Marinate the lamb shanks with all the ingredients for the marinate and leave for 1-2 hours.

Add a small amount of oil to a pan and add the shanks. Sear the meat until it is sealed all the way around

Remove and place in a glass or ceramic ovenproof dish (not in an oven tray)

Peel the onions garlic and ginger. Remove skin from the tomatoes by blanching in boiling water

Slice onions and fry in some cooking oil until light golden brown (not too dark)

Remove onions from pan when browned

Add the browned onions, garlic, ginger, green chilli, tomatoes, 1 tsp of tomato paste to a food processor.

Add a 1/4 tsp of each spice.You may vary the quantity according to your personal taste. (the shanks have already been marinated with spices so he careful not to add too much to the masala) Add a little water along with all the ingredients in step 6 and blend to a smooth paste

Add the whole spices to the wok (cardamons, cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaf) and fry for a minute then add your blended paste and cook the masala for 15-20 minutes until the spices have cooked through sauté and add a little water before transferring the masala over the shanks in the tray.

Cover with foil and cook in the oven at 180°C for 1 1/2-2hrs (depending of size of shanks) until meat is soft and tender and easily fall off the bone.

Serve with steamed vegetables roast/mashed potatoes and use the masala as gravy