Melt in your mouth lamb that you do need to plan ahead for a best results are when you leave it to marinade in the fridge overnight.

Ingredients

5 cloves garlic, finely grated

12cm piece ginger, finely grated

1 lemon, zest and juice

3 tbsp garam masala

5 tbsp plain yogurt

About 2.5kg whole lamb fore quarter, bone in, cut in 2

80ml extra virgin olive oil

3 brown onions, sliced in rings

To Serve

1 bunch coriander, picked

4 limes

500ml yogurt

Instructions

Combine the garlic, ginger, lemon juice and zest, garam masala and yogurt.

Make incisions all over both sides of the lamb with a sharp knife, put into zip lock bags add the marinade and massage the yogurt mix into the lamb. Seal and place in the fridge overnight.

The next day, remove the lamb from the fridge and place in a cast iron pot with the fat-side up. Allow to sit at room temperature for an hour. Preheat the oven to 150C fan-forced or 170C conventional.

While the lamb sits, in a large frying pan over medium heat add the oil and fry the onions until golden brown. Season. Set half aside for garnish, scatter the rest over the lamb.

Add 450ml of water to the pot, cover the pot with baking paper and foil, put the lid on and cook for four hours.

Check the lamb – it should be meltingly tender. Remove the lid, foil and paper, sprinkle over the remaining onions and cook for a further 30 minutes at 170C to brown and crisp up.

Strain off the juices in the tray, skim off any fat, add ¼ extra yogurt to serve with the meat.

Remove the bones and serve.

Serving

Garnish with coriander leaves and lime wedges, with the remaining yogurt on the side.

Serve with steamed basmati rice, naan and some vegies.

Storage

Leftover meat can be bagged in serve sized zip-lock bags and frozen.