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West African Roast Lamb

West African Roast Lamb is a traditional West African recipe for a chopped leg of lamb that's spiced in marinade before being roasted on the barbecue. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic West African dish of: West African Roast Lamb.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

55 minutes

Additional Time:

(+30 minutes marinating)

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : CurrySpice RecipesLamb RecipesWest-africa Recipes

In the countries of West Africa ovens are, generally, a rare commodities and most foods are stewed rather than being cooked in any other methods. However, most houses have small metal barbecues and some meals (typically fish) are cooked on these (this is described as 'roasting'). In general the meat is held in a wire frame which is placed over the hot coals. This recipe is one that my wife showed me for barbecued lamb (which, in West African parlance is called 'roasting').

Ingredients:

1 lamb leg (about 1.5kg), chopped
2 Maggi or stock cubes
1 tbsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp West African Curry Powder
1 tbsp Maggi sauce (or soy sauce)
2 tsp allspice
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Method:

In the markets in Dakar meat will be chopped for you with a machette. This means that a lamb leg will be cut across the bone into pieces about 2cm thick. You can probably get your butcher to do the same or you can simply buy lamb leg steaks and cut those.

Add all the other ingredients to the lamb and toss to coat well. Leave aside to marinate for about 30 minutes. Heat your barbecue and when the charcoal is white hot place the lamb pieces inside your wire frame rack. Close the rack then place the meat on the barbecue. Now, my wife, in common with all West Africans simply murders the meat by over-cooking, whereas I like it quite pink. We've finally come to a compromise, where the meat is cooked through but remains succulent and tender.

For this you will need to cook the meat for 10 minutes on one side before turning the meat over then cook the meat for 5 minutes per side, turning over 4 times. This cooks the meat for 20 minutes per side. Note that this is for a very hot barbecue. On a cooler barbecue you may need to cook for longer.

Serve the lamb with a mint, cucumber, tomato and lettuce salad.