Braai Life

Recipes / Potjie

Lamb potjie (lamb knuckle and vegetable)

Lamb knuckles browned and simmered for hours with coriander, cumin, tomato and red wine under a layer of potatoes and carrots.

Coals
Low coals
Prep
30 min
On the fire
2 hr 45 min
Serves
6

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) lamb knuckles (shank slices) or neck slices, bone-in (or lamb shoulder in large chunks)
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 2 onions, chopped (or 200 g / 7 oz baby onions, halved)
  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, optional
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tin (400 g / 14 oz) chopped tomatoes
  • 250 ml (1 cup) dry red wine (or dark grape juice)
  • 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) lamb or beef stock, plus a little extra kept hot
  • 1 tablespoon fruit chutney, or 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

Spices and herbs

  • 2 tablespoons coriander seed, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seed
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, optional
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • 4 sprigs thyme

Vegetables, in the order they go in

  • 500 g (1.1 lb) baby potatoes, halved
  • 4 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 1 red or yellow pepper, cut into strips
  • 200 g (7 oz) green beans or peas, optional, for the last 20 minutes

Method

  1. Set a No. 3 potjie over medium coals. Pat the lamb dry and season it with the salt and pepper.
  2. Heat the oil and brown the lamb in three batches, about 5 minutes a batch, until well coloured. Lift each batch out.
  3. Cook the onions in the same pot for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute.
  4. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, curry powder, chilli flakes and tomato paste. Stir for 1 minute until it smells toasted.
  5. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot. Add the tinned tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and chutney. Return the lamb. The liquid should barely cover the meat.
  6. Layer the potatoes on top of the lamb, then the carrots, then the pepper. Do not stir.
  7. Put the lid on. Scrape the coals away so only a few remain under the pot, and simmer gently for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Add two or three fresh coals every 30 to 40 minutes.
  8. If the pot sounds dry or stops bubbling, pour a little hot stock down the side. Otherwise leave it alone.
  9. For the last 20 minutes, lay the green beans on top. For the last 15 minutes, take the lid off so the sauce thickens.
  10. Take the pot off the coals and let it stand for 10 minutes. Serve with rice, pap or roosterkoek.

Done when: the meat falls from the knuckle bone when nudged with a spoon, the vegetables are tender and the sauce is glossy and reduced, after about 2 1/2 to 3 hours in total.

Tips

  • Brown the lamb in batches. A crowded pot steams the meat grey instead of browning it.
  • Too much liquid makes soup. The vegetables give up water as they cook, so start with the liquid just covering the meat and add more only if you have to.
  • Lamb neck is fattier and more forgiving than knuckle. A mix of the two gives the best result.
  • Make [roosterkoek](/recipes/roosterkoek/) on the grid beside the pot during the last half hour to mop up the sauce.

This is the archetypal potjie: mutton or lamb at the bottom, vegetables layered on top, and three hours of slow bubbling while everyone stands around the fire and talks. The most famous regional variant is waterblommetjie bredie from the Western Cape, which uses the flowers of a pond plant in place of most of the vegetables.

If this is your first pot, read potjie basics first, then reading your coals for keeping a small fire ticking over. There is a roosterkoek recipe on this site to go with it.