin. As the connective tissue breaks down, it expels the moisture (gelatin) shriveling up the meat that is now tender but dry. As the process continues, the fibers start to relax and absorb back the moisture. Therefore, during braising three things happen:

1. Meat becomes tender

2. When the meat shrivels, the gravy gets flavored with the gelatinized connective tissue.

3. When the muscle fiber relaxes, it absorbs the gravy adding flavor to the meat.

There are four basic cooking techniques employed: Stove top Braising, Dum Cooking or Slow Cooking, Pressure Cooker, Oven Bake.

Stove top Braising

Transfer Brown Lamb Mix to a Dutch oven. Slowly increase the temperature. When the internal meat temperature reaches 140º F, it will start to break down the connective tissues and the meat becomes tender. You may cook near 195º F. Do not let it come to a boil. The boiling temperature is 212º F. If boiled, the exterior will cook faster than the inside resulting in tough meat. It will take you twice as long to cook to finally get it tender.

Cook Covered at low temperature.

Rapid High temperature will make the lamb tough.

Cook covered on low heat till meat is tender. You want to maintain a temperature between 194 to 201 °F. As a normal practice you will add a small mount of water, watch for small bubbles to rise up to top. cook covered, till most of the water is consumed. Repeat the process with little more water. The water keeps making sauce. Eventually, you have tender meat in thick curry.

Dum Cooking or Slow Cooking

Transfer Brown Lamb Mix to cooker and seal or cover the lid. The cooking is done between 185º F to 200º F. This is ideal temperature to cook lamb.

Pressure Cooker

Transfer Brown Lamb Mix to pressure cooker. In pressure cooker, the meat is cooked at about 250º F. The temperature is so high that the heat reaches the inside of the meat much quicker than just boiling (212º F). If not careful, lamb will be overcooked.

Overcooked lamb is rubbery

Oven Bake

Transfer Brown Lamb Mix to Dutch oven. To reduce cooking time you may heat the contents to about 140º F on stove top before baking. Preheat oven to 275ºF to 325ºF. Bake covered in the oven till lamb is tender.

Resting

After the meat is tender, it should rest for about 40 minutes to reach a temperature equilibrium between gravy and internal chicken temperature. This optimizes the flavor. Dishes such as Rogan Josh always taste better re-heated the day after cooking.

Cooking method is irrelevant if the meat has already been tenderized How to use papaya to tenderize meats?, or it is a tender lean cut. Green papaya is the most common tenderizer used in Indian cuisine. Here, I will focus on meat that is not tender. The cooking method employed to make lamb curry is similar to braising in western cooking. The method is same for lamb, sheep, goat, venison, or beef.