Lamb shanks make for some of the best braised meat. The bone and marrow enrich the sauce and the gelatinous nature of the meat nearest the bone gives it a silken texture. In India we braise shanks in dozens of ways. Muslim families sometimes eat the shanks for breakfast with all manner of flatbreads and raw onion relishes. You could serve them with rice as well, such as the Yellow Basmati Rice with Sesame Seeds.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　4 medium lamb shanks, about 3 1/2 pounds in all

　　Salt

　　Freshly ground black pepper

　　1 1/2 cups plain yogurt, preferably the acidophilus yogurt sold in health-food stores, or Greek yogurt

　　6 cloves garlic, chopped

　　One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

　　3 tablespoons ground coriander

　　2 teaspoons ground cumin

　　1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

　　1/4 cup olive or canola oil

　　10 cardamom pods

　　1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

　　Two 3-inch cinnamon sticks

　　1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

　　1 medium onion, cut into fine half rings

　　

Step 1

Pat the shanks dry. Sprinkle them all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt and lots of freshly ground pepper.

　　

Step 2

Preheat oven to 325°F.

　　

Step 3

Put 1/2 cup of the yogurt, the garlic, and ginger into a blender and blend until smooth. Now add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the remaining 1 cup yogurt. Blend to mix.

　　

Step 4

Pour the oil into a very wide ovenproof sauté pan or wide casserole dish, large enough to hold the shanks easily in one layer, and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, and shanks. Brown the shanks on one side. Turn them over, dropping the onion slices in the spaces between them. Brown the second side as well as the onions, moving the onions around in the pan as you need to. When the second side has browned, add the paste from the blender and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Cover and place the pan in the oven. Bake for 3 hours, turning the shanks over every 30 minutes.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.