The celebrity chef is calling on the public to help make lamb the country’s national dish.
As he shares a recipe that blends both the tastes of Scotland with those of India, celebrity chef Tony Singh hopes to convince Scots that lamb is an ingredient worth using regularly.
To help do that, he’s teamed up with Quality Meat Scotland, the industry body which promotes the Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork brands.
Tony has created a lamb curry, marinated in Raan Masaledar spices with a masala sauce infused with Tomatin cask strength malt whisky and a cheesy Bombay Aloo.
And he believes that in Scotland, we are overlooking one of the finest assets in a natural larder that’s increasingly admired around the world.
He says: “I’ve always loved lamb – it’s a great product it’s been going for centuries here in Scotland, they’ve got so many generations of farmers that do it but we don’t make enough of this amazing produce.
“The whole campaign is to get people to understand it’s a great product – it’s regional, it’s seasonal… the welfare of the animal is paramount to these farmers and it’s just a fantastic product.
“We don’t seem to get it. There’s lots of press out there against red meat – I think that’s one of the things that we’re trying to ingest, that red meat is good for a balanced diet. It’s fantastic, so we’re looking at that.
“It’s an asset that we don’t use because people don’t think it’s versatile and it’s either roasts or stovies. If you go around the world, lamb is used in so many ways, from slow pulled, to baked, to curries – it’s a staple part of Scotland’s agricultural sustainability as well.
“It’s a fantastic product and the whole thing about looking after the animals that we do eat, whether it’s beef, chicken or lamb, is very much in my thought… when it’s Scotch lamb and has the PGI label, you know it’s been looked after well.”
Tony Singh MBE’s Scotch Lamb PGI leg steak curry
Marinated in Raan Masaledar spices with a masala sauce infused with Tomatin Cask Strength Malt whisky and a cheesy Bombay Aloo.
(Serves 6)
Ingredients
- 6 x 200g boneless Scottish Lamb Leg Steaks
- 100g peeled garlic
- 100g peeled fresh ginger
- 4 fresh red or green chillies
- 175g of thick Greek style yogurt
- 2 tsp of ground cumin
- 4 tsp of coriander seeds
- ½ tsp of chilli powder
- ¼ tsp of turmeric
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of garam masala
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 1 inch stick of cinnamon
- 10 black peppercorns
- 75 ml Tomatin Cask Strength Malt
Method
To marinate:
- Toast all the dry spices together in a small pan over a medium heat until aromatic – make sure you keep moving the spices around.
- Grind spices, then mix with whisky.
- Blend oil with ginger, garlic, fresh chillies, yoghurt, and salt.
- Mix in the whisky and spices.
- Make punctures into the leg steaks and rub the mix all over. Leave these to marinate for at least 24 hours – the longer the better.
To cook:
- Pre heat your grill on full.
- Place the lamb steaks on an oven proof tray and drizzle in oil, cook on each side for six minutes without touching.
- Cover with tin foil and leave to rest for six minutes, slice and serve with Raan sauce and Bombay Gratin.
Raan Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ kg finely sliced red onion
- 3 tbsp Scottish rapeseed oil
- 3 tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 60g garlic puree
- 60g ginger paste
- 2 chopped bird eye chilis
- 1 litre Lamb bouillon or stock cubes
Method
- Mix all dry spice powders in 100ml of water
- Heat the oil and then brown the onions. Then add ginger and garlic and then let it chill.
- Add the spices, stock, tomatoes and cook on a medium heat, until the oil splits on top. Blend them together, pour in a pan, then bring to the boil, seasoning where necessary.
- Pour over Scotch Lamb leg steaks and cheesy Bombay Aloo.
Bombay Potato Gratin
Ingredients
- 30g ginger, grated
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- ½ tin of chopped tomatoes
- 200ml water
- 800g new potatoes, washed, unpeeled and sliced to about ½ cm thick, and keep them in water to stop them from going black
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 large white onion, thinly sliced
- 2 red or green chillies chopped with seeds
- 2 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 50g washed and chopped coriander
- 100g strong Scottish cheddar, grated
- 70g dry white breadcrumbs
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Cook until just under done and drain, leave to steam dry.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.
- Then add the onions and a pinch of salt and fry for 15 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown.
- Then add the ginger, garlic and chill cook for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes.
- Add the turmeric and garam masala to the pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook till the oil splits out of the masala. Carefully stir in the potatoes and bring to a simmer, then season to taste.
- To make the topping mixture, mix cheese and breadcrumbs in a bowl with a good seasoning of ground black pepper – about 10 turns on the pepper mill.
- Pour onto a baking tray, sprinkle with cheese and the bread crumb mixture and bake at 200C until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped coriander.