October 28th, 2021Cooking with Jen Clarke
This slow-cooked lamb dish is brightened up with Middle Eastern flavours. Ras el hanout is a Middle Eastern spice mix, available from gourmet food shops.
Ingredients (serves 4)
• 600–750g diced lamb (I use the shank meat that you can get at the supermarket. This would also work well with leg chops or whole lamb shanks)
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon ras el hanout (or you could use a teaspoon each of cumin and paprika)
• 5 tomatoes, chopped, or a 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• About 450g parsnip, carrots or sweet potato, cut into large chunks
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cinnamon quill
• About 400ml chicken stock or water
• 1/3 cup natural yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or half a preserved lemon rind, chopped (optional)
• Coriander to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 160c.
Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper and toss with flour.
Heat the oil in a sturdy casserole dish over a medium heat. Brown the lamb for two minutes on each side, you may have to do this in batches. Remove the lamb and set aside.
Allow the pot to cool slightly, then add the onion and cook gently, stirring often, for about five minutes until soft. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli and ras el hanout. Stir for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about five minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens and reduces slightly.
Add the lamb, root vegetable of choice, lemon juice, soy sauce, honey and cinnamon. Add enough stock or water to just cover the meat. Cover and bake in the oven for two hours.
While the lamb is cooking, mix the yoghurt with the lemon juice or preserved lemon and add salt to taste (you probably won’t need salt with the preserved lemons). Set aside in the fridge. When the lamb is very tender, season to taste. Serve with couscous or rice and top with yoghurt and coriander.
