Curried offal

Serves 4

Preparation time: 1 hour (depending on how clean the offal is)

Cooking time: 3–4 hours

• 1 sheep offal (head, tripe and 4 feet, cleaned)

• 2 pig’s trotters, each cut into 3 pieces

• zest and juice of 1 lemon

• 2 bay leaves

• 6 allspice pods

• 4 cloves

• 4 sheep tongues

• 4 slices lamb neck

• 3 potatoes

CURRY PASTE

• 30 ml oil

• 2 onions, chopped

• 4 large garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 knob ginger, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 2 star anise

• 2 red chillies, finely chopped

• 6 cardamom pods, cut open

• 15 ml coriander

• 10 ml cumin

• 5 ml fennel

• 15 ml turmeric

• 1 ml cloves

1 Using a spoon, scoop out the brains from the sheep’s head and set aside in a bowl. Remove the honeycomb tripe from the offal and wrap it around the brains. Fasten this bundle with string; not too tight, otherwise it will tear. Soak the rest of the tripe in a bowl of boiling water for a short while – this makes it easier to work with. Drain and rinse under running water. Cut into squares of about 5 x 5 cm.

2 Offal can be cooked on the stove top or in the oven. The golden rule is to cook it slowly. Place the offal and pig’s trotters in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour with the lid on. Drain the offal and discard the water. Rinse the offal until it is clean and just cover with water – not too much. Add the remaining ingredients, as well as the tongues and lamb neck. Simmer for about 2½–3 hours or until just tender.

3 Remove the tongues from the offal and pull off the skins. Slice the tongues and return to the pot.

4 Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. Add this to the offal in the pot.

5 Prepare the curry paste Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions until soft and translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and stir-fry until fragrant. Season with salt and black pepper, mix with the offal and simmer for about an hour. Serve with rice, samp or pap.