Sup Kambing in slow cooker

My slow cooker has introduced me to an American boxing champion. Even more awesome, my slow cooker actually carries his autograph and has his smiling face gleaming at me from the instruction manual and cookbook. I've never been so up close with the boxing world. Boxer celebrity names are always alien to me, unless he has made a name for himself in some sensational murder or rape trials that hit newspaper headlines so often I can't avoid not reading about them.

So I was quite surprised when Wikipedia told me the namesake of my slow cooker - George Foreman - was a former boxing champ. I know a boxer has lean muscles, but a boxer's lean muscles are not quite alike the lean meat I stew in my slow cooker.

What's even more amazing about this slow cooker is that I am supposed to preheat the device for 20 minutes before I should start using it. That's also new to me.

Nevertheless, I have to live with my choice (though I think next time I will not jump at every boxer endorsed cooking products), and besides the nuisance of having to preheat it, this slow cooker has served me well enough.

My Sup Kambing (mutton soup) recipe comes from "Indonesian Kitchen" by Pancy Seng. I have adapted it to my slow cooker's strange habit and opted to cook everything all in one pot to save on washing, as usual.

Sup Kambing (Mutton Soup)
Serves two

About 500g mutton or lamb (I found this spare ribs cut that was so tender after the slow cooking), chopped into pieces
5-6 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 inch length of ginger
some 800ml water
cooking oil
1 pandan leaf tied in a knot
salt and black pepper to taste
fried sliced shallots and Chinese coriander leaves or spring onions to garnish

Mixed Spices:
half teaspoon cumin powder
half teaspoon fennel powder
half teaspoon coriander powder
1 cm cinnamon stick
half star anise
2 cloves
2 cardamons

You may like to use a separate pan for browning the meat with the spices first, but what I do is to preheat my celebrity slow cooker for 15 minutes, then throw some oil, cover and wait for the oil to heat up.

While waiting for all the preheating and heating, I slowly chopped the shallots, ginger and garlic, tears leaking all the way such that by the time I finished with the chopping and mixing of spices, the oil is reasonably hot enough for me to throw the shallots, garlic and ginger in.

Fry them briefly, add the mixed spices and fry until fragrant. Toss in the lamb or mutton and fry for a few minutes. If you're using normal pan on normal fire, pour in water and bring to boil before throwing everything into the slow cooker. If using the all in one pot shortcut like me, add the water, salt and pepper and pandan leaf and leave everything to cook slowly for hours until the meat is tender and it is lunch or dinner time.

Before serving, you may like to consider thickening the soup with flour or corn starch. And also to scoop out the sinful layer of oil floating on the surface.

Otherwise, just add the garnishing and serve with plain rice.