The Malay or Indonesian word “lemak” literally means “fat” in a culinary sense, but in practice it means “cooked with coconut milk”. “Kambing” means a lamb or a kid, so “kambing lemak” means “lamb in coconut milk”. I more or less invented this recipe within the limits of the kind of cooking; it's similar to the ayam lemak that I eat for breakfast with nasi lemak.

Ingredients

quantity		ingredient		step
1 kg		lamb meat		1
20 g		coriander seed		2
10 g		cumin seed		2
10 g		fennel seed		2
20 g		turmeric		2
2 g		cinnamon		2
0.7 g		cloves		2
5 g		chili powder		2
1 g		cardamom		2
200 g		onion		3
20 g		garlic		3
20 g		galanggal		3
100 g		oil		3
400 ml		coconut cream		4
150 ml		water		4
20 g		salt		4
30 g		lemon grass		4
2		kaffir lime leaves		4

Preparation

1. Cut the meat into relatively small cubes (about 2 cm).

2. Grind the spices and rub in to the meat. Leave to stand while making the other preparations.

3. Blend the onion, garlic and galanggal with the oil. The quantity of oil seems excessive, but it's necessary to fry the meat in the next step. Fry the mixture slowly to dry it out until the oil separates.

4. Add the meat and fry until the meat is firm on the outside. Add the coconut cream, water and salt and bring to the boil. Chop the lemon grass lengthwise to expose the inside. Add lemon grass and lime leaves and cook gently for an hour.

5. After cooling remove lemon grass and lime leaves.