I love using the classic combo of garlic & rosemary to flavour lamb. An easy side dish to serve alongside the roast lamb is simply braised baby gem, with peas in white wine and thyme. In springtime, wild garlic appears all across Ireland in shaded woodland areas. It is easy to recognise from its distinctive garlic smell. The leaves can be harvested and treated like any salad leaf or used to make a pesto to serve alongside the lamb.
Serves 6 
120 mins For the lamb:
1 leg of lamb, on the bone (roughly 2½ kg to serve 6-8)
4-5 garlic cloves, sliced into slivers
3 sprigs of rosemary, leaves finely chopped
3 tbsp of rapeseed oil
Sea salt and ground black pepper
For the wild garlic pesto: (optional)
100g of wild garlic, washed and dried
50g of pine nuts
75g of Parmesan or mature Coolea cheese, grated
350ml of extra virgin olive oil or Irish rapeseed oil
For the braised baby gem and peas:
1 tbsp of butter
100g of smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
Zest of 1/2 lemon
75ml of white wine
A few thyme sprigs
50ml of chicken stock
200g of frozen peas
6 spring onions, trimmed and sliced in half
6 baby gem lettuce, sliced in half
Roasting dish
Food processor or pestle and mortar (if making pesto)
Large high sided frying pan
This is my version of an Indian classic; ‘ka kesar’ means ‘with saffron’. From the glorious Nizam Hyderabadi palaces to the Moghul territories of Lucknow, Delhi and Agra across to Kashmir, Lahore and Karachi and back to Persia, biryani has many regional variations. Lamb, hogget, mutton – even goat – are all traditional. The key is undoubtedly the beauty of the basmati rice and a slow, ‘dum’ cooking method. ‘Dum’ refers to cooking in a sealed pot; traditionally the pot is sealed with dough but here we use a tight-fitting lid.
This recipe is taken from Fresh Spice by Arun Kapil, published by Pavilion Books. Recipe photography by Yuki Sugiura.
