Maharani's Favorite (Slow-Roasted Lamb Shoulder)

Docking 1 point for poor instructions.

1. First instruction: Preheat over to 275F. Next instruction: Prepare a spice paste for the lamb, rub it in, and let marinate for up to 8 hours. My oven does not take that long to preheat.

2. Toasting spices. The ingredient list asks for 1/2 tsp ground cardamom (or finely ground seeds from 6 pods). I really don't think I want to put any ground spice in a hot skillet with a bunch of seeds that I'm toasting to grind. Maybe I should have toasted the seeds from the pods, but I just added the ground cardamom (which I go through pretty quickly so it's not old) with the ground cinnamon, etc.

Beyond that, this was easy to prepare and delicious, like Indian pulled lamb. Amazing how only one star anise dominated the other flavors, but the total effect was yummy.

A nice main for a party, since you can prepare the meat up to pulling off the bone, putting it onto an oven-proof platter or flat casserole, then letting it do its final 20min in a hot oven while you're having drinks or a starter.

My 1.4kg (~3#) shoulder fed four people nicely. I wouldn't want to serve 6 or even 5 with that amount.