Wood-fired!

Persian lamb stew

August 31st, 2008

I’ve made this stunning, simple stew a number of times but finally got round to taking a pic before serving it so thought it was time to post.

The original recipe is by Neil Perry from his tome The Food I Love. My variations are minor. This is Neil’s recipe:

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• 700g lamb shoulder
• 80ml extra virgin olive oil + extra
• 2 brown onions, cut into 1cm dice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 cardamom pods, split, seeds removed and crushed
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 375ml chicken stock (I used 500ml)
• 110g (½ cup) pitted prunes (I used more)
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• juice of 2 limes
• ¼ teaspoon saffron threads, dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 1 large handful mint, roughly chopped
• roasted almonds or pistachios to garnish

For the pumpkin
• 400g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 3.5cm dice
• sea salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

To make the lamb stew, cut the lamb into 4 cm dice. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the lamb in batches, stir over medium to high heat until browned, then remove from the pan. Add extra oil to the pan if need be, then add the onion and stir until lightly browned. Add the spices and sea salt and stir for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the stock. Return lamb to the pan and simmer over low heat, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add the prunes, sugar, lime juice, and saffron water. Cover and simmer for a further 30 minutes, or until the lamb is very tender.

Meanwhile, for the pumpkin, preheat the oven to 200°C. Combine the pumpkin pieces with some sea salt and the extra virgin olive oil. Put in a roasting tin and bake for about 20 minutes, or until just tender and lightly browned all over.

Add the pumpkin and the mint to the stew.

Serve the stew in a large bowl, with a bowl of rice in the middle of the table. Garnish the dish with the roasted almonds or pistachios if you like. Serves 4.

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The choice of lamb seems to have the greatest influence on the dish. The first time I made this I used the shoulder as Neil suggests. In subsequent preparations I was lazy and used either leg or pre-cubed lamb from the butcher. Although it took some time to bone and prepare the meat from the shoulder the result was far superior. As well as the more intense flavour, the larger cubes that you can cut yourself seem to work better and I think the shoulder gave a better overall texture to the dish.

I used a few more prunes than the recipe indicates but this should be offset by leaving out the sugar if they are very sweet.

Adjust the stock to the amount of liquid you like in the final stew. I think it needed 500ml.

Be careful not to overcook the pumpkin - it needs to retain its form in the stew (however undercooked pumpkin is a deeper sin).

The photo at the top of this post does not have the roasted nut garnish. (I find that if I don’t prepare the garnish before I cook the dish I’m inclined to not bother at the end.)

Neil suggests rice as the starch but of course it works very well with couscous. Hope you enjoy it.

Entry Filed under: Food