JERK LAMB & rice ‘n’ peas

Picture this… your outside in the sunshine, its a Sunday.. you’ve got a cold beer in your hand and the aromas of the Caribbean are wafting in the air. Dreamy right? Well have I got the recipe for you. This was so banging that my mum was asking for the recipe straight after I had made it for her. Now I did want to make it with goat as I adore curried goat, however it was double the price of lamb which was very hard to believe. But feel free to do this with any meat you fancy. I made this the day before, chilled it in the fridge and reheated the day after which made it extra flavoursome!!! Let me know what you all think.

Ingredients

2kg Lamb shoulder

2 whole cans of full fat coconut milk

1 heaped tablespoon of creamed coconut

4 green peppers cut into big chunks

2 sliced red onions

paste

1.5 whole scotch bonnet (you may want to start off with one first depending on how how the chilli is as they vary)

3 heaped teaspoon all spice powder

3 heaped teaspoon Jamaican curry powder (you can buy this online, I bought it on amazon)

6 large whole garlic cloves

40g ginger

2 1/2 heaped tablespoons thyme leaves

80g spring onions

5 tablespoons red wine vinegar

5 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey (you can use brown sugar)

rice ‘n’ peas

370g long grain rice

180g dried red kidney beans (for this to taste authentic it must be dried as it gives the rice a better texture) they may need to be soaked overnight so read the instructions on the packet

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 diced red onion

3 diced spring onions

3 garlic cloves minced

6 thyme sprigs

1 scotch bonnet

1 can of coconut milk

750ml water

Method

Blitz all the ingredients together with some oil until you get a smooth paste. Dice the meat into medium sized chunks and fry off in a tablespoon of oil batch by batch to ensure the meat gets caramelised. Once all the meat is browned off and nicely caramelised, tip the meat out of the pan and add the red onion and green peppers and fry off in the paste. Make sure the paste doesnt burn otherwise it will become bitter. After a couple of minutes when the onion starts to soften, add the lamb back in and cook for a further couple of minutes to incorporate. Add lamb stock just to the top of the lamb and add one can of coconut milk. Cook this gently for around 2 1/2-3 hours.

Whilst the curry is slowly cooking put the soaked beans in a medium saucepan and cover with the water. Bring to the boil and add in all the other ingredients including the coconut milk, leaving the scotch bonnet whole. This is so the flavour of the chilli is added to the rice without the spice. Cook this for about an 1-1 1/4 hours with the lid on until the beans are starting to soften. I love this rice with a little bite still from the beans but its personal preference. Add the rice and add a lid and simmer for roughly 25-30 minutes.

To finish your curry add the other coconut milk and coconut cream to increase the richness and add a squeeze of lime and some chopped coriander. Check for seasoning.

I served the rice with a mango & lime salsa and fresh buttered roti! Matchmade in heaven!