Spiced Mutton Satay with Peanut Sauce

By Carol Selva Rajah, Author, Great Barbecues

Serves 4-6 with a meal

500 grams topside lamb, deboned
3 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and pounded
2.5-cm knob ginger, grated
1 stalk lemongrass, pounded with garlic paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons coconut milk
2 red chillies, seeded and pounded
1 teaspoon coriander seeds , ground
1 tablespoon tamarind paste or lime juice
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
satay peanut sauce – see recipe below (optional)
wooden skewers

Satay Peanut Sauce
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Spanish onions, medium, peeled and roughly chopped
8 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
2 stalks lemongrass (white part only), chopped
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 and 1/2 tablespoon mixed malaysian curry powder
1 and 1/2 tablespoon tamarind purée
2 tablespoons sambal oelek, or to taste
150 grams unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts (groundnuts), roughly ground or 125 ml crunchy peanut butter
375 ml coconut milk
250 ml hot water
sugar and salt to taste

1. Slice lamb across the grain into strips, about 15 x 2-cm wide, for threading onto skewers.Rub garlic, ginger and lemon grass into meat with a little oil and 1 tsp of coconut milk. Refrigerate covered for a few hours. Skewer lamb strips. Refrigerate covered.

2. Place chillies, coriander, tamarind paste, coconut milk, soy sauce and palm sugar in a food processor; pulse to a paste.Spread paste evenly over skewered meat and refrigerate for 2 hours, spreading more paste if necessary.

3. For outdoor BBQ, grill over medium-hot coals. For indoor grill, preheat overhead grill.Grill, turning every 2 minutes, until well browned but still juicy and slightly pink inside, for 8–10 minutes. Baste satay with more coconut milk.Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve mutton satay on polenta squares with hot sauce or sticky rice.

Satay Peanut Sauce
Blend garlic, onions, candlenuts and lemon grass together until smooth. Heat oil on medium to high heat in a saucepan and sauté paste until caramelized, this will take at least 3–5 minutes. Stir constantly and add a little extra oil if necessary so that mixture does not stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Add curry powder, tamarind purée and sambal oelek to mixture and stir well. Fry on medium heat for a few minutes, add peanuts, coconut milk and hot water. Simmer until sauce is spreadable and can be poured easily. The sauce will reduce very quickly so it will need to be stirred continuously. If sauce is too thick, add some hot water and stir well. Add sugar and salt to taste. For those who like spicy peanut sauce, just add extra sambal oelek.

Chef’s Note: If you grind the peanuts, make sure that they are roughly ground so that large crunchy pieces remain.