French cuisine · Meat & Kebab

Lamb Shanks with Sweet Spices

Lamb shanks braised for three hours in the oven with cumin, cinnamon and honey until the meat falls off the bone.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 4 lamb shanks (about 350 g each)
• 2 onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 carrots
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp ginger (ground)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 300 ml chicken broth
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Take the lamb shanks out of the fridge 30 min. before roasting, pat dry, season generously with salt and pepper; preheat the oven to 150°C top/bottom heat.
2. Heat olive oil in a heavy roasting pot and sear the shanks all over for 8–10 min. until deep brown, then set aside on a plate.
3. Sauté the coarsely diced onions, carrots and crushed garlic in the frying fat for 6 min., add cumin, ginger and the cinnamon stick and roast for 1 min. until the spices become fragrant.
4. Deglaze with white wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, add broth and honey and return the shanks with their released juices – the liquid should cover them two-thirds of the way.
5. Braise covered in the oven for 2.5 hrs., basting with the pan juices every hour, until the meat can be pulled off the bone with a fork.
6. Keep the shanks warm, strain the pan juices through a sieve and reduce uncovered for 8–10 min. to a syrupy consistency, pour over the shanks and serve sprinkled with chopped cilantro.